Super Bowl history includes connections to players, coaches from Erie, northwestern Pa.
The figure is too small to truly fathom: 0.023%
According to a recent report by the Ohio State University’s College of Public Health, that's how much of a chance a random high school football player has of finding himself in an NFL game for even one snap.
The report listed no such odds a player has of competing in a Super Bowl, let alone playing on a winning team.
Considering the previous number, though, the coaches and players in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII should be beyond grateful.
Per profootballreference.com and previous Erie Times-News reporting, the following are nine players or coaches with significant ties to northwestern Pennsylvania who competed in what’s now America's official unofficial holiday — Super Bowl Sunday. They’re listed in alphabetical order:
Fred Biletnikoff
Super Bowl II
Jan. 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
Green Bay Packers 33, Oakland Raiders 14
It’s easy to forget the 1961 Tech Memorial graduate participated in two Super Bowls during his career. The first was less celebrated because the Raiders lost and the game, at that time officially referred to as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, wasn’t the one-day spectacle it is now. Green Bay not only dominated Oakland en route to winning the last of its five NFL or Super Bowl titles during the 1960s, but its last with Vince Lombardi as coach. Lombardi resigned from that role shortly after the game to become the team's general manager. Biletnikoff was a non-factor in the game. He caught two passes for 10 yards from Oakland quarterback Daryle Lamonica.
Super Bowl XI
Jan. 9, 1977, at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Oakland Raiders 32, Minnesota Vikings 14
Biletnikoff was listed as Erie County’s greatest athlete of the 20th century in a special 2000 section published by the Erie Times-News. He went on to a stellar career as a wide receiver at Florida State and then a 14-year career with the Oakland Raiders that saw him enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. It’s possible Biletnikoff could have received that honor had he not been voted the most valuable player for that particular Super Bowl, one in which he caught four passes for 79 yards. Possible. But nowhere as clear cut.
Two of Biletnikoff’s receptions left him yards away from scoring two touchdowns in Super Bowl XI for the Raiders, who went 16-1 that season. Biletnikoff, who retired as the Raiders’ wide receivers coach in 2006, will celebrate his 81st birthday on Feb. 23.
More: Fred Biletnikoff's name is on Erie High's field. His heart is in what it means for students
Andre Coleman
Super Bowl XXIX
Jan. 29, 1995, at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida
San Francisco 49ers 49, San Diego Chargers 26
This Super Bowl was the last of the five the San Francisco 49ers have won. They’ve reached the NFL’s most cherished game twice since then, but were denied a record-tying six championship each time. The 1994 Niners were all but assured of beating the Chargers when they kicked off after scoring the touchdown that gave them a 42-10 lead in the third quarter. That’s why it likely took them seconds to shake off Coleman’s 98-yard return for a touchdown.
Coleman's kick return was the only true highlight of the for San Diego, which drafted the former Hickory Hornet and Kansas State Wildcat receiver in the third round of that season’s draft. Coleman totaled eight kickoff returns in that game, which was dubious because seven followed San Francisco scores. Last year, Coleman, 51, founded Ace Elite Training, designed for youth football players, in Canton, Georgia.
John Lynch
Super Bowl XXXVII
Jan. 26, 2003, at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21
While this one’s a stretch, it’s a warranted stretch. Should San Francisco win Sunday, Lynch, 52, would join a short list of men who have been Super Bowl champions as a player and as a team executive. The 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee is in his seventh season as the Niners’ general manager. Lynch was the starting strong safety for Tampa Bay's 2002 defense. The same defense that intercepted five Oakland passes and returned three for touchdowns en route to the first of the franchise's two Super Bowl titles. He recorded one tackle and a pass breakup against the Raiders.
The reason Lynch is on this list is his moonlighting career as a baseball player during summers off as a Stanford University student. The Florida Marlins draft pick pitched for the 1992 Erie Sailors during their New York-Penn League games at Ainsworth Field. Lynch’s manager that summer was former Marlins and Atlanta Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez.
D.K. McDonald
Super Bowl LVII
Feb. 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Kansas City 38, Philadelphia Eagles 35
McDonald represented Edinboro University during last season’s Super Bowl. Not as a player, but as a coach. McDonald, a 2001 graduate and former receiver for the Fighting Scots, was tasked with helping Philadelphia slow, if not stop, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes from beating them. At the time, he was in his second season as the Eagles’ assistant defensive backs coach.
The Chiefs and Eagles played hot potato with the lead for most of the game. Kansas City finally won 38-35 thanks to a field goal with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter. Head coach Nick Sirianni, a Jamestown, New York, native, promoted McDonald to be the Eagles’ defensive backs coach this past season. However, McDonald is now returning to the college football ranks to become a co-defensive coordinator for the 2024 University of Kansas Jayhawks.
