John Patrick-Idaho Sports Talk Producer  @JPktik

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I received a call in the studio Wednesday from someone with a simple question. Simple if you are the all-knowing Tom Scott of Scott Slant fame. The person wanted to know if Matt Paradis (Council, ID) would be the first Idaho born NFL player to win a Super Bowl if the Broncos beat the Panthers. I informed the caller that Korey Hall is an Idaho native who won a Super Bowl ring with the Packers in 2011. Then, came the question “Are they the only ones?” I didn’t have the answer so I turned to Google.

I found this NFL database website. For arguments sake, I assumed the information is mostly accurate. The website did not include Jake Scott (Lewiston, ID). More on that later. By process of elimination I got rid of players who did not play in the Super Bowl era. There were 41 players left. Since the Super Bowl has been around for 50 years, I needed to dig deeper. Jordan Gross (Fruitland, ID) played in a Super Bowl with Carolina, but the Panthers lost to New England in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Larry Wilson (Rigby, ID) had a hall of fame career, but never played in a Super Bowl.

So that left me with five players:

Korey Hall (Mountain Home/Glens Ferry) is the most recent Idaho native to win a Super Bowl. The Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-21 in Super Bowl XLV.

Rob Morris (Nampa, ID) won a ring when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI.

Ron Hadley (Caldwell, ID) played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1987 and 1988 seasons. According to pro-football-reference.com, Hadley played in three games in the 1988 season including two playoff games. The 49ers went on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII.

Rollin Putzier (Coeur d’Alene, ID) played in 11 games for San Francisco in the 1989 season. The 49ers won Super Bowl XXIV beating the Denver Broncos 55-10. Putzier has a crazy story. He was suspended for steroid use, and released by Pittsburgh after weapons were found in his training camp dorm room.  I found this interesting story about Putzier  and how his Super Bowl ring was lost in an incident in his apartment when he was shot  years later. He is related to Jeb Putzier (Eagle, ID) who played for 4 different NFL teams.

Doug Riesenberg (Moscow, ID) was listed as an Idaho native, but some other sources have him being born in Carroll, IA. In this article he discusses his football career  that spanned 10 years including a win in Super Bowl XXV with the New York Giants. (The famous Scott Norwood missed field goal game)

After my initial research I turned to historian Tom Scott as my fact checker. He informed me that Jake Scott (Lewiston, ID) also won a ring in Super Bowl XLI when the Colts beat the Bears.

So, according to my research from some uncertain websites, Matt Paradis can become the 7th Idaho born player to win a Super Bowl ring. Feel free to use this information as your own at your Super Bowl party!