Former University of Minnesota football players Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tyler Johnson, as NFL rookies, have an opportunity on Sunday to win Super Bowl rings.
Ray Hitchcock, the former Gopher from St. Paul, cherishes the Super Bowl ring he won as a rookie with the Washington Redskins in 1987. “They don’t hand those out to everybody,” Hitchcock said last week.
Winfield is a safety, Johnson a wide receiver. Their Buccaneers host the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs before a TV audience that could reach 100 million.
Hitchcock, 55, a 1983 Johnson High grad who played for three coaches, Joe Salem, Lou Holtz and John Gutekunst, as a Gopher, was a center-guard for Washington in the 42-10 Super Bowl victory over Denver in 1988 in San Diego.
Washington’s Super Bowl ring, manufactured by Tiffany and Co., is made of 10K gold with 140 points of diamonds surrounded by red rubies and weighs 50 grams. It’s valued at $40,000.
‘It’s such a conversation piece with everybody,” Hitchcock said. “But you don’t wear it as often as you think people would just because it’s kind of gaudy. It’s a beautiful piece of jewelry.
“You show up as a rookie and you get one and you think,‘Boy, these are easy to get.’ But as people find out, some of these guys play 14, 16 years and don’t get one. I feel very fortunate, and I’m hoping (Winfield and Johnson) get one on Sunday.”
Damien Wilson, a former Gophers linebacker now with the Chiefs, got a Super Bowl ring for Kansas City’s 31-20 victory over the 49ers last year.
These days, Hitchcock, who resides in Maplewood, is a real estate star for Edina Realty. He retired after 19 years of coaching offensive linemen at Cretin-Derham Hall, which produced 24 Division I linemen during his tenure.
Besides Winfield and Johnson’s Super Bowl ring chances, Tampa Bay has Jack Cichy, the former Hill-Murray MVP-captain and Wisconsin star who is a backup inside linebacker.
Minneapolis’ Fred Bryan, who works for Hennepin County Community Corrections, will be the on-field umpire in the Super Bowl.
Chaska’s Jeff Seeman, son of late two-time Super Bowl referee Jerry Seeman, was line judge in the Chiefs-Bills AFC championship game. Mahtomedi’s Jeff Meslow was side judge in the Chiefs-Brown division playoff game.
Minnehaha Academy grad Jalen Suggs, the 6-4, 205-pound freshman point guard for undefeated No. 1 Gonzaga, is projected as the No. 1 overall pick in next summer’s NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons by NBADraft.net. Regardless, he should be picked among the top five.
Suggs’ Minnehaha teammate from a year ago, Chet Holmgren, rated the top prep basketball player in the country as a senior for the Redhawks, could be a top-five pick in next year’s NBA draft. If he chooses college rather than the NBA G League, Gonzaga remains the favorite among bettors.
Lance Johnson coaches Minnehaha Academy.
“I’ve been lucky to have two such talented kids come through my program,” Johnson understated last week. “It’s like ‘blessed and thank you.’/i”
Suggs, who was Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball last year, and Holmgren, who is expected to win the honor this year, have been in the Minnehaha program since middle school.
Holmgren is 7-feet-1 in basketball shoes and has put on at least 20 pounds since last season, when he weighed 190. Adept at playing outside, he’s averaging 19.3 points per game.
The Gophers men’s basketball team, a No. 8 seed, will play Boise State (No. 9) in a first-round NCAA tournament matchup in Indianapolis, projects ESPN’s astute Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.
Until they lost to Purdue a week ago, the Gophers, as a No. 6 seed, were projected to play San Diego State (No. 11), coached by Bloomington Jefferson grad Brian Dutcher, who has a $1 million contract buyout if he were offered and accepted the Minnesota job his father Jim had and coached to the school’s last 1982 Big Ten basketball championship.
New Illinois football coach Bret Bielema has hired former Gophers assistants Tony Peterson (offensive coordinator), Bart Miller (offensive line) and George McDonald (wide receivers).
