SUPER BOWL XXVIII : DAILY REPORT : Tiniest of Stories Is Big This Week

Last year, it was Anthony, mysterious bodyguard of Magic Johnson.

This year, it’s Princess Numa.

Who?

Ah, but that’s the point. In Super Bowl week, no story becomes too small. And no incident is too small to become a story.

Last year, linebacker Darryl Talley of the Buffalo Bills was in a Los Angeles nightspot during Super Bowl week, and he did or didn’t get into a fight with Anthony. The details may have been hazy, but it quickly became clear that here was material to fill a column and a sportscast.

So, Anthony became big news.

Which brings us to Princess Numa.

Now, Pete Metzelaars of the Bills is a nice enough fellow. Talented, too. A 6-foot-7, 254-pound tight end, he led Buffalo in receptions with 68 on a team that has Andre Reed, Don Beebe, Thurman Thomas and Bill Brooks.

So naturally, Metzelaars is a story. But not a very colorful story. The guy is religious, a good citizen and spent his undergraduate days at tiny Wabash College.

Hardly material for a movie of the week. Or even a gripping story.

Until Princess Numa came to the rescue.

It seems Metzelaars’ great-grandmother was a 38-inch circus midget named Princess Numa, who married the circus barker, a man by the name of Gowdy, but then died while giving birth to Metzelaars’ grandmother.

Asked by a reporter if Numa was spelled N-U-M-A, Metzelaars replied with a smile, “Yeah, that’ll work.”

As the story spread, several Buffalo reporters claimed Metzelaars was putting everybody on.

“If I’d have known you guys were that interested in her,” Metzelaars said, “I’d have brought the newspaper clips of her that I have back home.”

Great story or tall tale? Take your pick.