Former Buffs Solder, Morgan Still In Line For SB Ring

BOULDER — At least one former Colorado football player is guaranteed to win a Super Bowl ring Feb. 5 when the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons square off in Super Bowl LI.

If the Patriots win, it will mean another ring for former Buffs offensive tackle Nate Solder, now the starting left tackle for the Patriots and the man in charge of protecting quarterback Tom Brady's blind side. A ring for Solder would be his second — he won his first in 2014 — and it would bring to 52 the number of rings won by former Buffs as players in the NFL, collected by 35 players.

A Patriots win would also mean rings for a pair of former CU strength coaches. Current Patriots head strength and conditioning coach Moses Cabrera worked as a strength coach at Colorado in 2010. Current Pats assistant strength and conditioning coach James Hardy, who moved to the Patriots just last spring, worked as a strength coach at Colorado for seven years prior to going to New England, including several years with the men's basketball team.

A Falcons win, meanwhile, would mean a ring for former Buffs offensive lineman Chris Morgan, who now serves as Atlanta's offensive line coach.

Morgan, who played for both Rick Neuheisel and Gary Barnett at CU, lettered for the Buffs from 1997-99. While at CU, he also played for Buffs assistant Tom Cable (now assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks).

When Cable was hired as the head coach at Idaho in 2000, Morgan joined him a year later as a graduate assistant, then became the Vandals' offensive line coach. After leaving Idaho, he spent five years as a high school coach before once again joining Cable with the Oakland Raiders in 2009-10. From there, he went to the Washington Redskins (2011-13) and coached with Cable once again in 2014 as an assistant offensive line coach with the Seahawks, helping Seattle earn a spot in Super Bowl XLIX.

Morgan is now in his second year with the Falcons, where his line helped Atlanta finish second in total offense this season (415.8 yards per game), third in passing yards (295.3 per game) and fifth in rushing (120.5). In the postseason, the Falcons have averaged a league-leading 457.5 yards per game.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu