MISSOULA — When Super Bowl LX kicks off Feb. 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., it'll be quite the showcase for the Big Sky Conference.
Eight players who played their college football in the Big Sky are on the rosters for the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, including former Montana linebacker Patrick O'Connell and former Montana State defensive back Ty Okada. O'Connell and Okada both play for Seattle, which advanced to the Super Bowl with a 31-27 win over the rival Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
Also representing the Big Sky are receivers Rashid Shaheed of Weber State and Cooper Kupp and Efton Chism III of Eastern Washington; linebackers Marte Mapu of Sacramento State and Christian Elliss of Idaho; and defensive lineman Elijah Ponder of Cal Poly. Shaheed and Kupp play for the Seahawks, while Chism, Mapu, Elliss and Ponder play for the Patriots. Running back Lan Larison of UC Davis is also on New England's reserve/injured list.
The eight players from the conference on the Super Bowl rosters are believed to be a Big Sky record.
Kalispell native Rick Dennison is also a member of the Seahawks' coaching staff. The longtime NFL coach serves as Seattle's run game coordinator and senior offensive advisor. He's won three Super Bowls (XXXII, XXXIII and 50 with the Denver Broncos) during his career.
Okada, a Minnesota native who was a two-time All-Big Sky player at Montana State, has emerged as a key player in the Seahawks' secondary. During the regular season, he was sixth on the team with 65 total tackles, including 46 solo stops. He had 1.5 sacks and an interception.
O'Connell is a Whitefish product and was a two-time All-American at Montana. He'll be the first Montanan to suit up in the Super Bowl since Glendive's Mike Person started at right guard for the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV in February 2020.
O'Connell had 19 total tackles, including one sack, in the regular season.
Kupp, a previous Super Bowl MVP who won the Walter Payton Award as the best offensive player in the FCS while at EWU, had 47 catches for 593 yards and two touchdowns in the regular season. He's added nine catches for 96 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs.
Shaheed was traded from the New Orleans Saints to Seattle midway through the season. After arriving in Seattle, Shaheed had 15 catches for 188 yards and TDs on both punt and kickoff returns in the regular season. He also returned a kickoff for a touchdown in Seattle's 41-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the NFC playoffs.
Elliss, a starting linebacker, had 94 total tackles during the regular season, and Ponder, a rookie, was in on 24 tackles and four sacks. In Sunday's 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos, Ponder recovered a pivotal fumble forced by Ellis that set up New England's only touchdown of the game.
Chism, another rookie, had three catches for 75 yards and a touchdown in the regular season for the Patriots. He has one catch for 20 yards in the postseason.
And Mapu had 25 total tackles during the regular season.
Super Bowl LX is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 8.
