HICKS: Piney Woods represented again in coming Super Bowl

Published 11:59 pm Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Since the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, which was retroactively changed to Super Bowl I, East Texas has had a presence in the big game. And once again this season, a Piney Woods native is assured of being in the NFL championship game in East Rutherford, N.J., on Feb. 2.

A Tylerite — either San Francisco 49ers running back Kendall Hunter or Seattle Seahawks defensive back Jeremy Lane — will be at MetLife Stadium for Super Bowl XLVIII.

Both are graduates of John Tyler High School and hope to join recent Super Bowl champions — JT graduate Aaron Ross (two Super Bowl rings with the New York Giants) and Robert E. Lee grad Matt Flynn (a Super Bowl ring with the Green Bay Packers).

Hunter, who broke legendary running back Earl Campbell’s rushing record at JT and was later All-America at Oklahoma State, has played in every game for the 49ers this season. In SF’s 23-10 win over Carolina in the NFC Divisional playoff game on Sunday, Hunter helped his team run out the clock against the Panthers. He carried nine times for 27 yards, including a 17-yard dash.

For the season, Hunter has 78 attempts for 358 yards and three touchdowns. He averages 4.5 per carry. He also returns kickoffs.

Expect him to get a few more carries this week when the 49ers visit Seattle for the NFC championship game, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (TV: FOX) Sunday.

It’s possible that Hunter (age 25) and Lane (age 23) will be meeting up against each other on the field.

Lane plays cornerback for the Seahawks. He has played in 15 regular-season games and last week’s NFC Divisional playoff 23-15 win over the New Orleans Saints.

In the regular season victory over the Saints, Lane provided a key blocking escort for Michael Bennett, who plucked a fumble out of the air, and returned it 22 yards for a TD.

With the Seahawks secondary being felled by injuries through much of the season, Lane, who played at Northwestern State, has had to step up.

But first he had to make the team back in 2012, and his speed caught head coach Pete Carroll’s eye in training camp.

“He showed on deep balls an extraordinary burst at the end of the play that was rare,” Carroll said when asked about the first time Lane impressed him in practice. “It called me to go back to him and talk to him about his track times because his 40 (-yard dash) time was not a time that would be indicative of a guy that can do that.”

Lane ran the 40 in 4.48 seconds in bad-weather conditions at his Pro Day workout at Northwestern State, when he also had a 42-inch vertical leap. Lane has a time of 21.5 seconds in the 200-meter dash, 48.0 in the 400 meters and a 23-foot long jump on his résumé at JT.

In the AFC championship game between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, an East Texan is on the Patriots — backup quarterback Ryan Mallett, a graduate of Texas High School in Texarkana.

Being a backup to Tom Brady basically means you never get into the game as Mallett knows having rode the pine all season.

On the Broncos is Louis Vasquez, a former Corsicana High School and Texas Tech player. He plays guard for Denver.

The Patriots and Broncos will play at 2 p.m. (TV: CBS) Sunday in Denver.

Back to Super Bowl I, wide receiver Max McGee (picured at left) was a member of the 1966 Green Bay Packers, who defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 34-27, in the NFL championship game in Dallas to earn a shot at the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs.

McGee was born in Overton and played high school football for the White Oak Roughnecks. He was the first player in high school football history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in a single season. He rushed for 3,048 his senior year in 1949. McGee later played at Tulane and served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

During the 1966 season, McGee caught only four passes for 91 yards and a TD during the regular season.

He was not expected to play against the Chiefs in Super Bowl I, which was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Thus, he stayed out past curfew and had a bit of a headache the morning of the game.

Starting receiver Boyd Dowler suffered a separated shoulder on the Packers’ second drive.

After borrowing a teammate’s helmet, he came into the game. A few plays later, McGee made a one-handed reception of a pass from Bart Starr, took off past Chiefs defender Fred Williamson and ran 37 yards to score the first touchdown in Super Bowl history.

By the end of the game, McGee had seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns, helping Green Bay to the 35-10 win.

McGee helped East Texas make its mark and it continues almost 50 years later.