Wednesday’s NFL roundup: Rutgers stands tall at Super Bowl
Piscataway, N.J. — After failing to win a Big Ten Conference game in his first season, Rutgers coach Chris Ash suddenly has a major recruiting tool.
It’s the Super Bowl.
When the Patriots and Falcons meet in Houston on Feb. 5, Rutgers will be on display.
The Scarlet Knights are going into the NFL championship game not only with four players on the field, defensive backs Devin McCourty, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon of New England and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu of Atlanta are all expected to start.
Alabama, LSU and Stanford also will each have four players on the active rosters, but not all of them start. And Rutgers would have had five players had not Patriots linebacker Jonathan Freeny been put on injured reserve earlier this season.
“This is big for our program,” Ash said. “It shows people, especially in the tristate area, that if you have a dream and goal of going to the NFL, you can reach that right here at Rutgers. It’s good for the university when you have five alumni who are competing in their profession at the highest level possible. It’s great advertising for our university and our program at this time.”
It’s also a topic that potential recruits notice, especially with the national signing day just about a week away.
“They don’t ask about it, but we talk about it, they make comments about it, especially in this area where it is such a big deal with five former Rutgers players in the Super Bowl,” Ash said. “Out of this region is it such a big deal? Probably not as much because some people are not as familiar with Rutgers and the players. But around here, it’s a big deal.”
It should be. McCourty, Sanu and Ryan all played their high school ball in New Jersey. Harmon is from Delaware and Freeny from Florida. All played for Greg Schiano most of their careers. McCourty finished in 2009, the year Sanu, Harmon and Ryan joined the program.
“It’s pretty cool to have all the guys I went to school with playing,” Sanu said of the Rutgers reunion. “Me and Logan were roommates for about two years.”
Sanu, who was drafted by the Bengals before signing with Atlanta last offseason, has faced the Patriots. However, he noted that Ryan and he rarely matched up.
“Very patient,” Sanu said in describing Ryan. “He knows what the tendencies are. He studies them. You’ve got to study just as much as him.”
It’s no surprise four of the former teammates ended up playing in New England for Bill Belichick.
Current Patriots safeties coach Steve Belichick, Bill’s son, attended Rutgers, where he played lacrosse and joined the football team as a long snapper.
When Bill Belichick went to his son’s games, he got to see some of his future players. McCourty was taken in the first round in 2010. Ryan and Harmon were taken in the third in 2013. Freeny was signed as a free agent in 2015 after four years in Miami.
“I’d say Logan and Duron’s roles have been pretty similar to what they were in college,” Bill Belichick said.
“Devin has shifted from corner to his safety role, although sometimes he’s a multiple guy. He’s versatile. He’s definitely more of a safety now, was more of a corner in college.”
Extra points
Surveillance video supports a police officer’s version of the arrest of Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter, including that Porter briefly grabbed the officer’s wrists, the head of the city’s Citizen Police Review Board said.
A county prosecutor has said the video doesn’t support prosecuting the most serious criminal charges against Porter — including aggravated assault — for allegedly grabbing Officer Paul Abel’s wrists. A spokesman said Wednesday the prosecutor is sticking by that assessment.
... The NFL says its concussion protocol wasn’t strictly followed when Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore was treated for a hit to the chin and mouth in a first-round playoff game.
No disciplinary action against the Dolphins will be taken, but future deviation may lead to fines against the team, the NFL said.
... The Dolphins haven’t determined whether quarterback Ryan Tannehill needs surgery to repair his sprained left knee.