Super Bowl 2013: Fresh Faces in Big Game a Good Sign for NFL

Sorry in advance, Bill Simmons and the rest of the New England Patriots fans out there.

In a professional sports league largely dominated by the same few franchises over the course of the past 10 years, it's a nice change of pace for the NFL to see two teams that haven't made the Super Bowl since at least 2001 make it to the big game.

Let's take a step back from all of the Harbaugh brother and Ray Lewis talk to think about this:

When the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers square off in New Orleans in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3, it'll be just the third Super Bowl since 2000 that didn't feature the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers or New York Giants.

As sports fans, we admire dynasties.

We know how difficult it is to make the postseason, let alone appear in the championship game contending for world-champion status.

But as far as the NFL goes, this is a positive sign for a league that has certainly been through its trials and tribulations the past two seasons.

On one side, we see a franchise that has made it to only one Super Bowl since its inauguration in 1996.

On the other, we're seeing the re-emergence of a former NFL dynasty from the 1980s into the mid '90s reassert itself as one of the most dominant NFL franchises in the history of the game.

It's not to say that we're not going to miss Eli Manning leading the Giants to late fourth-quarter comebacks or Tom Brady calmly leading the Patriots down the field, but it does give the entire world the opportunity to see some fresh faces on arguably professional sports' biggest stage.

If the NFL were consistently dominated by the same teams year after year, football would get stale.

It's the reason the New Orleans Saints happened in 2010 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003—though Tim Brown may not agree with that last statement.

I don't know about you guys, but I can only watch the Giants beat the Patriots so many times.

OK, maybe I got a little carried away on that last one, but you see where I'm coming from.

Seeing the Ravens and 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII gives the game of football a change of pace and a boost of energy by seeing two teams that haven't been there in years compete for championship glory.

Sorry Tom, Eli and Ben. You'll have to sit this one out.

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