Joe Philbin
Super Bowl XLV
Feb. 6, 2011, at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Green Bay Packers 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 25
The 62-year-old Springfield, Massachusetts, native was still early in his coaching career when he was hired by Ken O'Keefe to be part of Allegheny College's coaching staff. His first season as the Gators' offensive coordinator was 1990. That same year, the Meadville school beat Williamsport's Lycoming College 21-14 in overtime of the NCAA Division III's national championship game. Philbin remained at Allegheny for another three seasons before he resumed the nomadic ways of a typical football coach. However, his journey was worth it.
Twenty years after Philbin helped Allegheny win a national championship, he also helped the Packers do the same at the professional level. He was their offensive coordinator when they won the franchise's fourth Super Bowl title and denied the Steelers a record-setting seventh. Career wise, Philbin peaked when he was the Miami Dolphins' head coach from 2012 until his dismissal with four games left in their 2015 season. He also served as Green Bay's interim coach for the final four games of their 2018 season. Philbin spent the 2023 football season as an offensive analyst for Ohio State University.
Steve Potter
Super Bowl XVII
Jan. 30, 1983, at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Washington Redskins 27, Miami Dolphins 17
Potter, 66, is a Bradford native who moved to the Erie area as a youth and graduated from Fairview. He played football for coach Jack Bestwick during the Tigers’ halcyon seasons of the 1970s. Potter then attended the University of Virginia, where he was a linebacker for the Cavaliers. He wasn’t chosen during the 1981 NFL draft but did sign as a free agent with the Miami Dolphins.
Potter was a reserve for coach Don Shula that year and in 1982, when Miami was the AFC’s Super Bowl representative. He didn’t record any statistics during Washington’s 27-17 victory, which was remembered for the Redskins’ John Riggins getting MVP honors thanks to his 166 rushing yards and go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Potter’s pro career concluded after one season with the Kansas City Chiefs and another with the Buffalo Bills. He was a 2004 inductee for the Metro Erie Sports Hall of Fame.
Bob Sanders and Marlin Jackson
Super Bowl XLI
Feb. 4, 2007, at Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Florida
Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17
Northwestern Pennsylvania fans had the chance to root on two former District 10 standouts on one Super Bowl team. That rare opportunity occurred when Sanders (Cathedral Prep) and Jackson (Sharon) roamed the defensive backfield for the Colts during that rain-plagued game in south Florida. Jackson recorded two tackles, including one for a loss of yards. Sanders, though, made a case to be the voted the game’s most valuable player. The former Rambler and University of Iowa Hawkeye recorded three tackles, forced a fumble and recorded a leaping interception that he returned 38 yards. That fourth-quarter pick helped preserve the 12-point lead Indy held at the final whistle.
Sanders and Jackson were each on injured reserve and didn’t play in Indy’s next Super Bowl appearance at the same home of the Miami Dolphins. The New Orleans Saints beat Indy 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010. The Colts’ 2009 season was the last in the NFL for Jackson, the team’s first round pick in the 2005 NFL draft. Sanders, who’s received some consideration for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was taken by Indy in the second round of the 2004 draft. He played seven seasons there and retired after injuries shortened his time with the 2011 San Diego Chargers to two games.
Sanders and Stepnoski: These two Erie natives are nominated for Pro Football Hall of Fame membership
Mark Stepnoski
Super Bowl XXVII
Jan. 31, 1993, at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Dallas Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17
Local football fans were understandably torn over who to root for in this one. On one hand, Buffalo made its third Super Bowl appearance in as many years as the AFC champion. They lost the previous two to the New York Giants and Washington Redskins. Dallas, though, had 1985 Cathedral Prep graduate Mark Stepnoski as its starting center. The former Rambler and University of Pittsburgh was drafted by the Cowboys in 1989, the same year Jimmy Johnson was hired to replace the legendary Tom Landry. It also was the same year Dallas went 1-15.
Stepnoski, though, helped the Cowboys transform themselves from doormats to dominance in only four seasons. Its renaissance was completed when Dallas, with Stepnoski snapping the ball to Troy Aikman, recorded 408 yards in offense and one of the Super Bowl's most lopsided results. Stepnoski also was with the Cowboys when they repeated as world champs in 1993. However, he was on injured reserve when Dallas once again drubbed the Bills 30-13 in Super Bowl XXVIII at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.
Stepnoski also played four seasons for the Houston/Tennessee Oilers and then returned to Dallas for the last three of his 13 NFL seasons. The 57-year-old was a 2018 inductee for the Metro Erie Sports Hall of Fame.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Super Bowl MVP Fred Biletnikoff among game's Erie PA connections
