Laney College Alum Playing in Super Bowl 50

BERKELEY (CAL ATHLETICS) - Three former Cal football players – running back C.J. Anderson (Denver Broncos), head coach Ron Rivera (Carolina Panthers) and assistant defensive backs coach Richard Rodgers Sr. (Carolina Panthers) – have reached Super Bowl 50 with the game to be played for the first time ever in the Bay Area at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Sunday, Feb. 7 (3:30 pm PT, NBC).

Cal has now had at least one former player represent the Golden Bears in the Super Bowl in 14 of the last 15 seasons but this will mark the first time that former Cal players have ever squared off against each other with one an NFL player and the other an NFL coach.

Rivera is also the first former Cal player to serve as a head coach in the Super Bowl. Marv Levy was a head coach both at Cal (1960-63) and in four Super Bowls for the Buffalo Bills (XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII).

Rivera is the also the only member of the trio with Super Bowl experience as he won Super Bowl XX as a player with the Chicago Bears following the 1985 season and later was the defensive coordinator for the Bears in a Super Bowl XLI appearance after the 2006 campaign.

Anderson played a huge role in getting to his first Super Bowl in the Broncos’ 20-18 home victory over New England in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game as the leading rusher in the contest with 72 yards on 16 carries while adding three receptions for 18 yards. Anderson also had a key 30-yard run in the fourth quarter that was the longest of the game and set up a 31-yard field goal by Brandon McManus with 10:02 remaining that extended Denver’s lead to 20-12. The field goal would end up providing the game-winning points when the Patriots’ Tom Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski on a four-yard touchdown pass with 0:12 remaining before Brady was intercepted on the following two-point conversion attempt and the Broncos recovered the Patriots’ ensuing onside kick.

Anderson, who has combined for 214 yards rushing in the most recent three of his four career NFL playoff games, played for two seasons at Cal from 2011-12 where he rushed for 1,135 yards and 12 touchdowns on 198 carries. Anderson is a local product who transferred to Cal after playing two seasons at Laney College in Oakland (2009-10) after prepping at Bethel High School in Vallejo where he was the school’s first-ever player to later play for a Pac-12 school.

Carolina was a 49-15 winner at home against Arizona in Sunday’s second conference championship game with the victory the 17th in 18 games during the 2015 NFL season for Rivera and Rodgers Sr. The Panthers were 15-1 in the regular season to become only the seventh team in NFL history to win at least 15 regular-season contests and started the season 14-0 to equal the fourth-best start in NFL history before losing their only game of the campaign at Atlanta in Week 16.

As a senior linebacker at Cal in 1983, Rivera earned consensus first-team All-American, Pac-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Pop Warner Trophy honors while also being a finalist for the Lombardi Trophy. During his award-winning season Rivera set a single-season school record that still stands today with 26.5 tackles for loss among his 13.0 sacks that are tied for third on Cal’s all-time list and 138 tackles that are sixth. Rivera was a two-time team captain that led Cal in tackles in each of his final three collegiate seasons and remains among the school’s all-time leaders in tackles (336, 5th), sacks (22.0, 6th) and tackles for loss (47.5, 8th). Following his senior season, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the East-West Shrine Game.

Bug Rivera, a nephew of Ron, is a senior wide receiver on the 2016 Cal football roster.

Rodgers Sr., a teammate of Rivera’s at Cal from 1980-83 and also a two-time team captain, is most famously remembered for his role in The Play, a 57-yard kickoff return with no time remaining that lifted Cal to a 25-20 victory over Stanford in the 1982 Big Game and considered by many to be the most famous play in the history of college football. Rodgers Sr. finished his collegiate career with 168 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, eight interceptions, five fumble recoveries and 10 pass breakups. He led the Bears with three interceptions in 1979 and shared the Bears lead with four in 1981.

The Super Bowl trio is among a total of 11 former Cal players in the NFL playoffs including wide receiver Chris Harper, who was a member of New England’s 53-player roster for Sunday’s AFC Championship Game but was not active for the contest. Others on NFL playoff rosters included DeSean Jackson (Washington Redskins), Marvin Jones (Cincinnati Bengals), Marshawn Lynch (Seattle Seahawks), Brandon Mebane (Seattle Seahawks), Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers), Richard Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) and Nick Sundberg (Washington Redskins).

