My own parish priest, a Los Angeles Rams fan, has jokingly referred to Super Bowl Sunday as "a holy day of obligation," and that's what it feels like for many Americans.
This post is adapted and updated from one originally published in 2022.
As fans prepare to watch the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots on Sunday, Feb. 8, Catholic viewers may not realize how much their fellow believers have been involved in the history and success of American football.
Here are just a few Catholics without whom the modern NFL and the Super Bowl might not exist.
(Stick around till the end for what all this has do to with the pope.)
Vince Lombardi
The winner of the Super Bowl gets the Lombardi Trophy, named for one of football's most beloved figures -- and a devout son of the Church.
Born into a Catholic family of Italian descent in Brooklyn in 1913, Vince Lombardi, a lifelong daily Mass-goer, attended high-school seminary with thoughts of the priesthood..
But after faith and family, Lombardi's love was football.
He's best known for his nine years as coach of the Green Bay Packers, which he led from ineptitude to domination in the 1960s, including winning the first two Super Bowls.
Have a look at this 1979 ABC tribute to Lombardi, featuring legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell:
Timothy and Wellington Mara
Born in 1887, Irish-American Catholic Tim Mara became the founding owner of the New York Giants in the 1920s and was also one of the founders of the National Football League.
I can't really describe him better than the NewYork Times Magazine did, as quoted in IrishAmerica.com:
When Mara died, The New York Times Magazine noted: “He had an earthy, pug-nosed Irish face and an authentic New York accent, of the kind you hear now only in movies from the ’30s and '40s.
"He was a Catholic who attended Mass daily and fathered 11 children. And as his eulogists kept pointing out, he was the last of the old-school sports-team owners, a throwback to football’s leather-helmet era.”
Mara was also a bookmaker and a regular at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Click here for a profile of Mara in the New York Daily News
Mara's son Wellington became co-owner of the Giants in 1959 and remained with the team until his death in 2005. He was also a lifelong, devout Catholic, and a graduate of a Jesuit prep school in New York City and Jesuit Fordham University.
Upon his death, his longtime friend Father George Rutler wrote (as published in CatholicCulture.org):
The archetypical Catholic gentleman distinguished himself in his pro-life work, very practically engaging football stars in his “Athletes for Life” which helped the moral formation of young boys in our morally desolate culture.
I saw him shortly before he died and he never ceased to smile in spite of his discomfort. We used to joke that we got on so well because of my disdain for professional football, fleeing the slightest prospect of free tickets.
He was a faithful penitent and communicant and I think he converted many in his raucous profession by his example.
Here's an NFL Films documentary on the life of Wellington Mara:
John K. Mara, a grandson of the original, is currently the president, CEO and co-owner of the Giants.
Art Rooney
Rooney was born in 1901 in Coulterville, Pennsylvania, to descendants of Catholic emigrants from Ireland. An Olympic-qualifying boxer who had ownership in several sports venues and pro teams in the Pittsburgh area, Rooney became the founder and owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1933.
Rooney also stood behind University of Notre Dame graduate and fellow Catholic Rocky Bleier.
In 1968, the Steelers running back was drafted to fight in Vietnam, where he was injured in 1969 (for which he was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart).
Bleier's future looked bleak, until, as reported by Legatus.org:
While Bleier was undergoing treatment for his injuries in Tokyo, doctors told him it would be “impossible” for him to play football again. But soon he received a postcard from Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers: “Rock, the team’s not doing well. We need you. Art Rooney.”
With several surgeries and a long rehabilitation ahead of him, Rocky was determined to “fight back” and return to the gridiron, even in the face of near-unanimous skepticism.
Rooney's faith in Bleier was rewarded, as the post continued:
Perhaps his greatest moments came in Super Bowl XIIIagainst the Dallas Cowboys, when he caught a second-quarter touchdown pass fromquarterback Terry Bradshaw and later recovered the Cowboys’ last-minute onsidekick attempt to seal the 35-31 victory.
The Rooney family was Catholic, as was Steelers head coach Chuck Noll, which gave a certain ethos to those years in Pittsburgh.
“There is a certain belief foundation of doing what is right that prevailed,” Bleier said of the Steelers organization in the 1970s.
“No one wore their religion on their sleeves, but it made it easier to feel a part of the family.”
Art Rooney's son Dan went on to run the team and be the U.S. ambassador to Ireland. He passed away at 84 in 2017, remembered by the people of Pittsburgh for his accomplishments and his Catholic faith.
Dan's son Art Rooney II continues as the president of the Steelers and one of the owners.
