Photo Courtesy of Arizona Cardinals

TAMPA BAY, Fla. -- The University of Delaware football program will be well-represented at Super Bowl XLIII this Sunday as former Blue Hen All-American tight end Ben Patrick (at right) is expected to play a key role for the Arizona Cardinals when they face the Pittsburgh Steelers for the world championship at Raymond James Stadium at 6 p.m.

Patrick, a 6-3, 260 lb. native of Savannah, Ga., is a second-year member of the National Football Conference champion Cardinals and serves as the team’s No. 2 tight end behind starter Leonard Pope. He saw action in the Cardinals’ 32-25 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in last week’s NFC title game and caught a two-point conversion from Kurt Warner following the game’s final touchdown.

Patrick will be third former Blue Hen football player to appear in the Super Bowl, joining former Delaware standouts Ivory Sully in 1980 and Rich Gannon in 2003. Sully was a special teams standout for the Los Angeles Rams in their 31-19 loss to Pittsburgh in 1980 while Gannon, a former NFL Most Valuable Player, quarterbacked the Oakland Raiders in a 48-21 loss to Tampa Bay in 2003.

Another former UD standout, Jamin Elliott, earned a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots in 2004 as a practice player but did not suit up for the game, a 32-29 win over the Carolina Panthers.

"I can't even put it in words," Patrick said in a recent interview with the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal. "Obviously, it's the biggest stage in organized sports aside from the Olympics. I can't even really grasp it personally. It's amazing."

Injuries forced Patrick to miss five games during the regular season, but he still managed to catch 11 passes for 104 yards and added an eight-yard reception in Arizona’s first round playoff win over Atlanta. As a rookie in 2007, he appeared in eight games and caught seven passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

Patrick began his collegiate career at Duke where he played for three seasons before transferring to Delaware as a senior. Although Delaware went 5-6 under head coach K.C. Keeler in his only season in 2006, Patrick enjoyed one of the finest campaigns ever for a Blue Hen tight end.

He earned consensus first team All-American honors after catching 64 passes for 639 yards and six touchdowns, setting a school record for receptions in a season by a tight end. Also a first team All-East and first team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection, he went on to play in both the East-West Shrine Game and Senior Bowl all-star games and was drafted in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Cardinals in April.

Patrick was one of three former Blue Hens to compete in the NFL this past season, joining quarterback Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens and safety Mike Adams of the Cleveland Browns.

Flacco received consideration for NFL Rookie of the Year honors as he enjoyed a banner year as the starting quarterback in Baltimore, leading the Ravens to the American Football Conference title game last week before falling to Pittsburgh 23-14. He started all 16 regular season games and completed 257 of 428 passes for 2,971 yards and 14 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions. He also caught a pass and ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He led the Ravens to playoff wins over Miami (27-9) in the first round and over Tennessee (13-10) in the second round.

Adams appeared in 14 games and ranked 10th on the team with 44 total tackles, including 36 solo stops as a part-time starter. He also recorded two interceptions, including one against Flacco in the Browns’ 28-10 loss to the Ravens back on Sept. 21. A five-year NFL veteran, Adams has recorded 220 tackles and seven interceptions for his career.