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Five With Strong MoCo Ties to Participate in Sunday’s Super Bowl; More From Maryland

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.
Bonus MoCo Connection: Brandon Allen was born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round with the 201st overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft out of  the University of Arkansas, and even had a stint with the Los Angeles Rams from 2017-2019. This season, he has started one game and appeared in six games at quarterback for the Bengals, throwing 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He will back up Joe Burrow in the Super Bowl.
So where’s the MoCo connection? His father, Bobby Allen, was a standout quarterback at Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, and earned the Washington, D.C., area Player of the Year award as a senior. He also excelled in baseball and basketball. Allen went on to earn three varsity letters while playing three positions — kicker, quarterback and outside linebacker — at Virginia Tech. He’s currently in his 20th year on the staff at the University of Arkansas.
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.
Maryland Ties
Isaiah Prince (Bengals): Prince has started 4 games on the offensive line for the Bengals this season. He was drafted in the 6th round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He’s from Greenbelt and attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George’s County.
Rob Havenstein (Rams): Havenstein has been the Rams starting right tackle since he was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He is from Mount Airy and attended Linganore High School in Frederick County.

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Aaron Tucker, a Northwest High School Graduate, Participated in Super Bowl Halftime Show

Aaron Tucker, a Northwest High School Graduate, Participated in Super Bowl Halftime Show

Aaron Tucker has spent the majority of his life living in Montgomery county. He attended Northwest High School where he graduated as a State Champ in Track & Field in 2017.

He currently attends the University of Central Florida in Orlando Florida and has been dancing for 6 years.

The Weeknd spent $7 million of his own money on production costs for the 14 minute show, which featured dozens of dancers. Tucker considers the Super Bowl performance one of the biggest performances of his dancing career.

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Tampa Bay’s Ross Cockrell attended Whitman High School

Tampa Bay’s Ross Cockrell attended Whitman High School

Earlier this week we highlighted Dorian O’Daniel– the Good Counsel graduate who will be playing in his second straight Super Bowl for the Kansas Scott Chiefs.

Today we’ve learned that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also have a player with MoCo ties.

Cornerback Ross Cockrell was the 109th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 4th round. Since then he has played for the Steelers, Giants, Panthers, and now the Buccaneers where he has been on the active roster since the team’s week 5 game against the Chicago Bears.

Cockrell spent his freshman year in Bethesda, attending school and playing JV football for the Whitman Vikings, where he was a cornerback abd wide receiver.

He ended up transferring to a private school in Charlotte and became a highly rated cornerback prior to signing with Duke where he reunited with his high school teammate and former Whitman standout, Anthony Young-Wiseman.

We wish both Dorian O’Daniel and Ross Cockrell the best of luck in the Super Bowl today!

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