SPORTS

Rutgers football guide to Super Bowl history

Ryan Dunleavy
Staff writer
Former Philadelphia Eagles tight end L.J. Smith is the only Rutgers football product with a Super Bowl touchdown catch.

One year after Rutgers was a Super Bowl buzz word, the Scarlet Knights were shut out of San Francisco.

While the narrative would have been very different had the New England Patriots prevailed in the AFC Championship Game, the Denver Broncos-Carolina Panthers matchup in Super Bowl 50 won't be one to remember in Piscataway.

Fourteen of the previous 49 Super Bowls featured at least one Rutgers alum, with a total of 17 different players appearing in the Super Bowl, according to the team's media guide. Thirteen different players have earned Super Bowl rings, including two practice squad members.

Want more Rutgers-based Super Bowl trivia? Here is our guide:

The first: In a Super Bowl best known for Marcus Allen’s reverse-field 74-yard touchdown run, rookie defensive tackle Bill Pickel became the first Rutgers alum to capture the Lombardi Trophy when the Los Angeles Raiders won XVIII in 1984.

Pickel, who actually was the first Scarlet Knight to appear in a Super Bowl as well, was a reserve then but played almost every snap for the Raiders over the next two seasons.

2015 NFL Draft: Mock draft of Rutgers football stars

Three-time champion: A three-year starter at defensive tackle at Rutgers from 1983-86, Harry Swayne switched sides of the line of scrimmage in the pros and went on to a 15-year NFL career as an offensive lineman.

Swayne played in four Super Bowls with three different teams, winning three times in four years with the Denver Broncos (XXXII and XXXIII) and Baltimore Ravens (XXXV) after losing earlier with the San Diego Chargers (XXIX). He is the Ravens director of player development.

Only touchdown catch: Perhaps as a karmic reward for suffering through the dark days of Rutgers football, Philadelphia Eagles second-year tight end L.J. Smith scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl XXXIX.

The Highland Park native made a diving 6-yard catch of a third-down pass by Donovan McNabb, but the Eagles lost 24-21. He finished with four receptions for 27 yards.

Most yards from scrimmage: Arguably the best player in modern Rutgers history, halfback Ray Rice managed 78 yards on 24 touches, including 59 on 20 carries, as the Baltimore Ravens captured Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. Rice also lost a fumble.

The three-time Pro Bowler played one more injury-plagued season but has been out of the NFL since a domestic violence incident led to his release in September 2014.

Rice's former Rutgers teammate, Piscataway native Anthony Davis, started at right tackle for the San Francisco 49ers in that same Super Bowl.

Most tackles: A walk-on at Rutgers and an undrafted free agent in the NFL, Gary Brackett made a career out of disproving his doubters. He was a starter for seven of his nine seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, including two Super Bowl starts in 2006 and 2010.

Brackett made nine tackles in a XLI win against the Chicago Bears and 12 in a XLIV loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Fellow Rutgers product Eric Foster added two tackles in the loss, marking the first Super Bowl to feature multiple former Scarlet Knights.

Super Bowl 50: Top 5 Super Bowl commercials

Most players in a Super Bowl: Defensive backs Devin McCourty, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon and tight end Tim Wright all earned Super Bowl XLIX rings in 2015 with the New England Patriots.

Patriots Bill Belichick’s friendship with Greg Schiano led to his fondness for Rutgers players, whom he spent a good portion of Super Bowl week praising for their unmatched work ethic.

He also had three (McCourty, defensive lineman Alex Silvestro and defensive back Nate Jones) on his roster in Super Bowl in XLVI, the second of two losses to the Giants. Silvestro later got his ring with Rice and the Ravens.

Captains: This much we know: Patriots-Giants matchups in the Super Bowl lead to Rutgers alums as captains.

Giants center Shaun O’Hara, a Hillsborough native, was a captain for the winners in Super Bowl XLII, and McCourty was a captain for the losers in Super Bowl XLVI.

Rutgers product Shaun O'Hara (left) holds up a key to the city after winning the Super Bowl with the Giants.

Only QB: The only Rutgers quarterback to play in the Super Bowl didn’t play quarterback at all.

Ray Lucas, whose 43 career touchdown passes from 1992-95 were the most in school history at the time, played special teams for the losing Patriots against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI as a jack-of-all-trades rookie in 1997.

Lucas, who got his shot to play quarterback for the Jets and Miami Dolphins later in a seven-year career, is now an analyst on the Rutgers Football Radio Network.

Other champions: Tight end James Jenkins (Washington Redskins, Super Bowl XXXV); Right guard Darnell Stapleton (Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl (XLIII); Cornerback Brandon Bing (Giants practice squad, Super Bowl XLVI).

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy@gannettnj.com