Ron Rivera sees echoes of the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears team in his Carolina Panthers as he aims to join the elite band of men who have won the Super Bowl as both a player and a coach.

Rivera blazed a trail three decades ago when he became the first player of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent to win a Super Bowl in a famed Chicago team featuring the likes of Walter Payton and William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

The 54-year-old would become only the second Latino coach to guide a team to the Super Bowl crown on Sunday if the Panthers defeat the Denver Broncos in the climax to the National Football League season at Levi's Stadium.

Rivera, a linebacker in the Bears' 46-10 demolition job of New England in Super Bowl XX, told reporters Tuesday he saw similarities between the team he played in and the Panthers side he now coaches.

"I've always shied away from comparing guys from different eras, but the similarities are there," Rivera said. "I think there are guys that play fast and play physical. Back in the day, Mike Singletary, Wilber Marshall, Otis Wilson, those guys played fast and played physical as well.

"Our guys are a great combination to have. Tremendous skill set very similar to those guys. They're aggressive guys, they play downhill, they play physical."

Rivera said meanwhile he has impressed upon his free-scoring team, which marched through the regular season with only one defeat, the need to stay focused for a game in which they will start as favorites.

He has used the cautionary tale of the 1985 Bears' failure to build a dynasty as a warning to his team.

"I've tried to tell them this is an opportunity and you only get so many of them," Rivera said.

"When I played, we were the youngest team to win a Super Bowl and a lot of people thought 'They'll get a chance to come back'.

"Well, we never made it back. I'm trying to make sure our guys understand that this could be a once in a lifetime chance and we have the advantage of that now."

If the Panthers win on Sunday, Rivera would join former Oakland Raiders coach Tom Flores as the only Hispanic coach to win a Super Bowl.

Flores won two Super Bowls with the Raiders in 1981 and 1984.

"I saw coach Flores in the summer," Rivera said. "It was to see him and be around him."
Source :AFP