Former Gophers football coach Glen Mason has one distinction that no other Minnesota coach can boast about: Three of his former players were on one team, the Steelers, in the Super Bowl.
They are safety Tyrone Carter, running back Gary Russell and tight end Matt Spaeth.
And if you look back a few years, Mason might still be coaching the Gophers if Russell hadn't flunked out of school after the 2005 season and Spaeth hadn't missed the Insight Bowl following the 2006 season -- a 44-41 overtime loss to Texas Tech after leading 35-7 at halftime -- because of shoulder surgery.
Mason considers Spaeth the best tight end he has coached. And after Russell scored Super Bowl XLIII's first touchdown for the Steelers, helping Pittsburgh defeat Arizona 27-23, Mason said, "Russell would have been an All-American had he not been ruled academically ineligible."
In the Super Bowl, Russell carried twice for minus-3 yards and one touchdown. Spaeth caught one pass for 6 yards. Carter had two tackles.
Mason also said his staff tried hard to recruit Larry Fitzgerald Jr., the great Cardinals wide receiver from Minneapolis, but "he had to go to prep school."
"I just remember that he didn't have much interest in the University of Minnesota," Mason said. "I remember making the home visit, with his mom and his dad and Larry, and they were very nice to me, very cordial. I think Mom had some definite plans on what should take place, what course of action Larry should follow. And I don't know what all went into him ending up going to Valley Forge Military [Academy], but that was in the process."
As for Fitzgerald's ability, Mason said: "Oh, I loved him. It's always hard to speculate that a guy coming out of high school is going to be one of the elite receivers in the National Football League, but he was surely an outstanding prospect coming out of high school."