Ivy League Presence in Super Bowl XLVI

Super Bowl Coverage: Brown | Yale

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Super Bowl XLVI will have an Ivy League presence on both sides of the matchup between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.

Former Ancient Eight standouts Kevin Boothe (Cornell) and Zak DeOssie (Brown) are once again heading to the Super Bowl with the Giants. A sixth-year NFL veteran, Boothe played in all 19 games this season, starting in nine during the regular season and all three in the postseason. DeOssie, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, has been a special teams mainstay for New York at long snapper. He successfully executed the snap on the game-winning field goal in overtime to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. 

DeOssie and Boothe are back in the Super Bowl for the second time in their Giants careers, giving the Ivy League a presence on the field in the game for the fourth time in five years. These two, along with former Penn star Jim Finn, won Super Bowl XLII, a 17-14 win over the Patriots. Brown's Sean Morey, Super Bowl XL champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, appeared in Super Bowl XLIII with the Arizona Cardinals and other former Bear, Colin Cloherty, was on the Indianapolis Colts' roster for Super Bowl XLIV.

The Giants are facing the Patriots for the Vince Lombardi Trophy after New England edged the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 in the AFC Championship Game. The Patriots are advancing to their sixth Super Bowl under the leadership of owner Robert K. Kraft, a 1963 Columbia graduate and a 1965 Harvard Business School graduate. Under his ownership, New England has won three Super Bowl titles, completed an undefeated 2007 regular season and were the most successful NFL franchise of the 2000s. The field at Columbia's Lawrence A. Wien Stadium was named in Kraft's honor on October 13, 2007.

Kraft's Patriots got its AFC title game victory over a Ravens squad that featured another Ivy graduate, Harvard's Matt Birk, in his 14th NFL season and third with Baltimore.

There will also be an Ivy presence on the sidelines for the Giants and the Patriots. New England's offensive coordinator and next head coach at Penn State, Bill O'Brien, is Brown graduate and linebackers coach, Patrick Graham, is a Yale graduate. Graham, who began as a defensive assistant with the Patriots in 2009, will be the first Yale graduate to coach in the Super Bowl. The Giants' receivers coach Sean Ryan, a Hamilton College graduate, was an assistant coach at Columbia (2003-05) and Harvard (2006).

Also for the Giants among its front office staff, former Princeton standout Marc Ross is in his fifth season as the team's Director of College Scouting.

Super Bowl XLVI is Sunday, Feb. 5 at Lucas Oli Stadium in Indianapolis. The game kicks off at 6:20 p.m. live on NBC.

IVY LEAGUERS IN THE SUPER BOWL

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