Tag: Terry Killens

Former Penn State linebacker will make history in Super Bowl as an official

This year’s Super Bowl will feature some unique Penn State football history in the making.

Under [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag], Penn State has begun to put multiple players in the National Football League year after year.

It’s a testament to his, and his staff’s, recruiting acumen to get talented players to Happy Valley and then develop them into players that NFL teams want to draft and keep on their roster.

Seven former Nittany Lions are on the rosters of teams in the AFC and NFC Championship Games this weekend. There is at least one on every team, ensuring that a former Penn State player will take home a Super Bowl ring this year.

However, it’s another Nittany Lion who is making headlines this weekend as Terry Killens will make history as the first person to every play in and officiate a Super Bowl.

Killens was a great player for Penn State from 1992-95, becoming a captain during his last season in the program. He shares the single-game sack record of four and had the 10th-most sacks in a season with 11.

This earned him a selection by the Houston Oilers in the third round of the 1996 draft. He was on the Houston Titans’ 1999 Super Bowl team who lost to the St. Louis Rams.

Killens played seven seasons in the NFL with three different teams, wracking up a career total of 83 tackles and one sack according to Pro Football Reference.

He retired after the 2002 season with the Seattle Seahawks and popped up as an official in college football’s American Athletic Conference in 2013.

The former linebacker moved into the NFL ahead of the 2019 season in the umpire role, which is what he’ll be doing when he makes history officiating the biggest game in football on Feb. 11.

This was the first year that he was eligible to work the Super Bowl as he’s now been an official for five years in the NFL.