On this Super Bowl Sunday, a day full of athletic pageantry and a pure American love of sports, I can’t help but look back at my first vivid sports memory.

I was eight years old, and I had, in that moment, almost instantaneously decided who my favorite athlete of all time would be. He wore No. 2. I had just watched him make an electrifying punt return and intercept a pass near Michigan’s endzone against Ohio State. And as the game came to end — my dad jumping up and down in our living room — he iconically put the rose in his mouth, giving me a memory I would never forget.

Sure, I didn’t know what that meant more than many other eight-year-olds around, but I knew who my favorite football player was. And I knew that Charles Woodson had made me a Michigan fan.

Thirteen years later, Woodson is still my favorite athlete of all time. His defensive presence on Michigan’s 1997 National Championship team is, in my opinion, the most dominant season by a defensive player in the history of college — and maybe even professional — football.

And as we embark on the most exciting and important day in all of sports (sorry, but there’s no arguing this), I feel it’s my civic duty to honor one of the best Michigan football players of all time and one of the best cornerbacks in the history of the National Football League on his second Super Bowl Sunday.

Woodson is a remnant of what Michigan football, and football in general, used to be.

If you take a look at the statistical breakdown from the 1997 Wolverine team, you’ll understand what I mean.

Brian Griese, the quarterback of Michigan’s national championship team only threw for 2,293 yards and 17 touchdowns in the Wolverines’ magical season. For comparison’s sake, that would rank him 42nd nationally in passing yards and touchdowns in 2010. So, think Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzein. And yeah, how many of you would see Tolzein as a national championship quarterback?

Chris Howard, the running back of Michigan’s national championship team, would’ve been 45th nationally in rushing yards and 47th nationally in touchdowns if he played in 2010 with 938 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the Wolverines. Those are numbers quarterback Denard Robinson almost doubled this season.

Those offensive numbers probably wouldn’t hold up in today’s NCAA football landscape.

But a quick look at the defense, led by Mr. Woodson, shows that the moniker of “defense wins championships” absolutely rang true in 1997.

The Wolverines had five first team All-Big Ten defensive starters — three of which were also first team All-Americans. They allowed just 8.8 yards per completion, still an NCAA FBS record (Thanks, Charles), led the Big Ten in total defense (222.8 yards per game) and allowed just 9.5 points per game. Those last two marks haven’t been beaten in the Big Ten in the last quarter of a century.

And on that defense — boasting future NFLers James Hall, Glen Steele, Sam Sword, Dhani Jones, Ian Gold, Tommy Hendricks, Marcus Ray and William James — Woodson was the most feared of all.

A great deal was made of Woodson’s matchup in that 1997 Ohio State game with David Boston, one of the NCAA’s most dominant wide receivers at the time. But Woodson was far from intimidated. He and Boston exchanged jibes all week long, and unlike any Michigan player since, he came through on all of his guarantees.

Aside from a late 56-yard touchdown catch, Boston was held to just two catches for 12 yards total. And like any great cornerback, Woodson spent much of the day getting inside his head.

"The first time I jammed him and told him he was soft," Woodson said of Boston. "Every time I lined up against him, I told him nothing would come easy. I was like a father chastising his son for running his mouth to the wrong people. He made one catch for a touchdown, it was a great catch. Except for the touchdown I gave up, it's the all-around game I wanted."

At Michigan, Woodson represented everything that football should be: hard-nosed defense, mild trash talk, big plays and no-excuses results. It’s something the Wolverines haven’t seen in a while, and something Michigan fans should hope for as the regime changes.

So I’ll be rooting for the Packers on Super Bowl Sunday — even though the game will be long over by the time you read this.