Below is a video tribute to Art Rooney. It includes a brief shot of the 1972 "Immaculate Reception," a play in which rookie Franco Harris scooped up a ball (which is generally, but not universally, believed to have not hit the ground nor another player first) and ran it in for a game-winning touchdown.
BTW, that name is indeed a play on the Immaculate Conception, the Catholic dogma that the Virgin Mary was conceived without Original Sin. Team lore has it that a fan came up with the phrase, and it later caught fire in the press.
George Halas
Known affectionately as "Papa Bear," Halas was born in Chicago in 1895 to a Catholic family of Hungarian immigrants (former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula was also a devout Catholic with Hungarian roots).
Halas founded the Chicago Bears in 1920, and the team stands as only one of two original franchises from the NFL's founding (the other being the former Chicago Cardinals, now in Arizona).
His grandson, Pat McCaskey, a Bears board member and vice president of special projects, described Halas thus:
My grandfather played football, basketball and baseballfor the University of Illinois. He played briefly for the New York Yankees andthen transitioned back to football.
He was a player, coach and executive for the ChicagoBears, and then in 1932 he became sole owner. He was a six-time NFL champion ashead coach — not to mention two more just as an owner — and still has thesecond-most head-coaching wins in NFL history.
More importantly, he was a deeply Catholic man. He wentto Mass on Sundays, even when games were played that day, and he also went toconfession on Saturdays.
He had a son, George Jr., and a daughter, Virginia, whois also my mother and the mother of my seven brothers and three sisters. Iwrote a book about this and related things with Mike Sandrolini in 2009called Bear With Me.
The Halas/McCaskey Tradition Continues
Halas' daughter, Virginia Halas McCaskey, also a strong Catholic, was the principal owner of the Bears until her death on Feb. 6, 2025, at the age of 102. At the time, she was the oldest owner in the NFL (and all other major-league sports franchises in the U.S.).
She was responsible for a chapel being added to Halas Hall, the Bears' headquarters, believed to be the only one in an NFL facility.
It must be noted, though, that Catholic Mass and Protestant services are offered before all NFL games, often in the team hotel. Family Theater Productions' own producer-at-large, Father Vince Kuna, C.S.C., is a chaplain for visiting NFL teams playing in Los Angeles.
Pat McCaskey launched an organization called Sports Faith International, which he described to the National Catholic Register as "a media initiative dedicated to utilizing traditional and new media to show the connection between sports and faith."
In the Register story, McCaskey talks at length about the connection between his team (and sports in general) and faith. When asked about when he has turned to prayer, McCaskey said:
Here is a Bears’ prayer: “Bitterness is spiritual cancer. Forgiveness is spiritual rapture. Weather is a reminder that God is the boss. The Spirit strengthens us even after a loss. Jesus Christ is the Man; salvation is the plan. When we dance God’s dance, he gives us another chance. God’s work is efficient; his food is sufficient.”
The Hail Mary Play
And, last but not least, there's the story of a play whose nickname has gone into the lexicon as the synonym for a last-ditch effort.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach -- who is, as he says, a "Catholic kid from Cincinnati" -- said a quick prayer to Our Lady before making a seemingly impossible 50-yard touchdown pass against the Minnesota Vikings in 1975.
The NFL won't let me embed the video, but just click here to watch the tale, in the words of Staubach, his family and teammates.
What Does the Pope Have to Do With It?
Earlier this year, the Church installed its first U.S.-born pontiff, Chicago native Pope Leo XIV. While he's only publicly declared himself a fan of baseball's Chicago White Sox, Catholic Bears fans immediately dubbed him "Da Pope," a play on the classic Bears slogan, "Da Bears."
After several rough seasons, the Bears went on a great winning streak this year, even making it to the playoffs, only to be knocked out by the Los Angeles Rams.
You could call it a Cinderella season -- or a whiff of divine intervention.
Speaking of which, it has been noted that, when Pope Benedict XVI was elected in 2005 , the Seattle Seahawks won 13 regular-season games and went to the Super Bowl (to lose to the Steelers).
Then, in 2013, Pope Francis was elected and the Seattle Seahawks won 13 regular-season games and went to the Super Bowl (to win against the Denver Broncos).
This year, Pope Leo XIV was elected, the Seattle Seahawks won 14 regular-season games (the season having been lengthened by one) and are going to the Super Bowl.
You may interpret that however you wish.
Adapted and updated from a post originally published in 2022.
Image: Adobe Stock
Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Content Manager and Blog Editor at Family Theater Productions.
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