UCLA Football: Super Bowl-Bound Bruins Alum Talks About Program As Sleeper Pigskin School
A former UCLA Bruin will be competing in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Jake Brendel will be looking to win his first championship ring.
Brendel is not just proud to represent the 49ers at the Super Bowl, but the Bruins as well. Brendel in particular represents the Bruins' offensive linemen, which he feels is an underrated group.
"UCLA's kind of a sleeper university when it comes to offensive linemen and just people in the league in general," Brendel said. "To share a school with [Jonathan] Ogden is nuts. I've had the pleasure to meet him a few times ... it means a lot."
The Bruins have of course produced one of the best offensive linemen in recent NFL history in former Baltimore Ravens OT Jonathan Ogden. Ogden, who is one of six former Bruins to have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was previously a Super Bowl champion and the standard of offensive line for the Bruins.
Brendel and Ogden are just two of the many former UCLA offensive linemen to go on to have successful NFL careers. The Bruins have produced many Pro Bowl offensive linemen, including Max Montoya, Luis Sharpe, Dave Dalby, Randy Cross, and Mark Tuinei among others.
Brendel and Ogden are also just two of the many former UCLA Bruins to make a Super Bowl. The Bruins have had the fifth-most former players go on to appear in a Super Bowl among all college football programs, with 114 players having done so.
Now, Brendel has the chance to join the select group of Bruins who have won a Super Bowl, if he and the 49ers can prevail this Sunday.