Tracy Porter returns a fourth-quarter interception 74 yards for a touchdown. (Robert Duyos/Sun Sentinel)
By Teddy Greenstein
A flip of the calendar has been most kind to Big Ten football.
New Year's Day brought an Ohio State romp in Pasadena and a Northwestern bowl game that had everything but a Gatorade shower for Pat Fitzgerald. Then Iowa carried the league banner against Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
On Super Bowl Sunday, a Purdue grad (Drew Brees) was MVP, an Illinois alum (Pierre Thomas) turned a dinky screen pass into a 16-yard touchdown and a Hoosier (Tracy Porter) sealed the Saints' victory with a 74-yard interception return to the paint.
Porter signed with Indiana largely because he had no other viable
options. His best sports at Port Allen High School near Baton Rouge,
La., were basketball and track, but Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo got
word of Porter because of his ties to the area. DiNardo had coached at
LSU.
Porter signed late with Indiana and was the only player in its 26-man recruiting class not to merit any stars from Rivals.com.
"Did I think he'd start for us for four years and win the Super Bowl?" said DiNardo, an analyst for the Big Ten Network. "No, but we liked him and thought he was a good athlete. We had only about 45 on scholarship then, so it was pretty easy to give 'em out."
Brees had a phenomenal career at Purdue, twice the league's Offensive Player of the Year while earning Academic All-America honors.
Thomas flourished in Champaign, first for Ron Turner and then Ron Zook, who even started him over future first-round pick Rashard Mendenhall.
"He was the whole package," Zook said. "I'm sure Rashard learned an awful lot from him - toughness and hard work. And Pierre always had a smile on his face."
Zook, a New Orleans Saints assistant from 2000-2001, watched the Super Bowl with youngest daughter Casey, who graduated from Illinois last May.
"Casey was jumping up and down and hooting and hollering," Zook said. "We're so happy for Pierre and I can't imagine what's going on in New Orleans."
Porter signed late with Indiana and was the only player in its 26-man recruiting class not to merit any stars from Rivals.com.
"Did I think he'd start for us for four years and win the Super Bowl?" said DiNardo, an analyst for the Big Ten Network. "No, but we liked him and thought he was a good athlete. We had only about 45 on scholarship then, so it was pretty easy to give 'em out."
Brees had a phenomenal career at Purdue, twice the league's Offensive Player of the Year while earning Academic All-America honors.
Thomas flourished in Champaign, first for Ron Turner and then Ron Zook, who even started him over future first-round pick Rashard Mendenhall.
"He was the whole package," Zook said. "I'm sure Rashard learned an awful lot from him - toughness and hard work. And Pierre always had a smile on his face."
Zook, a New Orleans Saints assistant from 2000-2001, watched the Super Bowl with youngest daughter Casey, who graduated from Illinois last May.
"Casey was jumping up and down and hooting and hollering," Zook said. "We're so happy for Pierre and I can't imagine what's going on in New Orleans."
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