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Rutgers football will be well represented on the NFL’s biggest stage once again as two alums will be playing in Super Bowl LVI on February 13. Clark Harris will make his first appearance with the Cincinnati Bengals and Sebastian Joseph-Day of the Los Angeles Rams.
Twenty-four former Scarlet Knights have been on Super Bowl rosters with Harris becoming the latest. The former 7th round pick is in his 14th season and has played more NFL games (214) than any former Rutgers player in program history. The tight end has been a reliable long snapper for the Bengals and was part of a kicking unit that produced four field goals in the win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.
Rookie kicker Evan McPherson was a perfect 4 of 4, including the game winner from 31 yards in overtime to complete an 18 point comeback and send the Bengals to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1988. Harris had a perfect snap on the game winning field goal. It’s a remarkable story as Cincinnati won just 4 games last season and only 2 two seasons ago.
The former three-time First Team All-Big East selection played at Rutgers from 2002-2006 during Greg Schiano’s first tenure as head coach. He has one Pro Bowl appearance in his career and has played for the Bengals since 2009.
Joseph-Day will be making his second Super Bowl appearance with Rams and is hoping to return to the field for the first time since Week 7 of this season. He has been on injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle that required surgery. There was hope he would be ready for the NFC Championship Game but he did not play. The fourth year player had 31 tackles and 3 sacks before his injury as a starter along the defensive line. The former Scarlet Knight played at RU from 2013-2017 under former head coaches Kyle Flood and Chris Ash. He was a Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection his senior season.
Former Rutgers players Michael Burton and Mohamed Sanu were members of the losing teams on Championship Sunday. At fullback, Burton finished with -1 rushing yards for the Kansas City Chiefs and Sanu was inactive for the San Francisco 49ers.
Sixteen former Scarlet Knights have won Super Bowl rings with a seventeenth to be decided on Sunday, February 13 with Harris and Joseph-Day going head to head at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.