Super Bowl LIV is right around the corner and this year the team with the best storyline involves a team that isn’t even playing in the big game. Well, they’re sort of playing in it. The Purdue Boilermakers are going to the Super Bowl for their 21st straight season. A streak that is the longest active streak in football and only five years shy of Nebraska’s record of 26 years.
Now, what exactly are we talking about here? No, the actual Purdue football team is not going to the Super Bowl. They’re coming off of a 4-8 season and one of the worst decades in college football history. However, a former Boilermaker is going to the Super Bowl for the 21st year in a row. The impressive streak continues with this year’s San Francisco 49ers team. Breakout star, Raheem Mostert, is the most noticeable Boilermaker playing in this year’s game but former Purdue leading tackler, Jacob Thieneman, is also on the roster.
This is one of the most impressive active streaks in all of football. One of the worst teams in college football is producing perennial NFL talent. This only confirms what Purdue fans have known for years. The talent on these terrible teams has been good enough to compete at a high level for years. It also makes former coaches Danny Hope and Darrell Hazel look even worse than they already did. If that is even possible.
Raheem Mostert is the best example of this. Mostert barely saw the field as an upperclassman in Hazel’s offense. Despite being the fastest player in college football, Hazel failed to utilize Mostert in any sort of meaningful way. Danny Hope used him as a Wide Receiver in 2011 and 2012 but when Hazel took over he was moved to Running Back where he carried the ball 11 total times. In the NFC Championship game, Mostert carried the ball 29 times for 220 yards and four touchdowns.
If you’re a fan of a Big Ten team you are fully aware of how incompetent Darrell Hazel was as a head football coach. The NFL success of his former players shows the rest of the world how much of a clown Hazel is. The blame also extends to former Purdue Athletic Director Morgan Burke and his inability to make a good hire for the Boilermaker athletic department. However, that’s a whole article on its own.
Congrats to Raheem and Jacob. Purdue fans everywhere will be pulling for you on February 2nd when Super Bowl LIV kicks off. We’re glad you’re finally getting the attention and chance that you deserved.
