I didn’t have to look too far for a Sachem connection to this year’s Super Bowl. After a brief study of 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh’s bio, I was happy to find that he played college football at Michigan at the same time as Sachem alum John “Jumbo” Elliott.
In fact, Elliott was a rising star on the offensive line, protecting Harbaugh, his quarterback. While Elliott played from 1984-1987, Harbaugh was there from 1983-1986. They both played in the 1987 Rose Bowl against Arizona State, the 1986 Fiesta Bowl against Nebraska, the 1984 Holiday Bowl against Brigham Young and the 1984 Sugar Bowl against Auburn.
Moving on to the NFL, their paths crossed in a number of regular season games. During the 1990 season, the Giants and Bears played one another in the Divisional Round. New York won, 31-3, with Elliott on the offensive line, but Harbaugh, the quarterback of the Bears, was out with a shoulder injury. That season the Giants went on to beat the Bills in the Super Bowl.
Harbaugh immediately embarked on a coaching career when he retired from playing in 2001, while Elliott became a business owner, purchasing a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise location, among other endeavors.
Other news & notes
Sachem alum Rich Cimini has covered the last 20 or so Super Bowls as a sports writer. He is currently the Jets beat writer for ESPN New York, but has strung together an impressive streak of Super Bowls in his career dating back to his days at Newsday and the New York Daily News.
Laura Gentile, a Sachem alum who is an executive at ESPN, was also in New Orleans for the big game.
On another level, Sachem alum, teacher and coach Ryan Stillufsen graduated from the University of Delaware with Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. (Interesting note, Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. gave the commencement speech at their graduation). A number of other Sachem alums attended Delaware while Flacco was the field general for the Blue Hens, including Jon Weston, an English/journalism teacher at Sachem North and Vice President of the Sachem Central Teachers Association.
Update: Since writing the initial story, I’ve learned of two other Sachem connections to Super Bowl XLVII.
Sachem assistant football coach and alum Tom Pandolf played against Flacco when he was a lineman at Albany. In fact, it was only Flacco’s second career start at Delaware in 2006 and the Great Danes manhandled the Blue Hens and led, 17-3, at the half. (Click here to read more about that game on ESPN).
“I got a hand on him,” said Pandolf, “but no sack.”
During the same season in 2006 and the following year in 2007, Sachem alum Chris Manno played against Flacco and Delaware as a wide receiver and special teams player at Hofstra. Manno, who had stints in the NFL with the Chiefs and Panthers, also dressed with the Chiefs in a pre-season game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore against Flacco and the Ravens in August 2011.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro