Corey Graham went from UNH to the NFL, playing for the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills before joining the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017. Graham will start in Sunday's Super Bowl game against the New England Patriots.
While it’s true that many UNH Wildcats are die-hard fans of the New England Patriots, there are at least two members of the Philadelphia Eagles they’ll be rooting for during Super Bowl LII — former Wildcat defensive backs Corey Graham ’07 and Dino Vasso ’11. Both men will don the dark green when the two teams hit the gridiron at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis Sunday.
Vasso is defensive quality control coach for the Eagles, and Graham wears number 24, playing at free safety in his first season with the team.
Graham’s no rookie to the NFL — or the Super Bowl. He was a fifth-round draft pick for the Chicago Bears in 2007, where he played until 2011. The following year he joined the Baltimore Ravens, helping that team clinch the divisional playoff against the Denver Broncos by intercepting two Peyton Manning passes — one that he returned 39 yards for a touchdown and one during overtime that set the team up for a game-winning field goal and an advance to the AFC championship in January 2013. (Yes, that championship, where the Ravens beat the Patriots 28-13.) Graham and the Ravens went on to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in that year’s Super Bowl.
Graham played for his hometown team, the Buffalo Bills, for three seasons before joining the Eagles in August 2017. His interception in the second half of the Jan. 21 NFC championship game against the Minnesota Vikings helped his team clinch the win and advance to this year’s Super Bowl.
At UNH (2006-2010), Vasso was named 2010 AFCA All-America Defensive Back and was a nominee for the 2010-11 UNH Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year award. Before joining the Eagles in 2016, he spent three seasons on the Kansas City Chiefs’ coaching staff. Graham played for the Wildcats between 2003-2007, making the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team and serving as one of the team’s three captains. Both Vasso and Graham are graduates of the UNH College of Liberal Arts.
Other Wildcats will cover the game as journalists, including Zack Cox ’12 at NESN and Mark Daniels ’07 at the Providence Journal.
Super Bowl LII takes place Sunday, Feb. 4, at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on NBC.
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Written By:
Tracey Bentley | Communications and Public Affairs
