And Get A Super Bowl Campaign Out Of It!

Super Bowl XLIX is fast approaching. While The Patriots attempt to take the air out of #DeflateGate and the Seahawks’ take trash-talk to a whole new level, we can all take a step back, and focus on what’s really important here - those $4.5 million spots between plays, also known as Super Bowl commercials. The greatest night of the advertising industry is almost upon us, with most of the brands already building the hype with 30-second teasers and well-timed rumors. Some excited rookies are entering the Super Bowl advertising arena for the first time, among them Wix.com, the Israeli-based web building platform.

On January 7, Wix launched a cross-platform branding campaign leading up to its 60-second Super Bowl spot. The #ItsThatEasy campaign features former NFL legends Brett Favre, Emmitt Smith, Terrell Owens, Larry Allen and Franco Harris, each trying to promote their fictional (and highly unlikely) small business in his post-professional NFL career. Favre has opened Favre and Carve’s Charcuterie; Smith now has the Double Deuce Club, based in Texas; Owens has opened T.O.’s Humble Pies; Harris launched his own wedding planning business (naturally called the Immaculate Reception); and Larry Allen has harnessed his unbelievable strength to promote his towing business. Each of the five, naturally, has a Wix website to help promote his business, as well as Facebook pages and Twitter accounts created especially for the campaign.

This is the first time that five NFL legends have come together in a single spot. But long before each of these players launched their new career with Wix, each had created a formidable legacy on the field – both for his franchise and the league. From Favre to Allen, here are some fun football facts and highlights for each of these fantastic ball players.

The Gunslinger: Brett Favre

Years active in the NFL: 1991-2010

Football position: Quarterback

Main franchise: Green Bay Packers, where he played from 1992 to 2007

Major Achievement: Super Bowl Champion (XXXI)

Jaw-Dropping records: Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 70,000 yards, over 6,000 completions, and over 10,000 pass attempts. Favre also holds the record for consecutive starts: 321 including playoffs. Favre holds the record for most career victories as a starting QB, and he’s the only quarterback to win three consecutive NFL MVP awards.

Fun Fact: Since first being named the starting QB for the Green Bay Packers, Favre never missed a game spanning over 18.5 consecutive seasons.

Fun Fact 2: Favre is the only quarterback to win a playoff game over the age 40.

Watch the Gunslinger in action in Super Bowl XXXI:

Catch 22: Emmitt Smith

Years active in the NFL: 1990-2004

Football position: Running back

Main franchise: Dallas Cowboys

Major Achievement: 3-time Super Bowl Champion (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX)

Jaw-Dropping records: Widely considered as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, Smith is the only running back to ever win a Super Bowl championship, the NFL Most Valuable Player award, the NFL rushing crown, and the Super Bowl MVP award all in the same season – 1993. He is one of only four running backs to lead the NFL in rushing three or more consecutive seasons. Smith is also one of only two non-kickers in NFL history to score more than 1,000 career points.

Fun Fact: Despite the fact that Smith already excelled in football when in high school, he was deemed to small and too slow by some college recruiting analysts.

Fun Fact 2: When Smith announced his retirement in February 2005, he was playing for the Arizona Cardinals. He was released by the team and immediately signed a one-day contract for $1 with the Dallas Cowboys. This enabled him to retire as a Cowboy.

Emitt smith highlights

Nothing like a good TD celebration: Terrell Owens

Years active in the NFL: 1996-2011

Football position: Wide receiver

Main franchise: San Francisco 49ers, where he played from 1996 to 2003

Major Achievement: NFC Champion (2004, Philadelphia Eagles)

Jaw-Dropping records: Owens is one of only nine players in NFL history to catch 1,000 career passes. He’s 2nd in NFL history in receiving yards (15,934) and 3rd in receiving touchdowns (153). He is one of only six players to have at least two receptions of 90+ yards.

Fun Fact: Currently, Owens is the only player in NFL history to score one, two or more touchdowns against all 32 NFL teams.

Fun Fact 2: As accomplished as he’s always been as a player, T.O was also famous for his touchdown celebrations; some of which, not surprisingly, earned him fines from the NFL. On September 24, 2000, while playing against the Dallas Cowboys, Owens caught two touchdown passes, celebrating each touchdown by running with the ball to midfield and dancing on the Cowboys’ star logo. The second time, Owens was hit by Cowboys’ safety George Teague. Teague was ejected, and Owens was suspended for a week by his head coach.

Here’s what that looked like

And here’s another great celebration, a personal favorite, where T.O mimics the trademark pre-game ritual dance of Ray Lewis. This one was for a touchdown scored while playing the Ravens:

Quiet Larry: Larry Allen

Years active in the NFL: 1994 – 2007

Football position: Guard

Main franchise: Dallas Cowboys.

Major Achievement: Super Bowl Champion (XXX)

Jaw-Dropping records: Widely considered one of the all-time best offensive linemen ever to play the game, Allen played in more Pro Bowls than any other Dallas Cowboys offensive player in franchise history. He played all but one position along the offensive line in his 11 seasons in Dallas. Allen made two all-decade teams (1990s and 2000s), and is one of only 13 players in history to do so.

Fun Fact: Legendary QB Troy Aikman, who played alongside Allen in Dallas from 1994 to 2000, once called him “the best player in the NFL.”

Fun Fact 2: While Allen and Aikman played together between 1994 and 2000, Aikman was sacked less often per dropback than any regular starting quarterback in the league, according to the Bleacher Report.

It’s hard to find sexy plays with interior offensive line plays, so just watch this unbelievable run (and tackle) of Saints’ linebacker, Darion Conner. Allen was in his rookie year at the time:

The Immaculate Reception: Franco Harris

Years active in the NFL: 1972-1984

Football position: Fullback

Main franchise: Pittsburgh Steelers

Major Achievement: 4-time Super Bowl Champion (IX, X, XIII, XIV)

Jaw-Dropping records: Harris has 12,120 career rushing yards – 12th all-time in the NFL. His 91 career rushing touchdowns rank him 10th all-time, tied with Steelers’ own Jerome Bettis.

Fun Fact: Harris was especially popular with the Italian-American fan base of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They called themselves “Franco’s Italian Army”, and wore helmets with his number on them.

Fun Fact 2: Harris was the key player in what is widely known as the “Immaculate Reception” touchdown. It happened on the night of December 23, 1972, with the Steelers trailing the Oakland Raiders in the last 30 seconds of the AFC divisional post-season game. Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a pass to John Fuqua. Fuqua was hit and lost possession of the ball, but as it fell to the ground there came Harris, scooping it up and running for the game-winning touchdown. The play has been highly-contested ever since, with some arguing that the ball touched either Fuqua or the ground before Harris caught it.

You can watch it here in slow motion, and decide for yourself

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Neither The Packers nor the Steelers, the Cowboys nor the 49ers are playing on February 1. But in between tackles and touchdowns, we’ll all get a chance to watch these franchise legends doing their thing one more time on Super Bowl XLIX night.