• CFB150 Website | OVC's CFB150 Archive
Former Southeast Missouri State offensive lineman
Dan Connolly went from undrafted free agent to Super Bowl Champion.
A native of Chesterfield, Missouri, Connolly was a four-year starting offensive tackle for the Redhawks from 2001-04. He was an All-OVC selection in each of those seasons and finished his career with 46-consecutive starts.
After being undrafted in 2005, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars but was released after two years. That turned out to be a blessing for Connolly, who was picked up by the New England Patriots to fill out their practice squad. That practice squad signing would eventually lead to a spot on the Patriots 53-man roster and into New England's starting lineup at the end of the 2009 season.
Connolly would go on to become the first Southeast football player to play in a Super Bowl when he suited up with with the Patriots against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. Three years later he would win a Super Bown crown when New England defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona. In that game Connolly helped block for Tom Brady who threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
Connolly would start 71 games in his NFL career, retiring in July 2015.
He came back to campus to receive his bachelor's degree in 2011, six years after leaving Southeast to begin his professional football career. He was inducted into the Southeast Missouri Hall of Fame in 2013.
In 2010 Connolly set a NFL record for the longest kick return by an offensive lineman when he ran 71 yards in the Patriots 31-27 victory over Green Bay on Dec. 19, 2010. He won the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award after that return.
In 2018 he partnered with one of his former Southeast teammates, Ryan Roth, to open D1 Training, a World-Class Performance Center in St. Louis.