After two weeks of Super Bowl hype and blather, I guess it’s time to name call. Earlier this morning I caught two national betting yaboes on the radio discussing legacies and the SB. Obviously, if the (underdog) Chiefs win, Andy Reid will be one of the greatest coaches ever. And should the Niners and Kyle Shanahan lose again, he’ll be branded a loser.

I’m neither a San Francisco nor Shanahan apologist, but the pre-emptive strike is unfair and unwarranted given the history of the league and other coach cited as great. The aforementioned boobs cite, the Niners previous loss to the Chiefs and Falcons loss to the Patriots as examples of Shanahan’s losing legacy. I’m not overlooking those screw-ups, but I’m suggesting he’s not the first to blow leads in the big game.

People either have short memories or don’t bother to do the research. HOF coach, Marv Levy and his Buffalo Bills lost all four of the Super Bowl appearances. While fans in the AFC East might enjoy the Bills’ failures in the biggest game, they’d likely change places.

If the Forty Niners lose this evening, I don’t think Shanahan is going to walk away from coaching. Heck, he might give it another go. I don’t expect CBS to focus on Reid’s early failures because he’s overcome those earlier setbacks. Editor’s note: Reid was the Philadelphia Eagles coach and lost the NFC Championship game four times. The one time he did win, he lost in the Super Bowl. His SB success with the Chiefs did not come immediately either, but nobody is calling him a loser any longer. 

Whether he and San Francisco win tonight or not, Shanahan will be given other opportunities to win it all because the powers that be don’t think his legacy is that of a loser.