BUFFALO, N.Y. — Every year there are Western New York connections to the Super Bowl.
We're not talking about people who passed through Orchard Park with the Buffalo Bills, such as offensive guard Jon Feliciano, wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud, or Anthony Lynn and Deuce Schwartz on past coaching staffs. They're all out on the West Coast with the San Francisco 49ers these days.
We're talking about people who were born or grew up in the area.
Start with with Jordan Hogan, who's in his first season on the 49ers’ coaching staff. The offensive assistant was born in Niagara Falls before his family moved to Newfane, where he graduated from high school in 2009. He played college football at SUNY Brockport (2009-12) then got into coaching, with stops at Buffalo State (2013-16), Stonehill College, Cornell, and Colgate. He had internships with the Bills (2016), Indianapolis Colts (2017), Baltimore Ravens (2019), and now the 49ers through the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.
On the other sideline, there's Mitchell Reynolds, a 2006 Iroquois High School graduate who has spent 13 seasons as the senior operations director for the Kansas City Chiefs. He handles travel, lodging, and food contracts for the team.
There's also Buffalo native Jody Fortson, the Kansas City tight end who was placed on injured reserve back in mid-August, ending his season. The injury happened during a team practice session.
Fortson has won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs. An undrafted free agent in 2019, the South Park High graduate and former Erie Community College standout spent his first two seasons on the practice squad. After that, he snagged 14 receptions for 155 yards and four touchdowns over 19 games the next two seasons.
Fortson has spent time on injured reserve each of the past three seasons. An Achilles injury cost him time in 2021, and elbow and quad injuries sidelined him for much of 2022, before he contributed to the Chiefs' run to the Super Bowl.