Jan. 29, 2000

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - He won't play in the game, but Maryland's Cliff Crosby still will be on the sideline Sunday as part of the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. Crosby, a practice squad player most of the season for St. Louis, has had an adventurous route to the big game.

Crosby was undrafted in the 1999 NFL Draft, but signed with the Rams as a free agent and appeared to have made the squad before a paperwork snafu resulted in him being one of the team's final cuts coming out of training camp. Unclaimed on waivers, Crosby was immediately reclaimed by the Rams, only to be cut two weeks later and picked up by the Cincinnati Bengals. Cut again, he was reclaimed by the Rams and this time stuck for the entire season.

Not a member of the active roster, Crosby will watch from the sideline on Sunday as another pair of former Terrapins, Neil O'Donnell and Frank Wycheck perform for the AFC champion Tennessee Titans.

Overall, the Atlantic Coast Conference will have more players on the field in this weekend's Super Bowl XXXIV than any other conference represented. Nineteen former ACC players are currently listed on the active rosters of the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans. Thirteen of those players are on the Rams roster while the AFC's Titans list six former ACC players.

The Big 12 is second to the ACC with 16 former players, followed by the SEC (13), the Big Ten (12) and the Pac-10 with 10. In all, seven of the nine ACC schools have at least two players listed on the Rams' and Titans' team's rosters, with Florida State leading the way with five players represented.

St. Louis Rams

Tennessee Titans

BY ACC SCHOOL:
Florida State (5), North Carolina (3), NC State (3), Clemson (2), Maryland (2), Virginia (2), Wake Forest (2).

BY CONFERENCE:
Atlantic Coast (19), Big 12 (16), Southeastern (13), Big Ten (12), Pac-10 (10).