David Raih, the former St. Thomas Academy QB, will become offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt. His QB coach at St. Thomas was John Welsh.
Andy Bischoff, the former Cretin-Derham Hall dean of students, will become tight ends coach for the Houston Texans.
Chad Ostlund, the former Vikings director of research and development, is smiling these days about the success of some of his past colleagues. New Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing was hired by Ostlund in 2001 and worked in assorted capacities with the Vikings before joining Mike Tice’s coaching staff in 2005. He
also played for three of Ostlund’s semi-pro Minnesota Maulers championship teams.
Ostlund also coached now-Packers GM Brian Gutekunst at Normandale Community College as well as current Seahawks R&D director Brian Eayrs with the Maulers, and was instrumental in the career start of now-Vikings director of pro scouting Ryan Monnens.
“They were all very motivated and extremely intelligent, and it sure makes it fun to have so many teams to cheer for in the fall,” Ostlund said.
It’s official: Justin Morneau will be the Twins lead TV analyst this season.
Debbie Jones has two sons, Tyus with Memphis and Tre with San Antonio, playing in the NBA but she’s been unable to attend their games due to COVID-19.
““That’s the only hard part. Over the years I’ve never missed anything,” Debbie said, “and to not be able to go now is very different. It’s the right thing, but it’s very different.”
That was former Gopher Mark Alt from Cretin-Derham Hall promoted to play for the Kings in the Wild’s 4-3 overtime victory in Los Angeles.
The baseball Gophers will play 44 games this season, all of them in the Big Ten. Minnesota hopes to have its first couple of weekends at the Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium. Fans, including family, will be limited to 150. The Big Ten still hasn’t released a schedule.
The Minneapolis Hayes Financial Group team that St. Thomas Academy football coach Dan O’Brien is joining includes former St. Paul athletes Jack Hannahan, Brian Winnery and Jim Miley. O’Brien, 56, who is forgoing his two-year interim AD duties with the Cadets, will remain as football coach, during which his teams have compiled a 29-3 three-year record.
O’Brien’s son Casey, the celebrated former football Gopher, last week began a local financial services position with RBC.
Tommy Auger, the all-conference tight end for St. John’s-Collegeville last season, last week signed to play professionally for the Cineplexx Blue Devils in Austria next month.
Condolences to the family of former Gophers-Olympic hockey player and beloved Richfield and Washburn coach Jake McCoy, who died on Friday of heart disease at age 79 in Richfield. Dave Metzen was McCoy’s defensive partner at Minnesota.
“He stopped more pucks than most goalies,” Metzen said.
Arizona high school kicker Jace Feely, great-grandson of famed late University of St. Thomas men’s basketball coach Tom Feely, last week committed to the Oregon Ducks./l
DON’T PRINT THAT
Marc Trestman, the ex-Gophers QB from St. Louis Park, would seem a perfect choice for the Vikings offensive coordinator job made vacant by the retirement of Gary Kubiak.
It was Trestman who replaced Kubiak as offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens and continued to run his offense in 2015-16. Trestman, who also was a Vikings assistant to Bud Grant (1985) and Jerry Burns (1986, 1990-91), beat coach Mike Zimmer and the Vikings as head coach of the Chicago Bears in 2014. He also beat the Leslie Frazier-coached Vikings in 2013.
What kind of a guy are the LA Rams getting in quarterback Matthew Stafford, acquired from the Detroit Lions last week?
“He has a good sense of humility,” Zach Zenner said. “He’s not a guy who’s going to be coming into a new building and instantly put himself above anyone _ in fact, the opposite. He puts himself below people despite being one of the most elite quarterbacks in the NFL.”
Zenner, the former Eagan High and South Dakota State running back star, spent 4½ seasons with Stafford in Detroit.
