{"id":145589,"date":"2019-02-01T08:15:58","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T13:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=145589"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:03:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:03:10","slug":"super-bowl-press-box-uconn-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2019\/02\/super-bowl-press-box-uconn-feel\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Bowl Press Box Has A UConn Feel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>All three alums cut their journalistic teeth working for the sports department of <em>The Daily Campus,<\/em>\u00a0and now they are covering this Sunday\u2019s Super Bowl as New England Patriots beat writers for prestigious media outlets.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n  <p>There is a difference covering college and professional sports, but at UConn it wasn\u2019t all that different. <cite> &#8212 Kevin Duffy '09 (CLAS)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Kevin Duffy \u201909 (CLAS) covers the major league football team for the <em>Boston Herald<\/em>, while Mac Cerullo \u201912 (BUS) is on the beat for CNHI, a national publishing company with newspapers that include <em>The Daily News of Newburyport<\/em>, where he is the sports editor. Andrew Callahan \u201913 (CLAS) is the Patriots beat writer for MassLive.com, a online news source in Springfield, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<p>The trio have been covering the team all year long, and the season comes to a conclusion Sunday when the Patriots take on the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta. It is the Patriots\u2019 fourth Super Bowl appearance in the past five years, and they are going for their sixth title in franchise history.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145658\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145658\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-145658 size-medium img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Kevin Duffy '09 (CLAS)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-768x767.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-420x420.jpg 420w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-275x275.jpg 275w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/duffy.jpg 960w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/300;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145658\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kevin Duffy &#8217;09 (CLAS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Duffy, the veteran of the group, has been at all four of the Patriots&#8217; recent Super Bowl appearances. \u201cThe Patriots have had sheer dominance, and it can get monotonous until you really think back about all they have accomplished,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Duffy worked at <em>The Daily Campus<\/em> for two-and-a-half years and was sports editor his senior year. He started by covering sports such as volleyball and ice hockey, before becoming the men\u2019s basketball and football beat writer.<\/p>\n<p>He chronicled the UConn men\u2019s basketball run to the 2009 Final Four in Detroit. \u201cI loved covering Hasheem Thabeet and A.J. Price,\u201d said Duffy. \u201cThey were just fantastic and good to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"grey-sidebar floating-sidebar col-xs-12 col-sm-4\">\n  <\/p>\n<h3>Their Picks<\/h3>\n<p>Kevin Duffy, Boston Herald: Patriots, 31; Rams, 23<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Callahan, MassLive.com: Patriots, 30; Rams, 27<\/p>\n<p>Mac Cerullo, CNHI: Patriots, 31; Rams, 28<br \/>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Duffy followed the football team to the 2010 International Bowl in Toronto, and enjoyed developing relationships with student-athletes such as Andre Dixon &#8217;09 (CLAS) and Scott Lutrus &#8217;10 (CLAS).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing at UConn really helped me prepare for where I am now,\u201d said Duffy. \u201cCovering Jim Calhoun and the Big East and Randy Edsall with a top 25 football team was big time. There is a difference covering college and professional sports, but at UConn it wasn\u2019t all that different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following graduation, Duffy covered high school sports for the <em>Danbury (Connecticut) News-Times<\/em> for almost two years, and then was the UConn men\u2019s basketball beat writer for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group until 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Since last summer, Duffy has been with the <em>Boston Herald,\u00a0<\/em>one of the oldest dailies in the country, dating back to 1846. \u201cThere&#8217;s pressure to live up to what they have done in the past here at the <em>Herald<\/em>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145659\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145659\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-145659 size-medium img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Andrew Callahan \u201913 (CLAS)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-275x275.jpg 275w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-50x50.jpg 50w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-64x64.jpg 64w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan-128x128.jpg 128w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/callahan.jpg 400w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/300;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145659\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Callahan \u201913 (CLAS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Callahan graduated with a degree in communications and psychology, and was on the staff of both <em>The Daily Campus<\/em> and WHUS Radio as an undergraduate. He was co-sports director at WHUS, and both a columnist and women\u2019s basketball beat writer for <em>The Daily Campus<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is my first Super Bowl, but it doesn&#8217;t feel like it because of what I did in college,\u201d said Callahan, who traveled to two women\u2019s basketball Final Fours with WHUS. \u201cI got great experience at UConn. It taught me how to work and handle myself at big-time events \u2013 what to write, where to go, how to look things up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Callahan has also had stints at SB Nation, Hearst Connecticut Media, and the <em>Lebanon Daily News<\/em> in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_145660\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-145660\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-145660 size-medium img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/mac-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mac Cerullo \u201912 (BUS)\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/mac-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/mac-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/mac-315x420.jpg 315w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/mac.jpg 1608w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 225px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 225\/300;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-145660\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mac Cerullo \u201912 (BUS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cerullo got his degree in business at UConn, but took plenty of journalism classes. He was a four-year member of <em>The Daily Campus<\/em> staff, serving as sports editor as a junior, and managing editor as a senior. Cerullo covered UConn&#8217;s 2011 NCAA championship men\u2019s basketball team, and was with the football team when it played in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.<\/p>\n<p>It is Cerullo\u2019s second year on the Patriots beat and his first Super Bowl.\u00a0\u201cI have never felt overwhelmed covering the Patriots,&#8221; he says, &#8220;and I think that is because of my experience at UConn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Super Bowl assignment may even provide\u00a0Duffy and Cerullo \u2013 whose tenures at <em>The Daily Campus<\/em>\u00a0overlapped\u00a0\u2013 a chance to reconnect.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three UConn alums will be in the press box when the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams take the field Sunday at 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":145678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1712,2226,1715,1862,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2113],"class_list":["post-145589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-athletics","category-clas","category-community-impact","category-busn","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 21:58:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145589"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145679,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145589\/revisions\/145679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/145678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145589"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=145589"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=145589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}