Illinois has a player on both teams playing in the Super Bowl this year.

Many NFL fans in the Rockford area don't have a team to cheer for in the Super Bowl this year since the Bears and Packers didn't make it. Maybe there's another way to pick a team to pull for. What if a former local athlete is on one of those teams? I think that would be a good reason. Well this year, there's actually a player from Illinois playing for both teams.

It's been publicized quite a bit already, so you might already know that the 49ers quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is from Illinois. He's an Arlington Heights native. He played his high school football at Rolling Meadows and then went on to play at Eastern Illinois University. For more about his story, HERE.

The Kansas City Chiefs have one too. According to mystateline.com,

"When you watch the Super Bowl a week from Sunday you might want to keep an eye out for the guy who wears number 56 for the Chiefs. He played his high school ball right here in Northern Illinois. He Is Ben Niemann a linebacker and special team player. He played high school football at Sycamore. There he wore number eight and he was an All-State receiver."

"Neimann started 40 games for the Iowa Hawkeyes and he was named Honorable Mention All-Big 10 as a senior. He went undrafted and his agent hooked him up with the Chiefs. This is Niemann’s second year with the Chiefs. He played in all 16 regular-season games with one start. He has made 54 tackles including a season-high ten tackles against the Colts in week five."

Sorry Jimmy G, but I'm backing Neimann and the Chiefs. I'm really hoping for an exciting game.

Who are you rooting for in the Big Game?


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