A former Iowa standout has two reasons to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. Offensive lineman Bob Kratch spent time with both teams during his eight year NFL career. The 1989 third round draft pick was part of the New York Giants team that beat the Buffalo Bills in the 1991 Super Bowl and six years later played for the New England Patriots when they lost to the Green Bay Packers.
Kratch played five years with the Giants and three with the Patriots and still knows a few people on each team. He says it’s exciting to see both playing in the big game.
Kratch played for both of Sunday’s head coaches when he was with the Giants:Bill Belichek was the defensive coordinator and Tom Coughlin coached the wide receivers. He says Coughlin was a very vocal coach who fined players and used discipline, but it sounds like this season Coughlin has changed his demeanor. Kratch says today’s players are probably less likely to put up with a tyrant coach that Coughlin was.
He may have played for both teams but as a native of Brooklyn, Kratch is not sitting on the fence when it comes to choosing sides. Kratch says he is a "Big Blue Giants fan," as his career was mostly in New York. He predicts the Giants will win by a field goal. These days Kratch resides in Watertown, Minnesota.