Some interesting new research was recently published by Ballotpedia, a “nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia”. Take a look at this excerpt:
Ballotpedia has identified 13 people who played in at least one Super Bowl before running for elected office or serving in government.
Of those 13, Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Alan Page of the Minnesota Vikings made the most Super Bowl appearances with four each. Swann ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2006 and Page was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1992, where he served until reaching the court’s mandatory retirement age in 2015.
These NFL players-turned-politicians ran for office in 11 different states—Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Eight of the politicians that played in the Super Bowl ran as Republicans, and two ran as Democrats. Three served in positions that were officially nonpartisan.
Also see related Democracy Chronicles articles like those on Redistricting, Election History, or even seen our section on American Democracy.
Leave a Reply