[11][12][13][14][15] It was also only the second championship game or series in any of the four North American major professional sports leagues to feature two African-American head coaches or managers, the other being the 1975 NBA Finals.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was named the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP), completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, with one interception for a passer rating of 81.8.

[citation needed] The halftime show, headlined by the musician Prince, peaked at 140 million viewers, and was widely acclaimed by music critics.

The Colts' first trip to the Super Bowl in 36 years set a record for longest time between appearances by a team (since broken by the Kansas City Chiefs).

The Colts' playoff runs ended with a loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions in three consecutive years preceding this season.

On the ground, rookie running back Joseph Addai led the team with 1,081 yards and a 4.8 yards-per-carry average despite not starting any games in the regular season.

They defeated the Seattle Seahawks 27–24 in overtime in the divisional round of the playoffs, and the New Orleans Saints 39–14 in the NFC Championship game to advance to Super Bowl XLI.

[27] Although the Colts' rushing defense looked extremely weak during the season, it ended up being a key factor on their road to the Super Bowl.

Two touchdown passes from Saints quarterback Drew Brees, cut the score to 16–14, but the Bears responded with 23 unanswered points to propel them to their first Super Bowl since the 1985 season.

For the Bears, this marked the first time that a Chicago sports team not owned by Jerry Reinsdorf had reached the championship game/series in their league since the Blackhawks lost in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Indianapolis Colts held pre-game practices for Super Bowl XLI at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility on the campus of Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida.

Chicago defensive tackle Tank Johnson was required to request a judge's order to leave the state of Illinois due to an arrest for unlicensed ownership of six firearms and two assault rifles.

[37] Other contributors to the pre-game show included Katie Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News, Armen Keteyian, CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent, Randy Cross, who reported from Iraq where U.S. military forces played a touch football game known as "The Baghdad Bowl" and Dick Enberg, who participated in his 12th Super Bowl telecast as a host, play-by-play announcer, or contributor.

The opening title sequence of CBS television coverage featured the composition Lux Aeterna, by artist Clint Mansell, in the background.

Frito-Lay announced a campaign in September 2006 to allow the public to submit ads for their Doritos brand and vote on the best one, which aired during the Super Bowl.

General Motors announced a similar contest, open only to college students, for their Chevrolet brand; however, the ad would be produced professionally based on ideas suggested by the public.

The winning ad featured men gathering around an HHR model with women in it and stripping off their clothes and giving it a car wash.

The NFL itself advertised a similar contest to generate suggestions for a commercial promoting the league, with the winning concept featuring fans' disappointment that their teams' season was over.

Also in the top ten were Blockbuster Video's "Mouse", Doritos' "Car Wreck", GM's "Robot" and Taco Bell's "Lion's Talk 'Carne'."

One ad that drew criticism from the gay community was for the Snickers candy bar featuring two men accidentally "kissing" each other after sharing the product in question, then proceeded to rip chest hairs as a manly act as homophobic.

Amongst the television networks who broadcast Super Bowl XLI were: Before the game, Cirque du Soleil, Romero Britto and Little Louie Vega performed as the pre-game act,[46] and Billy Joel sang the National Anthem, accompanying himself on piano.

[53][54][55] Following the game, controversy emerged about a silhouetted camera shot of Prince, projected against a large sheet by a bright light on the other side of him.

[56] In 2015, Entertainment Tonight listed the silhouetted camera shot, naming it "Prince's Demon Phallus", as one of the top seven Super Bowl halftime moments.

The rain did not hinder Chicago return specialist Devin Hester, who ran back the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears the then earliest lead in Super Bowl history, after only 14 seconds.

[61] On the Colts' first drive of the game, Bears safety Chris Harris intercepted a deep third-down pass from quarterback Peyton Manning and returned it 6 yards to the Chicago 35-yard line.

Three plays later, quarterback Rex Grossman threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, increasing Chicago's lead to 14–6.

The Bears were forced to punt again on their next drive, and wide receiver Terrence Wilkins returned the ball 12 yards to his own 42-yard line.

But three plays later, cornerback Kelvin Hayden intercepted a pass intended for Muhammad and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown, increasing the Colts' lead to 29–17.

at Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida This was the third Super Bowl to have two players rush for more than 100 yards as Dominic Rhodes had 113 for the Colts and Thomas Jones had 112 for the Bears.

Tony Dungy is the third man to win the Super Bowl as a head coach as well as a player, following Tom Flores and Mike Ditka.