Disney Hosts Southland Football Stars Returning For Rose Bowl

ANAHEIM, CA — It's just another perk of playing in the Rose Bowl. The Georgia and Oklahoma football teams planned to visit Disney California Adventure Park Wednesday, the first event leading to the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl New Year's Day.

The Disneyland Resort visit by the Rose Bowl Game teams continues a tradition begun in 1959, four years after Disneyland Park opened.

No stranger to soCal or the happiest place on earth, a few local players don't have far to travel for the big game.

Oklahoma's roster includes one player from Orange County, freshman second-string tight end Grant Calcaterra, a graduate of Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Another Sooner with a tie to Southern California is sophomore third- string nose guard Dillon Faamatau, an alumnus of Norwalk High School and Cerritos College in southeast Los Angeles County.

Sophomore Marquise Brown, who leads Oklahoma with 981 receiving yards, has a connection with another Southland amusement park. He was a ride operator on the X2, a 215-foot-tall roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain when he played at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita in 2016.

Georgia's tie to Orange County is through offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, who was an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at Cal State Fullerton from 1984-92.

Photo: Brett Deering / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images