Cal U will be represented at Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4. The game's referee is a grad, and the Philadelphia Eagles have several alumni on staff.
While neither team's uniforms will be Vulcans red and black, Cal U will have an impact on the field and behind the scenes when the Philadelphia Eagles try to dethrone the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Gene Steratore, Class of 1988, will be the referee heading the officiating crew. And five Cal U alumni, plus a former instructor, handle front-office duties for the NFC champion Eagles.
Steratore has been a referee for 12 of his 15 years as an NFL official. This will be his first Super Bowl assignment and his 12th post-season game.
Although he will be the first Cal U graduate to serve as the Super Bowl referee, Steratore is the third alumnus to officiate the big game.
His older brother, Tony Steratore '87, was the back judge for Super Bowl XXXIX in
2005, and for Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 - a point of pride for their mother, alumna
Jean Steratore '87.
The first alumnus to officiate the NFL's biggest game was 2010 Cal U Athletics Hall
of Fame inductee Dale Hamer '60. He was the head linesman for Super Bowl XVII in 1983
and Super Bowl XXII in 1988.
Hamer retired from the field in 2001 and stepped down as a replay-booth official in 2014. Officials are not allowed to talk to the media during the season, and he joked that a pre-game comment from Steratore would be out of the question.
"Gene's an outstanding referee, and this really should have happened a long time ago," Hamer said. "He runs a good, solid game and has the respect of all the coaches and media. When a team sees Gene come on to the field, they know what kind of game they'll get.
"He'll let them play, but he will be tough."
Paul Lancaster '95, a former Vulcan basketball standout, is in his first year as the Eagles' director of player engagement - the same role he played for 16 years with the Buffalo Bills.
It's Lancaster's job to be a mentor and resource for all Eagles players off the field. Through a wide array of programs, he prepares them mentally, emotionally and physically for life on the gridiron and supports them during their transition to post-football careers.
This is Lancaster's first playoff season, and he's been busy helping Eagles players and their families make arrangements for the game.
"God just put me in the right place at the right time, and our players did such a phenomenal job," Lancaster said.
"For my family and I to go the Super Bowl my first year here, after not getting a whiff of the playoffs for 16 years, is really beyond words."
Lancaster pointed out another Cal U connection: Dr. Kevin Elko '81, a performance consultant and motivational speaker, is on retainer with the Eagles and addressed the team before its NFC championship win over Minnesota.
Both Lancaster and Elko are originally from Brownsville, Pa.
Four more alumni, all graduates of Cal U's exercise science program, are part of the Eagles' Sports Science team: Shaun Huls '16, director of high performance; Joe O'Pella '09, assistant athletic trainer; and Keith Gray '13 and Ben Wagner '15, assistant strength and conditioning coaches.
And Chris Peduzzi, head athletic trainer for the Eagles, has been an instructor for both graduate and undergraduate programs in Cal U's Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies.
Dr. Barry McGlumphy, a professor in the department, developed Cal U's master's degree program in exercise science and health promotion. Each year he also works as an athletic trainer for National Football League teams, including several Eagles training camps and some regular-season games.
"I have been very fortunate to work closely with many of these professionals and cannot state enough how important they are to the success of the Eagles team this season," McGlumphy said.
Huls said his Cal U degree, which was in the sport psychology concentration, has been
very helpful. He coordinated strength and conditioning and injury programs for the
Navy SEALs before joining the Eagles in 2013.
"In any walk of life you are always dealing with the psychological aspects and athletes
are no different," he said. "I looked at this degree as a vehicle for my own self-improvement
so that I could extend better benefits to the players.
"I felt the Cal U program was high quality education that definitely fit our busy
schedule."
McGlumphy has tracked the success of his program's graduates since 2003. Tallying alumni who've worked in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and MLS, he speculates that Cal U's online exercise science program leads the nation for the number of graduates working in professional sports.
"These graduates have excelled in the professional setting and are responsible for the year-round health care and conditioning of this Super Bowl-bound team.
"It is refreshing to know that as proud as we are of these graduates, they are equally as proud to represent Cal U each day in their pursuit of excellence."
That pursuit continues on Super Bowl Sunday.