“He’s a great teammate who worked extremely hard,” Zenner said. “You knew that he had done everything in his power to prepare for the game and be at his best. You knew that on game day he was going to give it everything he had _ there was going to be no doubt that what the score was, what time of game it was, we were going to try to win.”
Stafford’s reputation for toughness is well earned, Zenner said.
“Oh my gosh, he’s tough,” said Zenner, also known for toughness .“People have no idea. There are so many injuries he’s had that people have no idea what it took for him to even get on the field.”
Zenner, 29, is working on a health sciences and integrative medicine and nutrition masters degree program through George Washington University to become a certified nutrition specialist. He also plans to become a certified NFL contract advisor agent.
People who know say, contrary to rumors, the University of Tennessee had zero interest in hiring the Gophers’ P.J. Fleck for its football coaching job that went to Central Florida’s Josh Heupel.
Transferring from Colorado State, former Minnetonka High QB Aaron Syverson will have four years of eligibility playing for St. John’s Collegeville.
No doubt the Vikings will take a pass rusher with their No. 14 overall pick if they don’t trade it.
NFL draft expert Mel Kiper points out that only safety Harrison Smith (2012) and linebacker Anthony Barr (2014), among the Vikings’ first-round picks prior to 2018, are still with the team.
It looks like the Twins again could have a taxi squad of minor leaguers at the St. Paul Saints CHS Field when they begin their major league season in Milwaukee on April 1 and at home against Seattle on April 8, the same as the Twins did in St. Paul last summer.
It’s not official yet, but due to COVID-19, there’s a good chance the Saints could begin their first affiliated season around May 1 rather than the customary first week in April for Triple-A clubs. Then the Saints’ season would be extended into September.
Bottom line: Either the Saints will begin their schedule in April or the Twins will have their alternate site at CHS Field.
Twins DH Nelson Cruz’s one-year deal for $13 million is the midway salary of his previous two-year contract with the club, $14 million in 2019, $12 million in 2020.
There is little chance that the Gophers basketball team’s best player, junior guard Marcus Carr, will be back for his senior season.
Carr, who withdrew before the deadline to declare for last year’s NBA draft, is expected to declare again. When the Gophers are playing next season, Carr could end up with a two-way NBA contract, the way Amir Coffey did with the LA Clippers, or play for decent pay overseas.
Coffey’s two-way deal is worth $449,000 this season. Former Cretin-Derham Hall and Gophers star Daniel Oturu is getting $898,000 this year with the Clippers.
Ex-Gophers rebounding star Jordan Murphy, 23, can expect a deal worth about $7,500 a month to play for the Timberwolves’ G League Iowa team in Des Moines this month.
MIAC presidents are expected to meet next week, after which they could determine that, among reasons, including the cost of COVID-19 testing, there will be no spring football. That means the end of the St. John’s-St. Thomas rivalry.
Drew Peterson, the 6-8 ex-Rice guard who left after two seasons and committed to the Gophers, then uncommitted and signed with Southern California, is averaging 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and a team-leading 3.4 assists while shooting 39.6 percent from three-point range in 17 games for the Trojans.
Timberwolf Malik Beasley, owner of a new $60 million contract, the other day purchased an Eden Prairie house for $2.8 million.
The Gophers football team could start four transfers in its defensive line next season. The Gophers men’s basketball team is starting four transfers this season.
It looks like Hall of Famer Rod Carew won’t make it to spring training as a Twins special assistant this year, but the Twins hope to have him back in Minnesota sometime this spring. Carew, 75, is healthy and doing well in California, having received his first vaccination for COVID-19. His absence in Florida is simply precautionary.
Among the NBA’s current 30 franchises entering this season, the Timberwolves have the worst win-loss percentage (.396) in league history, as properly footnoted by Wikipedia. Among defunct franchises, the Denver Nuggets are even worse (.177).
OVERHEARD
Wild owner Craig Leipold two weeks ago, before losing seven players to COVID-19, asked expectations for this 56-game regular season: “To get through the season COVID free.”
