Tampa, FL - It’s the biggest sports event of the year - the Super Bowl. And, once again, the Bay Area will be represented in the quest for the Lombardi trophy!

  • Thre are six Bay Area football players at the Super Bowl.
  • Five different schools will be represented - two from Lakewood High
  • Four players on the Los Angeles Rams; two on the New England Patriots  

While all eyes will be on Pats QB Tom Brady, the Bay Area has two members with New England: Kathleen Alum Albert McClellan going for his 2nd Super Bowl title and Lakewood’s Isaiah Wynn. The first round pick has missed most of the season due to a torn ACL. Over with the Rams, fellow Lakewood Spartan Dante Fowler Jr hopes to bring a Super Bowl back to LA.

“Its kind of mind blowing to see where they have come from and to see them competing in high school against one another," said Lakewood head coach Cory Moore, who has had nine players go to the NFL since he took over in 2008. "Now they’ll both get a chance to actually live out their dreams, stuff that you dream about, and now they’re walking into those dreams.”

Also on the Rams defense - Frostproof alum Nickell Robey-Coleman, who is now part of the most memorable moments in NFL Playoff history as the man who got away with pass interference in the NFC championship game against the Saints.Then there's linebacker Ramik Wilson, who helped provide an unforgettable season in 2010 when his Jefferson Dragons captured the 3A FHSAA State title.

“He was a very quiet leader, definitely a leader," said former Jefferson head coach Mike Fenton, who coached Wilson and the Dragons to that state championship."Obviously he was a fantastic football player, very intellectual. He played very smart and very good and very fast. He’s still the same way.”

Ramik trains in the offseason with Chamberlain Head coach Jason Lane, who received a special message after the Rams won the NFC Championship.

“I got a text right after the game that said ‘See you in Atlanta!’," said Coach Lane, who was an assistant under Mike Fenton when Jefferson won the 2010 state title."So I am jumping up and down on my back patio and the neighbors are probably calling the cops but I don’t care I’m going to the Super Bowl!”

One Rams player whose name you could hear around the end zone is East Lake alum Tyler Higbee - who is the first player from the program to appear in the Super Bowl.

“Its so exciting and we have texted a few times this week and you know these kids - you see them grow and grow. They work so hard. This is what Tyler dreamed about and he made it.”

These coaches understand that a Rams win would yield the Bay Area a whole crop of Super Bowl champions, but they all agree - you never speak too boldly against the Patriots:

“That Belichick program is detail-oriented, but man I’m excited to watch Sean McVay and what he is doing with that program," says Lane. "So, if anybody is going to beat the ol’ guru then this is the team to do it.”
“I don’t think Brady and that crew is done yet. But I am pulling for the Rams," said Fenton. 

Of course, you could go bold:

“Higbee catches the ball at the three yard line and then the Rams kick a field goal to win it," says Hudson. 

Or you could be do what Cory Moore is doing...since he has a player on each team:
“The only team I will root for in this Super Bowl is Lakewood," said Moore with a big smile.

No matter the result on Sunday, the Bay Area has proven itself to be one of the best producers of NFL talent in the nation.