WPIAL football players among 30,000 cardboard cutouts in Super Bowl seats

By: Chris Harlan
Sunday, February 7, 2021 | 7:29 PM

WPIAL football fans might recognize some familiar faces in the Super Bowl crowd at Raymond James Stadium.

The NFL filled empty seats with cardboard cutouts Sunday night, and some featured football players who reached the WPIAL finals. Pine-Richland and Peters Township each tweeted to keep eyes open for cutouts of their players.

The Steelers invited select high school teams to submit photos of their seniors. In December, those schools received an email that said: “The Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL would like to invite members of your football program to participate in a fun and unique opportunity for Super Bowl LV!”

The Steelers allowed teams to submit photos of seniors and head coaches. The deadline was Jan. 4.

“We wish there were enough places to honor your entire team, but each NFL Club is only allotted a certain amount of cutouts,” the Steelers wrote, “and we felt this would be the best way to recognize your championship team and senior class.”

According to the NFL, Super Bowl attendance was limited to 25,000 people and 30,000 cardboard cutouts for the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Keep a look out for our 16 Seniors in the stands at the SuperBowl LV tonight! Let us know if you see any their fan cutouts!! Thank you to the Steelers and the NFL for the special opportunity for our seniors !!#SteelersNation #nfl #Steelers

— Peters Twp Football (@PetersTwpFB) February 7, 2021

We want to thank the @steelers for making it possible for all of our Senior players to make an appearance at the Super Bowl. Make sure you are on the lookout for them! ????

— 2020 5A State Champions (@PRRamsFootball) February 7, 2021

WPIAL fans also saw a few familiar faces on the field. Tampa Bay players Jordan Whitehead (Central Valley), Rob Gronkowski (Woodland Hills) and Justin Watson (South Fayette) and Kansas City’s Stefen Wisniewski (Central Catholic) all have WPIAL roots.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Peters Township, Pine-Richland