Super Bowl XLI will have a Canadian connection this Sunday, as the Chicago Bears battle the Indianapolis Colts for football supremacy.
Bears' defensive tackle Israel Idonije, 26, from Brandon, Man., could become only the second Canadian-trained football player to win a Super Bowl ring.
Born in Nigeria, Idonije's family moved to Brandon when he was five. He developed as a basketball player before the six-foot-six, 275-pounder reluctantly moving into football after encouragement from coaches.
"He was pretty fussy and angry going into Winnipeg for their provincial (football) tryouts... I don't think he regrets it now, but at the time... he thought his meal ticket was the NBA," Idonije's sister, Praise, told Canada AM on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Idonije provided a sack early in the game and a special-teams tackle to help the Bears roll over the visiting New Orleans Saints 39-14.
Praise said she feels that everybody in Manitoba is proud of Idonije.
"We're all excited because lots of people here, if they're involved in sports, they know the story of my brother... I think as a province, I felt like when I was watching the game on Sunday that everybody that was interested in that game was watching.
"I feel like, as a province, I'm going to kind of represent Manitoba."
Praise is planning to go with her parents and fianc锟� to Miami for the big game. But she has one problem -- she doesn't have a passport.
With new laws that demand a passport for air travel into the U.S., it's up to U.S. border officials to decide if they'll let her through. She did speak to U.S. customs in advance and is hoping that they'll make an exception for her.
If they do, Praise says supporters back home can look for her in the crowd since her friends have made her a sign that she's hoping the Super Bowl cameras will pick up.
And if Idonije doesn't win, that means Dan Federkeil, a backup offensive lineman with the Colts, and native of Medicine Hat, Alta. will -- ensuring that either way, a Canadian will have a Super Bowl XLI ring.
