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"FacebookPinterest\n\n Until Super Bowl Sunday last February, hardly anyone outside the state of Louisiana\u2014and only a few more within it\u2014knew the name Tracy Porter. When he took the field that night, Porter was a second-year cornerback best known for his funky hair. Then, late in the fourth quarter of one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever played, with Peyton Manning driving his Indianapolis Colts toward what seemed like an inevitable game-tying score, Porter\u2014who had an image of the Lombardi Trophy shaved into the back of his head\u2014picked off an errant pass and raced untouched into the opposite end zone, sealing the game and the first-ever Super Bowl title for the New Orleans Saints. He is, and will forever be, a hero in the Big Easy.\n\n That's the beauty of the NFL playoffs. Sure, in 2011, Drew Brees or Tom Brady or Michael Vick will probably wind up with the Super Bowl MVP hardware. The winning quarterback usually does. But its just as likely that another player on the field\u2014some dude you've never heard of, the Tracy Porter or David Tyree (remember him?) of whatever year we're in\u2014will make the play we remember forever. Guessing who it will be this year is something of a fool's errand. Ya never know. That's part of the point. But if you pay close enough attention, some likely candidates emerge. So over the next month, keep a close eye on these six guys:\n\n Rob Ninkovich, Linebacker, New England Patriots\n\n He's been cut more times than the diamonds in a Super Bowl ring. He's spent four years bouncing around league rosters, clinging to practice squads, rarely holding on for long. But this year, he's found a home on the best team in football. With defensive starters Tully Banta-Cain and Jermaine Cunningham nursing injuries down the stretch, it's been the no-name Ninkovich getting a lot of work at outside linebacker for the Patriots. In the team's final regular season game against Miami, he had two sacks and six tackles. A crucial Super Bowl moment would be a storybook ending fit for Disney.\n\n Jimmy Graham, Tight End, New Orleans Saints\n\n Graham, who's 6-foot-6, played four years of college hoops at Miami before he ever picked up a football. As a fifth-year senior for 'Canes, he caught just 17 passes\u2014but then he dominated at February's NFL Draft Scouting Combine. Saints coach Sean Payton grabbed him in the third round, but he was buried on the depth chart behind fellow former 'Cane Jeremy Shockey. But when Shockey got injured late in the regular season this year, Graham became a favorite target for Brees. He scored four touchdowns in the last three games of the regular season.\n\n Sean Weatherspoon, Linebacker, Atlanta Falcons\n\n They're the top seed in the NFC, but even ardent fans of the game can't name any Falcons other than Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, or Roddy White. (Most of 'em forget they still have Tony Gonzalez.) Which is odd, because Atlanta used to be home to a slew of outsized personalities, led by Michael Vick. This Falcons team, though, is as vanilla a team as you'll find. That is, of course, except for their affable young rookie linebacker, Sean Weatherspoon. He's had an injury-plagued rookie season and was banged up in Week 17 versus Carolina, but should be good to go for the Falcons divisional round game next weekend. This fella is always talking, always moving, always in the mix. Don't be shocked if he's the guy who steals the show on Super Bowl Media Day, and then steals the big game a few days later.\n\n Blair White, Wide Receiver, Indianapolis Colts\n\n Undrafted out of Michigan State, White became one of Peyton Manning's top targets when #18's pass-catchers started dropping like flies: first Dallas Clark, then Anthony Gonzalez, then Austin Collie\u2014all lost for the season due to injury. White, who impressed Manning and head coach Jim Caldwell during training camp, finished the regular season with five touchdown catches. This squad is not a vintage Colts team; they've had to make do with undrafted rookies (White, running back Javarris James) and NFL journeymen (safety Aaron Francisco, running back Dominic Rhodes, cornerback Justin Tryon). The Blair White Project is emblematic of the team's bumpy season. But remember the image of White seconds after he scored the game-winning touchdown versus Oakland in Week 16? He dove into the endzone, pants covered in mud. Muddied and overlooked, but somehow still fighting\u2014that's your 2010 Colts in a nutshell. \n\n Erik Walden, Linebacker, Green Bay Packers\n\n Another outside linebacker cut by his previous team. Walden, a three-year nomad out of tiny Middle Tennessee State, has been the perfect supplement to pass-rushing demon Clay Mathews, Jr. in the Packers' defense. Walden had been unemployed for almost a month before the Packers gave him a call in late October, asking if he'd come in for a tryout. He made the squad, waited for his chance and then, during last week's must-win matchup versus the Chicago Bears, came up huge with a game-high 12 tackles, including two sacks of Jay Cutler in the second half. All eyes will be on Matthews and his flowing locks on Sunday, but it could be Walden making the memorable play.\n\n Kurt Coleman, Safety, Philadelphia Eagles\n\n A seventh-round draft choice in 2010, Coleman has seen the worst of what football can offer. During an Ohio State spring practice in 2006, Coleman collided with walk-on receiver Tyson Gentry. Gentry didn't get up from the hit and hours later, Coleman received news that his teammate had a broken vertebra in his neck and was paralyzed. The two stayed friends, and Coleman finished his career at Ohio State as one of the more beloved players in Buckeyes' lore. Thrust into a starting role when fellow rookie Nate Allen went down with a season-ending injury in Week 15, Coleman has responded with solid play. Philadelphia's pass defense was ranked 14th in the league, so the conference's gunslingers Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, and Jay Cutler are licking their chops. But Coleman has faced bigger challenges; if Philly makes a deep run, look for him to be a big reason why.\n\n Peter Schrager writes for FoxSports.com and appears on Fox News Channel's Fox Report on Sunday evenings."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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