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2018 Super Bowl: What Mountain West Player Will Be World Champs?
There are two active former Mountain West players in the big game
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A former Mountain West player will get a ring on Sunday.
The Mountain West will be represented in Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots. There are two active players suiting up with former Boise State running back Jay Ajayi and former Wyoming tight end Jacob Hollister.
There are a few other former Mountain West players who could win Super Bowl rings but are not on the active roster. Former Aztec, and NCAA all-time leading rusher, Donnell Pumphrey has been injured and will watch from the sidelines.
Another Aztec who is on the Eagles is second-year offensive lineman Darrell Greene, he was on the practice squad this season. Those guys still get rings, so there could be one in his future.
On the Patriots side of non-active players there six-year former Boise State linebacker Shea McClellin who was plaed on injured reserve to start the 2017 season.
Back to Ajayi and Hollister as those are the two active players. Ajayi was traded mid-season from the Miami Dolphins to the Philadelphia Eagles and rushed for 408 yards with a touchdown in seven games. He also has 91 receiving yards and one passing touchown. He will be the main Mountain West player to watch.
Hollister was extremely close to getting a lot of playing time and attention in the Super Bowl. Rob Gronkowski suffered a concussion in the AFC title game and it was not a certainty he would be able to pass the NFL’s concussion protocol, even with two weeks to get healthy.
Hollister would have moved up to the backup tight end spot behind Dwayne Allen and would have seen playing time and likely a few throws from Tom Brady. The Patriots really like Hollister so he likely will get in the game for some run blocking and who knows maybe even catch a pass. For the year he has four receptions for 42 yards and rushed once for a five year gain.