Oak Forest Grad Tevin Coleman Will Play in Super Bowl

OAK FOREST, IL - The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t made the Super Bowl in many years, but there will be a Bengal in the lineup for the Atlanta Falcons when they take the field against the New England Patriots in the big game next Sunday.

Tevin Coleman - an Oak Forest Bengal football alumni - is expected to see a number of carries for the Falcons, who are making their first Super Bowl appearance in 18 years.

Coleman played in 13 games for the Falcons during the regular season, carrying the ball 118 times for 520 yards and eight touchdowns. This is his second season with the Falcons after the team drafted him in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Indiana University.

In the Falcons’ NFC Championship game win over the Green Bay Packers, Coleman rushed 11 times for 29 yards. In the divisional round win over the Seattle Seahawks, he had 11 carries for 57 yards.

Born ten weeks premature in 1993, Coleman could fit in his mother’s hands after he was born. But despite his little beginnings, he always envisioned a future playing pro football. As a junior at Oak Forest, he told Patch, “I see myself in the NFL really. ... That’s where I want to go. That’s my plan.”

He graduated from Oak Forest in 2012 and three years later declared for the draft.

Just five years after his final prep football game, he’ll be playing in the biggest game of all. And although he will be playing in a backup role to starting Falcons running back Devonta Freeman, there’s precedent for great things coming from second-string running backs in the Super Bowl.

Timmy Smith, a backup for the Washington Redskins, holds the Super Bowl record with 204 rushing yards for his performance in the Redskins’ Super Bowl XXII win over the Denver Broncos.

Read more about Tevin Coleman on Patch:
Tevin Coleman Makes NFL Debut on Monday Night Football
Atlanta Falcons Select Oak Forest Grad Tevin Coleman in 3rd Round of NFL Draft

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