CalBears.com along with the Cal football Twitter (@CalFootball), Instagram (Cal_Football) and Snapchat (CalFootball) social media accounts have provided coverage of former Cal players throughout the 2015 NFL regular season and playoffs continuing into Super Bowl 50. Fans can join in the conversation using the hashtags #CalInTheNFL, #GoBears, #CalFamily and #SB50.

NFL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
SUPER BOWL 50
Sunday, February 7, 2016 (Levi’s® Stadium, Santa Clara, CA – 3:30 pm PT, NBC)
Denver Broncos vs. Carolina Panthers

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
Sunday, January 24, 2016
AFC – at No. 1 Denver 20, No. 2 New England 18
NFC – at No. 1 Carolina 49, No. 2 Arizona 15

DIVISIONAL ROUND
Saturday, January 16, 2016
AFC – at No. 2 New England 27, No. 5 Kansas City 20
NFC – at No. 2 Arizona 26, No. 5 Green Bay 20 (OT)

Sunday, January 17, 2016
NFC – at No. 1 Carolina 31, No. 6 Seattle 24
AFC – at No. 1 Denver 23, No. 16 Pittsburgh 16

WILD CARD ROUND
Saturday, January 9, 2016
AFC – No. 5 Kansas City 30, at No. 4 Houston 0
AFC – No. 6 Pittsburgh 18, at No. 3 Cincinnati 16

Sunday, January 10, 2016
NFC – No. 6 Seattle 10, at No. 3 Minnesota 9
NFC – No. 5 Green Bay 35, at No. 4 Washington 18

Former Cal Players In Super Bowl 50

• C.J. Anderson (RB) – Denver Broncos (12-4 Regular Season; 2-0 Playoffs; AFC Champions; AFC West Champions; AFC No. 1 Playoff Seed; won AFC Championship Game vs. No. 2 New England, 20-18, Jan. 24; won Divisional Round vs No. 6 Pittsburgh, 23-16, Jan. 17; Super Bowl 50 vs. NFC Champion Carolina, Feb. 7) – AFC Championship Game – Rushed for 72 yards on 16 carries including a 30-yard run that was the longest of the game and set up what wound up as the game-winning field goal in a 20-18 victory over New England while adding three receptions for 18 yards ... 30-Yard Run; Divisional Round – Scored the game-winning touchdown with 3:00 remaining in the contest and recovered an onside kick with 0:19 to go to clinch a 23-16 victory over Pittsburgh as he finished with a game-high 72 yards rushing on 15 carries while adding two receptions for 11 yards ... Game-Winning 1-Yard TD Run ... 34-Yard Run; Regular Season – 15 games/6 starts; 152 rushes, 720 yards, 5 TD; 25 receptions, 183 yards; 5 tackles; Playoffs: 1 game; 15 rushes, 72 yards, 1 TD; 2 receptions, 11 yards; 1 onside kick recovery
• Ron Rivera (Head Coach) – Carolina Panthers (15-1 Regular Season; 2-0 Playoffs; NFC Champions; NFC South Champions; NFC No. 1 Playoff Seed; won Divisional Round vs. No. 6 Seattle, 31-24, Jan. 17; won NFC Championship Game vs. No. 2 Arizona, 49-15, Jan. 24) – NFC Championship Game – Coached Carolina to a 49-15 home win over Arizona to get the Panthers’ to their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXVIII following the 2003 season – Divisional Round – Coached Carolina to a 31-24 home win over Seattle to get the Panthers’ to their first NFC Championship Game since the 2005 season; Regular Season – Led his squad to become the seventh team in NFL history to post a final 15-1 regular-season record or better including a 14-0 start that was tied for the fourth-best in NFL history
• Richard Rodgers Sr. (Assistant Defensive Backs Coach) – Carolina Panthers (15-1 Regular Season; 2-0 Playoffs; NFC Champions; NFC South Champions; NFC No. 1 Playoff Seed; won Divisional Round vs. No. 6 Seattle, 31-24, Jan. 17; won NFC Championship Game vs. No. 2 Arizona, 49-15, Jan. 24) – NFC Championship Game – Coached Carolina to a 49-15 home win over Arizona to get the Panthers’ to their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXVIII following the 2003 season – Divisional Round – Coached Carolina to a 31-24 home win over Seattle to get the Panthers’ to their first NFC Championship Game since the 2005 season; Regular Season – Helped coach squad to become the seventh team in NFL history to post a final 15-1 regular-season record or better including a 14-0 start that was tied for the fourth-best in NFL history