A game of firsts: a quarterback makes good and a head coach makes history in a classic Super Bowl.

Quarterback Peyton Manning finally silenced his critics. In a driving rain, Manning led the Indianapolis Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. "It's been hard ... to watch these other teams hoist that [Vince Lombardi] trophy," Manning said after the game, which was played on February 4 in Miami, Florida. "You have to learn from it and realize how badly you want to be up there."

Drafted into the National Football League (NFL) in the first round in 1998, Manning has long been recognized as one of the game's greats, shattering one passing record after another. But until he won the Big One in Miami, many critics had questioned whether he could win when it really counted.

After the Super Bowl victory, in which he was named the Most Valuable Player, Manning seemed like a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "I don't think there's anything you can say now, other than this guy is a Hall of Fame player and one of the greatest players ever to play the game," said Colts coach Tony Dungy.

Dungy made history in Super Bowl XLI. He is the first African-American head coach ever to win a Super Bowl. Bears Coach Lovie Smith is also African-American.

"It feels great," Dungy said after the game. "Being the first African-American coach to win it. I have to dedicate [it] to some guys before me--great coaches I know could have done this if they had gotten the opportunity. Lovie and I were able to take advantage of it."

The game held other firsts, some of them not so great. Super Bowl XLI was the first ever played in the rain. But that didn't dampen the spirits of Indianapolis fans. The Colts had not won a Super Bowl championship since 1971, when the team was based in Baltimore. "I'm happy for Tony Dungy, I'm happy for Peyton," one Indianapolis fan told the Associated Press. "They did it the right way, all the way. They were never flashy, never gave up. They just kept on believing."