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MIAMI - Some people have all the luck. Joe Klecko spent 12 seasons in the NFL and never played in a Super Bowl. His kid, Dan, a defensive tackle and occasional pass-catcher for the Colts, is getting ready to participate in his third in 4 years.
"He called me a little jerk when I talked to him on the phone the other day," Dan Klecko said with a smile. "Seriously, he's really excited to be a part of it with me. He's going to come down Thursday, and we're going to really enjoy the whole experience together."
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This trip to the Super Bowl means a little more to Dan Klecko than the first two, because he's going to play in this one. The first two, with the Patriots, he was strictly a spectator, on injured reserve for one and inactive for the other.
But the Temple product will play Sunday against the Bears. He'll see action on special teams and at defensive tackle, and maybe, just maybe, as their pass-catching secret weapon again.
In the third quarter of the Colts' 38-34 win over the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, Klecko caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning. It was his second of the season. He also caught a 2-yard scoring pass in a regular-season win over Miami.
"I don't know how I'm getting open," Klecko said. "In New England, I was always covered."
The Patriots used him as an occasional offensive weapon. He had two carries for 5 yards as a rookie in '03 and caught three passes for 18 yards, but no TDs, in '04.
"It's just something I've been doing since my days in New England," the 5-10, 275-pound Klecko said. "It's not really that weird to me anymore."
Klecko is one of three former Temple players who will be suiting up for the Super Bowl. Teammate Raheem Brock and Bears fullback Jason McKie are the other two.
"This is huge," he said. "Everybody makes fun of Temple. But we're tied for the most guys in the Super Bowl. That's pretty cool."
Things have worked out very well for Klecko, who was released by the Patriots in early September and claimed by the Colts 24 hours later.
"Picking up Dan was one of the easiest decisions we've ever made," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "He was always one of the reasons the Patriots were so successful. He does whatever it takes to win."
Klecko said it was a bit of a shock getting released by New England after three seasons there.
"It's a bad feeling," he said. "For 24 hours, I was unemployed. It was not a good feeling. But I went from one great team to another great team.
"It was tough to go through that. Not so much [having to] learn a new system. But the swing of emotions. In 24 hours, I'm released and then I'm in Indianapolis and I don't have anything with me. My wife's not with me. It was a whole mental transition also."
The fact that his former college teammate Brock, a starting defensive tackle for the Colts, was there to greet him made the transition a little easier.
"I walked into the locker room and he gave me a big hug," Klecko said. "I already felt accepted." *
