Naperville Native Owen Daniels is a Super Bowl Champ

Owen Daniels played in his first Super Bowl on Sunday.

All season, he’s been catching passes from one of the game’s best quarterbacks in Peyton Manning. He snared the first pass of Super Bowl 50 for an 18-yard gain.

Now, he and Manning are Super Bowl-winning teammates. The Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers 24 to 10 Sunday night in what may be the final game for Manning, a five-time NFL MVP, likely NFL Hall of Famer and legend of the game.

Daniels celebrated on the field after the game with his wife and his son, Henry, who’s 7 months old, and his parents.

“It’s been an unbelievable experience. An unbelievable journey,” he told CBS sports reporter Ryan Baker.

Daniels, a Naperville Central grad, is 33 years old. Manning is 39, just enough older that Daniels had a chance as a high schooler to idolize Manning just a bit.

“I remember having his Tennessee jersey when I was younger,” Owens told reporters in the week before the game. “I was a huge fan back in the day. ... He was always on the top of my list of players I looked at, respected and wanted to be like.

“That jersey is probably still in a closet at my parents’ house.”

Daniels, a starting quarterback at Naperville Central, led his team to an undefeated season in 1999 and a State Championship. He graduated in 2001, went to the University of Wisconsin, where he converted to tight end, earned the nickname “Ole Sure Hands,” and was drafted into the NFL in 2006.

In his 10-year career, he’s reached the playoffs three times, twice with the Houston Texans and once with the Baltimore Ravens.

His mom, Bridget Daniels, an instructional assistant at Elmwood Elementary School in Naperville, and his dad Jerry were both there.

“We have seats to (Denver) home games on the 20-yard line in the third row,” his mom told the Naperville Sun. “On that first catch he made, he scored right in front of us.”

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Her students made good-luck cards for her son, which she delivered to him before the big game.

The biggest game of his career.

“It’s a dream come true for him,” said his beaming mom as the confetti rained from the sky.

Last year, the Redhawks inducted Daniels into the high school’s Hall of Fame.

Before the game, Owens told the Chicago Sun-Times that his hometown fans were on his mind as he experienced Super Bowl mania for the first time in his career.

“I know a lot of people from back home are supporting me and are proud of me,” he said. “I just want to show my respect for them by going out and playing well and doing everything I can to help this team win.”