Football-Themed Marvel Super Heroes? Here Are A Few

As I type this, we’re about an hour away from kickoff of the Big Game. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will be taking the field in Arizona to compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and given the way my son looks up to Russell Wilson, you can make the argument that the athletes on the field today are somewhat similar to super heroes. Certainly, they can do things the rest of us can’t.

Kickers, Inc.

Part of Marvel’s ambitious but ultimately ill-fated New Universe line from the mid-80s, Kickers Inc. was a bit of a mess. Its star was Jack Magniconte, the quarterback of the New York Smashers. He was nicknamed Mr. Magnificent, and perhaps foretelling the PED scandals of today, he decided to test out a device designed by his brother to increase muscle mass. That gizmo, combined with the incident known as the White Event that provided the origin for most of the New Universe characters, gave him super-strength, endurance and durability.

I only had one issue of Kickers, Inc., and I remember Magniconte intentionally running tons of laps before a Smashers game to tire himself out and make football more fair. What a sportsman! While originally assisted in his adventuring by some of his Smashers teammates, he eventually ended up as a more standard patriotic hero named the All-American and served with the military when the entire New Universe Earth went to crap. He’s made some appearances in Marvel Comics since then, so he could theoretically appear in Secret Wars. Fair warning!

NFL SuperPro

While Kickers Inc. may have been a goofy concept, at least it wasn’t downright embarrassing like this one. In conjunction with the NFL, Marvel invented an honest to goodness in-continuity league-branded super hero. Phil Grayfield was a promising football prospect until a knee injury forced him to become a member of the sports media instead. While working on a story, he ended up running into a mad scientist type who, for reasons unknown, invented a football uniform that made the wearer nearly impervious to harm. Because comics.

Doubling down on silly, Grayfield also gained super-strength from a fire and some combination of chemicals, ripping off several other super hero origins in the process. He got to keep the suit, and somehow the NFL was okay with him running around with its logo on his chest while he fought crime. Today, he’d probably be fined every time he was out taking down a bad guy.

NFL SuperPro actually got 12 issues of his own ongoing series, and while I’d also say he might pop up again someday, there are supposedly rights issues that would prevent that. As in, the NFL would like us to forget that this happened.

Will someone ever figure out a way to make football and super heroes work together? Doubtful, but there’s something you can debate during your party this evening. Enjoy the game!

Next: Star-Lord and Captain America make a Super Bowl bet for charity

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