MoCo Ties in The NFL Conference Championship Games

MCS Staff January 29, 2022 at 12:12pm

The Cincinnati Bengals travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game while the San Fransisco 49ers head south to L.A. to play the Rams in the NFC Championship game. Each year when we get to this point, we try to highlight as many connections to Montgomery County, MD as we can find so let’s get to it!

Cincinnati Bengals

Zach Kerr was signed by the Bengals off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad prior to last week’s win against the Titans. He’s a 2008 graduate of Quince Orchard High School.

Kerr (6-2, 334), an eighth-year player out of the University of Delaware, originally was a college free agent signee of the Indianapolis Colts in 2014. He has spent time with the Colts, Broncos, Panthers, 49ers and Cardinals, and has played in 95 career games (16 starts) with 166 tackles, 9.5 sacks, seven PDs, two FFs and one FR.

Keandre Jones has spent the last two seasons with the Bengals. He attended Diamond Elementary School in Gaithersburg and then Montgomery Village Middle School before going to Good Counsel in Olney for high school.

After playing college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Maryland Terrapins, he signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2020. Jones signed with the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad on September 8, 2020. He was elevated to the active roster on December 26 and January 2, 2021, for the team’s weeks 16 and 17 games. Jones was on the Bengals practice squad until being promoted to the active roster on December 21.

Kansas City Chiefs

Dorian O’Daniel was drafted by the Chiefs in the 3rd round of the 2018 NFL Draft and has been with the team ever since. He attended Good Counsel High School in Olney.

O’Daniel played at Clemson for all four years of college, where he won a national championship. May 30, 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs signed O’Daniel to a four-year, $3.34 million. O’Daniel won his first Super Bowl championship when the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31–20 in Super Bowl LIV.

San Fransisco 49ers

Brian Fleury, a 1997 state championship winning quarterback at Seneca Valley, is the offensive quality control coach for the 49ers.

Fleury has been the offensive quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers since 2020. Prior to this role, he started with the 49ers as the team’s defensive quality control coach in 2019. He has had positions with the Dolphis, Browns, and Bills in the past.

Los Angeles Rams

Blake Countess is a strong safety and special teams ace for the Rams. He graduated from Good Counsel in Olney.

Countess played at Michigan from 2011-2014 and Auburn as a graduate transfer in 2015. He was drafted in the 6th round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He has also had stints with the Jets and Ravens. Countess was called up from the practice squad prior to last week’s playoff game against the Buccaneers.

Jake Funk holds the Maryland state record for career touchdowns from when he was a student at Damascus High School.

He went on to play at the University of Maryland before getting drafted by the Rams with the 5th pick of the 7th round earlier this year. Funk has primarily played special teams for the Rams this season and suffered what was believed to be a season ending hamstring injury in October. He returned to the team’s active roster in December.

MoCo Ties in The NFL Conference Championship Games

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