Iowa Hawkeyes in the NFL: Croston, McCarron and Ferentz Could Get Rings

The Super Bowl dreams of Jaleel Johnson and Riley Reiff came to an abrupt end on Sunday, as the Minnesota Vikings were trounced 38-7 in the NFC Championship Game by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Three other Hawkeyes -- Cole Croston, Riley McCarron and James Ferentz — still have shots at winning Super Bowl rings. Croston was activated by the Patriots in Week 11 and has seen some playing time since then. He’ll likely be on the 53-man roster than makes its way to Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII in two weeks. McCarron and Ferentz are on New England’s practice squad and would more than likely receive rings should the Patriots be victorious.

As far as stats over the weekend, only one former Hawkeye was able to work his way into either box score.

Jaleel Johnson, Defensive Tackle, Minnesota Vikings

Jaleel got in on two tackles against the Eagles, which was obviously not enough to help his team come away victorious. Perhaps the more entertaining performance was his exchange on Twitter with New Orleans Saints cornerback Justin Hardee. Jaleel responded to this tweet by Hardee after the NFC Championship:

After the Hardee tweet, Jaleel responded by saying “but you were watching from your couch.” He has since deleted that tweet.

On February 4th, we’ll all be watching from our couch as the New England Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be pulling for the Patriots and those three former Hawkeyes to win themselves some hardware.