Chesterfield Spawns Super Bowl Starter

Being Tom Brady’s center is no easy task.

You have to hand off with precision and then make sure no one touches one of the NFL’s all-time great quarterbacks. Dan Connolly, 29, thrives under that pressure.

Connolly, a Marquette High alum in his fifth season with the Patriots, has taken time to blossom in the current system.

There will be no greater demand than the New York Giants’ monstrous defensive line that has garnered considerable press this season with Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora grabbing the spot light. They’ll be gunning for Brady all game long during Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday.

“They’re physical, they’re quick, and they can move,” Connolly said, “so that makes them good.”

While starting more than 25 games the last three seasons mainly at the guard position, Connolly got the call to play center once Dan Koppen went down with a season-ending injury.

“I think there’s just a good coaching staff, they do a good job of developing players and giving guys opportunities to play,” Connolly said. “I waited and when the opportunity was there I stepped in to do it and it paid off.”

Perhaps no individual play in his career will be greater than his 71-yard kick return—the longest in NFL history by a lineman—last season (the Packers stopped him at the 4-yard line), but no win will be greater than a victory over the Giants to end the 2011 season.

“I’m going to prepare for it like it’s a normal game, but you can’t ignore the fact that it’s the last game of the season,” he said. “It’s important and we’re going to put everything into it."

Follow @ChrisVaccaro on Twitter for constant updates from Super Bowl XLVI.