THIS year's Super Bowl will feature an Australian player for the first time after Saverio Rocca's Philadelphia Eagles won today. Rocca will square off against countryman and fellow former AFL star Ben Graham next weekend to determine who will become the first Australian to play in the Super Bowl.
Rocca's Philadelphia Eagles upset the New York Giants 23-11 on Monday morning (AEDT) to set up an NFC championship decider with Graham's Arizona Cardinals, who beat the Carolina Panthers 33-12.
The winner of that match advances to the Super Bowl on February 1, meaning either former Collingwood and North Melbourne spearhead Rocca or ex-Geelong captain Graham will become the first Australian to play in American football's showpiece game.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb ran for a touchdown and threw for another as the Eagles beat the Giants 23-11.
"Things just started to click late in the first half and in the second half we continued to roll," McNabb said.
The Eagles engineered two goal line defensive stands on fourth down in the final quarter advance to seal the win.
The NFC decider will give the Cardinals an opportunity to avenge a 48-20 blowout loss to the Eagles on Thanksgiving Day.
"We play a team that is also playing well," McNabb said of Arizona.
"It will be a grind. You got two teams who are putting everything on the line."
The Giants, despite being the No.1 seed in the NFC, lost for the fourth time in five games to end their season.
New York (12-5) could not get the offence into the end zone during the competitive part of the game for the second straight time against the Eagles, who sent them sputtering in a 20-14 defeat here on December 7.
Graham, 35, only joined the Cardinals in December after being cut by the New York Jets in September following a four-year stint there.
He and fellow punter Rocca are among only six Australians to have played at the highest level of American football.
The NFC championship match is in Phoenix on Sunday, with the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay on February