Super Bowl Champions Play at Fedex Field...But They're Just Visiting

What do the last five Super Bowl Champions have in common other than shiny rings and a place in history?

Every one of their journeys ended with a trip to Washington, DC to visit the President, but a lesser known fact is that each of their journeys also included a trip to Washington during the regular season.

Despite mixed results in those games, each of the past five Super Bowl Champs: the Giants twice, the Packers, the Saints, and the Steelers all came to Fedex Field and played the Washington Redskins in the season they won the Super Bowl.

Perhaps the Redskins are the "Good Luck Chuck" of professional football.  Perhaps playing the Redskins, and in turn the normally strong NFC East, prepares teams for a Super Bowl run.  Or maybe the devil is just playing a cruel joke on owner Daniel Snyder by letting Super Bowl champions play in his stadium, but only as a visitor. 

In fact, since Snyder took over control of the Redskins, eight Super Bowl champions have played a game at Fedex Field the year they won the Super Bowl.  And, of those champions, only the Giants play in the same division as the Redskins, so it's not like these teams play them all the time. 

And if you wanted to add more fuel to that fire, the 2007 Champion Indianapolis Colts played Snyder's Redskins too, though that one was in Indy. 

Whatever the case may be, superstition is a big part of every sport, and trends sometimes lead to patterns.  So, if I was a betting man, I'd be putting my early money on Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Cincinnati, or Minnesota to win next year's Super Bowl.  Well, maybe not Minnesota.