Monday is my favorite day of the week.

During the NFL season there is nothing better than pouring over all of the details, stats and minutiae churned out of Sunday’s action. I like drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper on Monday mornings. I like to point at the sports page while complaining to my wife that these guys “don’t know what they’re talking about,” over a clumsy mouthful of toast (and although she won’t admit it, she appreciates my expertise).

I especially like when the mail arrives on Mondays because that is when I get my weekly Sports Illustrated in all its glossy non-computer screen glory.

Now I am one of these guys that reads the magazine from back-to-front. I like to start with Rick Reilly’s column and work my way forward. A quick reverse thumb-through on my way in from the mailbox sets up my reading strategy. But one of the greatest features of the magazine isn’t contained within the glossy pages - it is the magazine’s cover. There isn’t anything particularly unique about the cover it is usually just an action shot of an athlete from the heat of competition.

Within the framework of the cover photo is an ever-developing storyline that exists just beneath the surface, a story line that no athlete wants to be a part of. A storyline with so much influence and power that the magazine once ran a cover shot stating “The cover shot no one wants to pose for.” Complete with black cat.

Yes folks – the dreaded SI jinx.

For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the jinx, it is the belief that if you as an athlete, appear on the cover of the mag, a horrible fate will soon befall you or your team. It is the sports equivalent of walking under a latter – and then walking in front of a bus.

The jinx dates back to 1954 when the magazine featured an athlete on the cover for the very first time. Baseball player Eddie Mathews was also the first victim of the jinx. One week to the day after appearing on the cover, Mathews is sidelined with a wrist jury and misses seven games.

So imagine my excitement when last week’s issue came. It was the issue before the Super Bowl and I was dying to see who this year’s victim was going to be. Lo-and-behold, the Chicago Bears graced the cover. The image was Bear’s defensive captain, linebacker Brian Urlacher standing, menacing and pushing a plume of steam from his mouth and out through the bars of his face mask. The headline “Waitin’ for Peyton,” stretched across the page.

Not being one for silly superstitions or jinxes, I held off on this note last week – just to observe how this thing would play out. After all, I didn’t want to jinx the jinx.

So here it is the morning after Peyton’s Colts victory over Urlacher’s Bears at Super Bowl XLI, and I am left wondering if the magazine cover had anything to do with the outcome. Hmm, probably not. It is probably just a coincidence. A re-occurring stretched-out over 50 years coincidence.

Nothing as trivial as a magazine cover could have that much influence on something as pure and unrelated as an athletic contest could it? Don’t know. Perhaps a better question would be to ask Peyton Manning if he was relieved that he was on the cover the week before the week before the Super Bowl.