Colorado University Athletics
Current Count: Four Buffs With Broncos SB Rings
February 01, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — To this day, former Colorado Buffalo and Denver Bronco punter Tom Rouen still leaves the same message when he contacts former teammate Alfred Williams:
“I always say, 'From your national champion and Super Bowl champion brother,'” Rouen said this week. “It's a pretty good club.”
Indeed, Rouen and Williams are among a rare group: teammates who won national championships in college (1990 season with Colorado), then went on to win Super Bowl rings in the NFL (1997 and '98 seasons with the Broncos). The Broncos beat Green Bay, 31-24, in Super Bowl XXXII; then returned a year later to beat the Falcons in XXXIII, 34-19.
Rouen and Williams are among four former Buffs who won Super Bowl rings with the Broncos in those games. Former CU tight end Matt Lepsis played on both Bronco winners as an offensive tackle and defensive lineman Vili Maumau was on the 1998 squad.
Overall, they're part of 33 former CU standouts who own a total of 49 Super Bowl rings. Those numbers could increase by two on Sunday if the Broncos defeat Carolina in Super Bowl 50. Former Buffs offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus has been with the Broncos since midseason; tight end Nick Kasa signed with Denver's practice squad the day after Denver's AFC Championship win over the Patriots.
Either way, Rouen said, they're in for a week they won't forget. The Broncos will spend this week in the Bay Area preparing for Sunday's game while also negotiating a seemingly never-ending string of press conferences, media obligations and ticket requests.
“You try to make the most of it,” Rouen said. “It's so hard to get there, and such an accomplishment … and when you get to that week, it's crazy. Everybody wants a piece of you.”
Rouen and Williams, though, did have at least some inkling of what they could expect. Both played on the 1989 and '90 Buffs squads that faced off vs. Notre Dame in back-to-back Orange Bowls, with CU staking claim to the national title after knocking off the Irish 10-9 in the rematch.
“The media around a national championship like that is a little similar,” Rouen said. “We had an idea from that what it would be like at a Super Bowl.”
Rouen also remembers attempting to fill ticket requests for family and close friends — “let's just say I didn't have any leftovers” — as well as ensuring he had time to relax each day.
“Coach (Mike) Shanahan did a great job of making sure we had our own space,” Rouen said. “They had what amounted to an entire section of the hotel blocked off just for us. No one who wasn't a direct member of the team could get in. They had food, entertainment, games for us — just a space we could go hang out and not have to stay in our rooms. That was a huge help.”
Most of all, though, Rouen remembers the game.
“It's such a long season and during that week, you just want it to get there,” he said. “When it does, you never forget it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we got to do it twice. You just cherish it more and more as the years go by.”
Rouen and Williams aren't the only players off the 1990 national championship team who also won Super Bowls. Wide receiver Charles E. Johnson and tight end Christian Fauria were freshmen on that squad and later won rings with the New England Patriots;
KASA SIGNS: Kasa, a four-year letterman with Colorado (2009-12), watched the Broncos-Patriots game from the stands, then signed with the Broncos the next day after receiving a call from Denver. He'll spend this week imitating Carolina tight end Greg Olsen in work against Denver's defense.
“It's a dream come true,” Kasa told the Denver Post last week. “I don't know how to describe it. It's still fresh in my brain and a whirlwind going around in there. It's good to be here.”
OTHER BUFFS-BRONCOS CONNECTIONS: At least three other former Buffs have been on Broncos Super Bowl teams. Running back Jon Keyworth and offensive lineman Mike Montler played on the 1977 Broncos — the first to go to a Super Bowl — and defensive back Mark Haynes played on the 1986, '87 and '89 Super Bowl squads.
Keyworth earned a special place in Denver lore in 1977 as the Broncos made their improbable run to the world championship game. He recorded a song, “Make Those Miracles Happen,” and it became the No. 1-selling single in Denver heading up to the Super Bowl.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
