No former Kansas University football players competed in Sunday night’s Super Bowl, but connections to its football program weren’t difficult to spot during television coverage of the event.
KU athletic director Lew Perkins, sitting with wife Gwen in a suite, received air time when the cameras showed Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, brother of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Perkins’ connection? He is a member of the board of directors of Gatorade, an NFL sponsor.
Former KU and NFL offensive lineman Keith Loneker was the oversized blocker repeatedly smacking the pass rusher in the face on a commercial for the movie “Leatherheads.”
One more connection, a looser one, to KU football occurred during Super Bowl XLII: The Giants were flagged for having 12 men on the field.
