Three Blue Devils Advance to NFC Championship Game
At least one former Duke Blue Devil will get the chance to play in the Super Bowl. All three Blue Devils still on active rosters with playoff teams won over the weekend to advance to the conference championship round, and all three should be available to appear in the NFC Conference Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco has a pair of Duke players on the active roster.
Laken Tomlinson, a former first-round draft pick, started at left guard for the Niners, as he’s done all season. Tomlinson has started 47 straight regular season games since joining San Francisco in 2017. In his five-year NFL career, he’s started 71 of 79 games. The win over Minnesota on Saturday was his first NFL postseason win and his second career playoff game, after a Jan. 7, 2017 loss at Seattle when he was a member of the Detroit Lions.
Rookie Daniel Helm is also on the 49ers 53-man roster, after being promoted from the practice squad late in the season. The Tight end was deactivated for the playoff game, however, and still hasn’t appeared in an NFL contest.
After being cut by the Chargers, who signed him as an undrafted free agent, in training camp, Helm spent 13 weeks on San Francisco’s practice squad. He was promoted to the 53 on Dec. 12 and was active for the Dec. 15 loss to the Falcons, although he didn’t appear in the game. He has been inactive for the two remaining regular season games prior to the playoff win over the Vikings.
Helm and Tomlinson will fight for a Super Bowl berth against Lucas Patrick, a reserve offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers.
After spending most of the 2016 season on Green Bay’s practice squad, Patrick has appeared in 40 regular season games over the last three years, starting 6. He appeared in 14 of the Packers’ 16 regular season games this year without a start. He came off the bench and played in Green Bay’s win over Seattle on Sunday night.
Center Matt Skura, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury, saw his chance at a Super Bowl ring this season quashed when his Baltimore Ravens were upset by Tennessee on Saturday. The win kept alive hopes for Tennessee’s Shaun Wilson, however. The former Duke running back is on the Titans’ practice squad.
Thirteen former Blue Devils have appeared in the Super Bowl. Four have won the big game: Mike Curtis (1970 Colts), Bob Matheson (1972 and 73 Dolphins), Ed Newman (1973 Dolphins), Patrick Bailey (2008 Steelers). Three others were on Super Bowl winning teams but didn’t play in the game: Ben Watson (2005 Patriots), Juwan Thompson and Kenny Anunike (both 2015 Broncos).
