Henne first Berks native on Super Bowl winner
Chad Henne made a bit of history when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl with a 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers Sunday.
The quarterback and Wilson High grad became the first Berks native who also graduated from a Berks high school to be on a Super Bowl winner.
Boyertown grad James Develin has won three Super Bowl rings as a fullback for the New England Patriots, but he was born in West Chester and grew up in Gilbertsville, Montgomery County.
Three other Berks high school grads have played in a Super Bowl, but ended up on the losing side.
Schuylkill Valley grad Steve Kreider was a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers following the 1981 season. Wilson grad Kerry Collins, who was born in Lebanon, was the starting quarterback for the New York Giants when they lost to the Baltimore Ravens following the 2000 season. And Wilson grad John Gilmore, who was born in Marquette, Mich., was a tight end for the Chicago Bears when they lost to the Indianapolis
Colts following the 2006 season.
Henne, who was inactive Sunday, was not the first Berks native to win a Super Bowl, however.
Tom Brown, a safety who was born in Laureldale, was a member of the Green Packers teams that won the first two Super Bowls, as well as the NFL title in 1965. He went to Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., and also played 61 major league games for the Washington Senators in 1963.
Kutztown University has had three players on Super Bowl teams: Doug Dennison,
Andre Reed and John Mobley.
Dennison was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys when they beat the Denver Broncos following the 1977 season. Reed was a Hall of Fame wide receiver on the Buffalo Bills teams that lost four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s. Mobley, a linebacker, won back-toback Super Bowls with the Broncos after the 1998 and ‘99 seasons.
To be fair, four players with Berks ties also won NFL titles.
Hall of Fame running back Lenny Moore, a Reading High grad, won titles with the Indianapolis Colts in 1958 and ‘59.
Dick Humbert, a Reading native who is listed on pro-football-reference.com as attending Reading High and Suffolk High in Virginia, won two titles as an end/defensive end with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1948 and ‘49.
Reading native Two-Bits Homan, a back who went to Lebanon High, won a title with the Frankford Yellowjackets in 1926.
Finally, Knuckles Boyle, an Albright College product, played one game at tackle for the champion New York Giants in 1934.