Veterans in the Super Bowl
February 5th, 2010 | Football | Posted by Phil Creed
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rocky Bleier won four Super Bowls in the 1970s after being seriously wounded in Vietnam in 1969. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
While discussing former sailor Kyle Eckel’s return appearance to the Super Bowl, a co-worker asked me: How many guys who’ve played in the Super Bowl have also served in the military?
All I could think of the top of my head were legendary Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, Rocky Bleier, the Steelers running back who returned to play after being wounded in Vietnam, Chad Hennings, the Cowboys defensive lineman who flew A-1os in the Air Force, and Paul Hornung, the Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer who almost missed the 1961 NFL championship game because of his duty in the Army Reserve.
After doing some research, here’s the list of Super Bowl vets I came up with so far. It’s probably woefully incomplete, so let me know who I’m missing:
Eckel still mum about getting booted from the Navy
February 3rd, 2010 | Football Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
Kyle Eckel runs over an Air Force player during a 2003 game. ( Navy photo / JO1 Mark Faram)
Is it time for Kyle Eckel to come clean?
Yesterday at Super Bowl Media Day, CBSSports.com columnist Gregg Doyel caught up with the New Orleans Saints fullback and former Naval Academy star. Doyel asked Eckel the obvious question: Why aren’t you still in the Navy?
Eckel, of course, was kicked out of the Navy in 2006 after less than two years on active duty. The Navy wouldn’t tell us why back then, and Doyel had no luck getting info from them either. When previously interviewed, Eckel himself has never offered any real insight into the issue.
Here’s what Eckel had to say to Doyel yesterday:
Again, I asked. It happened Tuesday when I got him alone at Super Bowl Media Day.
“No,” Eckel said — politely — when I asked him to tell me about his exit from the Navy. “No?” I said back to Eckel. “That’s it? ‘No’?”
“Right,” he told me — polite as can be. “No.”
The closest a reporter has come to getting to the bottom of Eckel’s record might be the Boston Globe’s Bob Hohler in his 2007 piece “Troubled Waters.” In it, Hohler outlines the trouble Eckel came across during his days at the Academy and after he graduated.
Judging by the comments on this blog and Doyel’s column, certain active-duty and former service members clearly loathe Eckel. Some folks don’t think this blog should even mention his NFL accomplishments, and a lot of folks aren’t happy to see him having a good time as a radio intern and playing in another Super Bowl.
Perseverance pays off for former Navy star
January 26th, 2010 | Football Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
New Orleans Saints running back Kyle Eckel stretches out during practice Jan. 21. For the second time in his NFL career, Eckel is heading to the Super Bowl. (Bill Haber / Staff)
Why is this man smiling?
Because he’s going to the Super Bowl. Again.
Former Navy running back Kyle Eckel punched his ticket to Miami along with the rest of his Saints’ teammates Sunday as New Orleans won a 31-28 overtime thriller over the Minnesota Vikings to win the NFC title.