Super Bowl 50 Bowl quarterbacks at 13 years and 48 days (Manning was 39, Newton was 26). In addition, this was the first Super Bowl to feature a quarterback on both teams who was the #1 pick in their draft classes. Manning was the #1 selection of the 1998 NFL Draft, while Newton was picked first in 2011. The matchup also pits the top two picks of the 2011 draft against each other: Newton for Carolina and Von Miller for Denver. With Ron Rivera having been a linebacker with the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, and Kubiak replacing Elway at the end
Super Bowl XL (starting with Super Bowl XX and then repeated in Super Bowl XXX) in which past Super Bowl MVPs were honored before the game. A moment of silence was observed in memory of the two civil rights activists who had died during the months prior to the game: Coretta Scott King (six days earlier) and Rosa Parks (on October 24, 2005), the latter a long-time Detroit resident. The Steelers became the first AFC club, and only the third franchise overall, to wear white jerseys despite being the "home" team. The first two clubs, the Cowboys (Super Bowls XIII and XXVII) and