Super Bowl bound
Sweet Home graduate to appear on Colts' special teams
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Keith O'Neil, a 1999 Sweet Home High School graduate, will appear in Super Bowl XLI on special teams for the Indianapolis Colts. Photo courtesy of Jason Chapman, Indianapolis Colts

Every boy who likes football dreams of one day playing in the Super Bowl. Keith O'Neil has his chance this Sunday in Super Bowl XLI as a member of the Indianapolis Colts and it still hasn't sunk in.

"I don't think it will," O'Neil, a 1999 Sweet Home High School graduate, said in a phone interview last week. "I guess you always dream about playing in the Super Bowl but you never think that it's possible. It's happening so I'm trying to stay relaxed and focused."

Super Bowl XLI pits the Colts against the Chicago Bears and will be played at 6:25 p.m. on Sunday in Miami, Fla.

O'Neil, No. 53, will make his first Super Bowl appearance on special teams (kickoff coverage, kickoff return, punt coverage and punt return). He is second on the depth chart at linebacker.

O'Neil said even though he would like to be a starting linebacker at some point in his career, he is very happy playing special teams.

Keith O'Neil

"A lot of people think because you're not a starter, you're not as important, but I'm proud to be a special teamer," he said. "It takes a certain kind of person to be a special teams player. I enjoy what I do."

"He's extremely reckless, which is good and bad," said Keith's father, Ed. "Last year, he took on a wedge in Tennessee by throwing a cross-body block at their heads. He goes full speed and doesn't care about his body, and he has good technique and speed."

Ed knows first-hand what it's like to play in the NFL. A linebacker himself, he was selected by the Detroit Lions as the eighth overall pick of the 1974 draft. He played seven years, six with the Lions and another year with the Green Bay Packers. Since retiring from the field, he has an impressive coaching resume with stops at Eastern Michigan University and Indiana University (linebacker coach), 10 years at Rutgers University (linebacker, special teams coach) and three years as defensive coordinator with the University at Buffalo.

Since 1999, he has coached in NFLEurope with the Rhine Fire (linebacker, special teams) and is defensive coordinator with the Frankfurt Galaxy. Last week, he interviewed for the Fire's head coaching job.

"I've been in football all of my life," Ed O'Neil said. "I went to Penn State when we were 12-0 and won the Orange Bowl, and another year we won the Cotton Bowl. I'll think of a word someday to describe what Keith has accomplished."

All in the Family

The O'Neil family is synonymous with football.

Ed's brother, Dan, was an all-state running back in Pennsylvania and played at defensive back for Villanova University in the late 1960s.

Keith's older brother, Kevin, played at Syracuse University with Orchard Park High graduate and current Colt, Josh Thomas.

"When I got here, he was one of the first players I talked to because of the connection," said Keith O'Neil. "We hang out a lot. My wife (Jill) and I and he and his girlfriend go out."

In addition, Keith's sister, Colleen, once an accomplished high school runner at Sweet Home, is married to Drew Haddad, arguably UB's greatest receiver, who used to play for the Colts, Buffalo Bills and the last two games of the 2005 season with the San Diego Chargers.

Other WNY connections from the Colts include former Buffalo Bills and current Colts General Manager Bill Polian, his son, Chris, vice president of football operations and a St. Francis High graduate, and former Bills tight end and quality control aide, Pete Metzelaars.

Greg Gabriel, the Chicago Bears' director of college scouting, graduated from Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsville. Bears guard Ruben Brown is a former eight-time Pro Bowler with the Bills.

Growing up

Keith O'Neil didn't start playing organized football until the seventh grade in a Pop Warner league in New Jersey. When Ed O'Neil got a job with UB, the family moved to Amherst and Keith attended all four years of high school at Sweet Home.

Keith O'Neil started three years for the Panthers at linebacker and running back, but was also used as an H-back on offense. He earned All-Western New York and All-Conference honors his senior year.

"He was one of my best blockers and receivers," said Sweet Home coach John Faller. "There wasn't much the kid couldn't do. He could have been my starting fullback but we ran mostly one back. He would get the ball on short yardage sometimes. He had some of the best hands on the team. Defensively, he had a nose for the ball and was quick and strong. If you had 11 of those guys, you'd be all set."

