Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams: 4 Super Bowl LVI players have ties to Illinois
Super Bowl 56 between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 13, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Yet for at least four of the hundred-plus players, the journey to the NFL's championship game included at least one pre-NFL stop in the state of Illinois.
We take a look at Bengals and Rams players with ties to the Land of Lincoln.
Super Bowl 2022: Everything you need to know for Bengals vs. Rams
Los Angeles Rams
Brian Allen
The 26-year-old fourth-year starting center is a native of Hinsdale, where he was an all-stater with Hinsdale Central. He also won a state wrestling title. The 6-foot-3, 303-pounder was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 out of Michigan State.
David Edwards
The 24-year-old starting left guard is a former quarterback at Downers Grove North. The 6-foot-6, 308-pounder, drafted in the fifth round in 2019, began his college career as a tight end at Wisconsin before transitioning to offensive line. His cousin Garrett Edwards and great uncle Ron Leoni both played football at Illinois.
Ben Skowronek
The 24-year-old rookie Fort Wayne, Indiana, native played his first four college seasons at Northwestern in Evanston before ending his NCAA career with Notre Dame. The 6-foot-3, 224-pound rookie was a seventh-round pick in 2021.
Cincinnati Bengals
Mike Thomas
The 27-year-old sixth-year receiver is a Chicago native who played at DuSable and then at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn before heading off to Southern Mississippi. Thomas was picked in the sixth round of the 2016 draft by the Super Bowl opposition Los Angeles Rams. He played four seasons there before signing as a free agent with Cincinnati.
Other Illinois ties of note
Marty Turman, the Rams vice president of demand generation and CRM, was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs and received his bachelor’s in marketing at Northern Illinois. ... Bengals strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese is a Chicago native in his third season with the Bengals. Prior to this, he spent three years (2016-18) as the head football strength and conditioning coach at the University of Illinois. Also on the Bengals strength and conditioning staff are Todd Hunt and Garrett Swanson, who came to Cincy from the Illini with Boese.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 2022 Super Bowl: Meet the players with an Illinois connection
