Football: O’Hara Senior Bowl namesake addresses seniors at inaugural media day
HILLSBOROUGH − When Super Bowl champion Shaun O’Hara was a senior lineman at Hillsborough High School in the fall of 1994, only four teams per section qualified for the NJSIAA football playoffs.
So, when the Raiders’ season ended with a 29-7 win on a frigid Thanksgiving Day at Somerville High School, O’Hara and his teammates were done despite a 7-2 record.
The former Giants lineman mentioned that Wednesday night in a cafeteria at his alma mater, as he spoke to high school seniors who’ll play in the first Shaun O’Hara Foundation Senior Bowl, 6 p.m. June 12 at Hillsborough’s Noonan Field.
“You just never know when your last game will be, you guys have a great opportunity,” said O’Hara.
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O’Hara became a standout lineman at Rutgers, then went on to play in the NFL for the Browns and Giants between 2000 and 2010.
He has returned to Hillsborough to assist in keeping alive a tradition for senior football players from Somerset and Hunterdon counties that started with the Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone Bowl in 2013, a game played nine times. The 2023 game was cancelled because of funding issues after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 game.
“Somerset County plays very good football, and its players deserve to have this opportunity and play for a great cause,” said Hillsborough coach Kevin Carty, one of the game’s organizers.
Watchung Hills coach Rich Seubert played guard alongside of O’Hara when the Giants beat the Patriots 17-14 on Feb. 3, 2008 in Super Bowl XLII. He is also one of the O’Hara games organizers with Carty, Montgomery coach Zoran Milich, and game director Jim Ruh, a Hillsborough resident and executive director of the Foundation.
O’Hara’s foundation raises funds and awareness for all charities. They have a focus on cystic fibrosis, but they have contributed over a $1 million to many non-profits and health and educational initiatives.
Tickets for the game are $5 if purchased through players and $8 at the entrance gate. Veterans and children under three years old are free.
The game will pit graduating seniors from high schools in Somerset and Hunterdon counties. The teams will be divided into squads named in the honor of late Hillsborough football coach Otto Gsell and former athletic director Rocky Forte.
O’Hara wishes he had the chance after graduating from high school in 1995. The only ‘all-star game’ available for graduating seniors back then was the North-South game, and O’Hara wasn’t chosen.
“I never got to wear my Hillsborough helmet again, or put on my Hillsborough jersey on again, and I would have given half my pinky to have gotten a chance to play again in a Hillsborough Raider uniform,” O’Hara said. “You guys get the chance to put on the jerseys again, to represent, to be together. I want you guys to have fun, but I also want you guys to compete and go to work at practice.”
Practice for the game will be held on June 7, 10 and 11 between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Both teams practice simultaneously. Montgomery coach Zoran Milich said every player will definitely see significant game minutes.
For more information or how to donate please contact Ruh at jruh@comcast.net.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Football: O’Hara Senior Bowl namesake addresses seniors
