A pair of former Frogs are going to the Super Bowl.
Offensive lineman Marcus Cannon and defensive back Malcolm Williams, both taken by the New England Patriots in last April’s draft, will head to Indianapolis Feb. 5 when the Patriots take on the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.
New England beat Baltimore 23-20 in the AFC Championship Game Sunday.
Cannon and Williams will be the 22nd and 23rd former TCU players to compete in a Super Bowl. Cannon, selected in the fifth round of last year’s draft, made the Patriots’ active roster Nov. 15 after recovering from treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Williams, who was selected in the seventh round last year, was cut by the squad Aug. 29, re-signed to the 53-man roster Dec. 10, only to be released Dec. 15, and re-signed again Dec. 31.
Former TCU safety Colin Jones, drafted by San Francisco in the sixth round last year, notched one tackle in the 49ers’ 20-17 loss to New York in the NFC Championship game Sunday.
Former TCU quarterback Andy Dalton, now with the Cincinnati Bengals, is headed to the NFL Pro Bowl as a rookie.
The game will be played Sunday at 6 p.m. CT at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Dalton is the first former TCU player to make a Pro Bowl since Ladanian Tomlinson and Aaron Schobel played in the 2007 game. Dalton, who originally was selected as an alternate, earned his ticket to Hawaii Sunday, when New England quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots beat Baltimore to earn a spot in the Super Bowl, making Brady unavailable for this week’s Pro Bowl.
Dalton, the first rookie quarterback to play in the Pro Bowl since Tennessee’s Vince Young in 2006, joins San Diego’s Phillip Rivers and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger as the quarterbacks for the AFC.
The Houston native completed 58.1 percent of his passes for 3,398 yards and 20 touchdowns while leading the Bengals to a 9-7 regular season record and a first-round playoff berth.
Cincinnati went 4-12 in 2010 before drafting Dalton in the second round of last April’s draft.
Former TCU Football Players on Super Bowl Teams
Lyle Blackwood – Miami (Super Bowl XVII, XIX)
Larry Brown – Dallas (Super Bowl XXVII, XXVIII, XXX)
Norm Bulaich – Baltimore (Super Bowl V)
Marcus Cannon – New England (Super Bowl XLVI)
Tommy Joe Crutcher – Green Bay (Super Bowl I, II)
Kenneth Davis – Buffalo (Super Bowl XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII)
Norm Evans – Miami (Super Bowl VI, VII, VIII)
Sherrill Headrick – Kansas City (Super Bowl I)
Gaylon Hyder – St. Louis (Super Bowl XXXIV)
Cedric James – New England (Super Bowl XXXIX)
Bob Lilly – Dallas (Super Bowl V, VI)
James Maness – Chicago (Super Bowl XX)
Mickey McCarty – Kansas City (Super Bowl IV)
Guy Morriss – Philadelphia (Super Bowl XV), New England (Super Bowl XX)
Marshall Newhouse – Green Bay (Super Bowl XLV)
Bobby Pollard – Seattle (Super Bowl XL)
Jared Retkofsky – Pittsburgh (Super Bowl XLIII)
Barret Robbins – Oakland (Super Bowl XXXVII)
Bo Schobel – Indianapolis (Super Bowl XLI)
Michael Toudouze – Indianapolis (Super Bowl XLI, XLIV)
Greg Townsend – Los Angeles Raiders (Super Bowl XVIII)
Ryan Tucker – St. Louis (Super Bowl XXXIV)
Malcolm Williams – New England (Super Bowl XLVI)
