St. Rita High School In Chicago Will Have A Former Player On Both Sides Of Super Bowl LV
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Super Bowl week is under way, and there are many Chicago connections to the game.
In fact, the city's St. Rita High School has a former player on each side of Super Bowl LV.
Mike Kafka, the former Northwestern Wildcats and 2005 St. Rita grad, is the Chiefs' quarterbacks coach - working with MVP Patrick Mahomes.
On the other side for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is 2012 St. Rita grad Pat O'Connor. He is on the Bucs special teams unit, and he is also a backup defensive end.
St. Rita football coach and athletic director Todd Kuska coached both of them with the Mustangs, so he's going to root for everyone.
"This week, it's going to be a little different. You know, obviously Mike has won a Super Bowl and you know, Pat hasn't, and you know, the window to win things as a player - the players are not in the NFL that long. So Pat's window is not as great as Mike's as a coach right now," Kuska said. "But I want them both to do well. I want Pat to do well when he's out there in the field – I want his team. And obviously, the coaching and the preparing that Mike puts into it with the offense – I'm sure we'll see a good game out of Patrick Mahomes."
Kuska continued: "I don't know how many guys talk to their high school coaches anymore, but those guys are very quick to get back to me, you know, and just wish them good luck. I told them, you guys got to get a picture together on the field sometime when you get down there. You know, I'm just happy somebody's going to have a Super Bowl ring. So somebody's going to bring a ring back to St. Rita later on this year, so that's what I'm excited about."
If it were a normal year, Kuska he would've tried to go to Tampa to watch in person. We have the next best thing - Sunday's kickoff on CBS is 6:30 p.m. ET.