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AP
Football

#StanfordNFL Championship Weekend: Super Bowl Bound



Highlights

AFC No. 4 Cincinnati 27, No. 2 Kansas City 24

Cincinnati fell behind 21-3, but overcame that deficit to win in overtime to make its third Super Bowl appearance of all-time. Cardinal Michael Thomas made one special teams tackle in the game on 20 snaps and will be making his first career Super Bowl appearance. WR Trenton Irwin was inactive for the game. Bengals WR coach Troy Walters is a legendary Stanford WR who won the 1999 Biletnikoff Award Winner, was a Consensus All-American and Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year.

NFC No. 4 Los Angeles 20, No. 6 San Francisco 17

San Francisco's season came to an end with their second NFC Championship Game appearance in the last three seasons. A strong roster built by Stanford legend and NFL Hall of Famer John Lynch featured two Cardinal rookies on the practice squad to end the season – Curtis Robinson and Connor Wedington. Robinson was activated for the final three weeks of the regular season.

Hackett Named Broncos Head Coach

Nathaniel Hackett became Stanford's 20th former assistant coach to become an NFL head coach when the Denver Broncos appointed him to the position last week. In total, Stanford has had 49 former coaches who have also coached in the NFL, including 23 who have served as head coaches. Jack Christiansen, Norb Hecker and Paul Wiggin were NFL head coaches before coaching on The Farm. 

Adofo-Mensah Named Vikings GM

Vikings' GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who holds a masters degree in accounting from Stanford, joined John Lynch as Cardinal alums to currently serve as NFL General Managers. Adofo-Mensah was appointed to the position last week.

Senior All-Star Game

Former Cardinal Thomas Booker will play in the East-West Shrine Game on Thursday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The game will kick off at 5 p.m. PT and air on the NFL Network.