Keith O'Neil also started a couple of years at midfield for Faller's Sweet Home varsity lacrosse team.

He was offered scholarships at both the University of Maine and Northern Arizona but told Ed he chose Northern Arizona, "because if I go to Maine, I'll always wonder what it would have been like," Ed O'Neil said.

As a four-year letterman and three-year starter at linebacker at Northern Arizona, Keith O'Neil had 225 career stops, 20 sacks, 49 tackles for losses and three interceptions. He was also named First Team All-Big Sky as a senior.

"To stop and think that he went 2,000 miles away to go to an I-AA college that not many people have heard of, play in a league that not many people had heard of, and go to a Super Bowl in his fourth year (as a pro) is unbelievable," said Ed O'Neil.

After graduating in 2003, Keith O'Neil was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys. He played 15 games in his first year and finished second on the team with 17 special teams stops. In 2004, he saw action in 16 games and was third on the team with 18 special teams tackles - eight solo - and one fumble recovery.

He was waived on Sept. 3, 2005, but claimed off waivers the next day by the Colts.

"When I got released, I went home, sat there for a little bit then started packing and keeping my fingers crossed I'd get picked up," said Keith O'Neil. "The next morning I got a call from Chris Polian telling me they had picked me off waivers and to catch a flight that night to Indianapolis. The next day, I was practicing. It was pretty crazy to say the least."

In 2005 with the Colts, he had 18 tackles - 14 solo - and one forced fumble at linebacker, as well as 18 special teams tackles, 12 of which were solo. This year, he has made 14 special team tackles - 10 solo - and four tackles - three solo - at linebacker.

A high left ankle sprain kept O'Neil out of action for six games in the middle of the season and up to that point, only a separated right shoulder in his third year was his only other major injury.

He signed a two-year deal in the past offseason and would like to stay a Colt in the future.

"I do enjoy playing for the Colts," O'Neil added. "I wouldn't mind playing here the rest of my career. They're a class act organization. They treat everyone like family."

That starts at the top with Colts coach Tony Dungy.

"He really connects with his players so not only is he a coach, he's like a father figure to us," said O'Neil. "His door is always open. He treats us like men, is very warm-hearted, and on top of that, is an outstanding coach."

'We know the way to Indy'

The O'Neils have followed Keith's career even when he played 2,000 miles away at Northern Arizona.

"We always had someone from the family attending one of his home college games, whether it was his brother or sister, or Ed or I flew out separately," said Keith's mother, Nancy. "There was one friend of his here that went every year to Northern Arizona to watch him play."

When Keith played for Dallas, Ed and Nancy attended 11 of the 21 games he played. They don't go to as many Indianapolis games but have made the trek several times. This season, the O'Neils went to about six Colts games, including ones against the New York Giants, Houston Texans and New England Patriots. Ed, Nancy, Colleen, Drew, Kevin, Jill and Keith's in-laws was sitting in the players' families section at the RCA Dome when Indy won the AFC title.

"It's one of the most exciting times of our life," said Nancy O'Neil. "It's a dream come true for us and the family because we've been involved in football for so long, so we're living it through Keith and living it together."

"We know the way to Indy," added Ed.

They leave Thursday night for Miami.

The Super Bowl

O'Neil is taking the advice of teammates who have played in a Super Bowl (Adam Vinatieri, Ricky Proehl and Anthony Mc- Farland) and looking at it as just another game.

"Vinatieri said it best - 'go down there and win because as good as we felt winning the AFC championship, the feeling of losing a Super Bowl will times that by ten,'" said O'Neil.

"The show's for everyone else," O'Neil added. "That's the way we're approaching it. We're just playing in a game."

O'Neil thinks the Colts match up well with the Bears.

"They have a great defense," he said. "Everyone knows that but their offense does average 26 points a game, which many people overlook. So they do put points on the board. Defensively, we'll have our hands full with (Cedric) Benson and (Thomas) Jones running the ball and Rex Grossman passing. Their special teams are one of the best in the league. It will be a tough game for the world championship."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com