OK, sorry for that inflammatory headline. It wasn't the Vikings' Matt Kalil who promised a Super Bowl victory -- it was his brother, Ryan, a center for the Carolina Panthers. But still, it was rather brazen. The text of the ad (screen grab from the Charlotte Observer) is on your right). But it apparently came way out of left field, if we can mix sports with our analogies. Per the Observer:

Kalil did not tell anyone with the team about the ad, because he didn't want to be talked out of doing it.

"Every team says it every year, whether it's publicly or not," Kalil said. "They say they're going to win the Super Bowl.

"We've said it in the past in meeting rooms and behind closed doors. This year's different. There's a sense of urgency, a winning attitude that I haven't seen before. And it's in the way we prepare. It's in the way we approach each work day, and I think fans will see it in the way that we play."

It's a brazen stance on par with Michael Vick's talk of a dynasty last week, and particularly bold words for a team that was 6-10 last year. Kalil had best be prepared to stand behind them for an entire season because there is only a 1 in 32 chance -- (or 1 in 40 if you believe oddsmakers) that he will be right.