Hardly a school ever associated with sports, and certainly not football, Brandeis is proudly boasting several strong connections to the world of football as the Super Bowl nears.Despite not fielding a football team in 46 years, the University has alumni connections to both teams playing in Super Bowl XXXIX this Sunday night. Meanwhile, former Brandeis football coach, athletic director and football icon Benny Friedman is up for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

With the Philadelphia Eagles set to square off against the New England Patriots in American sports culture's most celebrated event, Brandeis is already claiming itself a winner in the Super Bowl. Myra Kraft owns the Patriots with her husband Robert, and received her undergraduate degree from Brandeis in 1964. Kraft serves as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and the family has funded the Myra '64 and Robert Kraft Chair in Arab Politics, the Myra '64 and Robert Kraft Endowed Scholarship and the Kraft-Hiatt Chair in Christian Studies.

Eagles owner Jeff Lurie is also no stranger to Brandeis, having earned his doctorate from Brandeis' Heller School for Social Policy and Management in 1987. Lurie's mother Nancy has funded the Nancy Lurie Marks Chair in Neuroscience at Brandeis and sponsored a conference on autism at the school in 2004.

The administration is in glee over its Super Bowl connections. University president Jehuda Reinharz did a photo shoot with jerseys from both teams, the school is printing T-shirts with both team logos and planning a Super Bowl viewing party in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium.

"I think it shows you don't have to be a big sports school to produce people who are passionate about sports," Reinharz said. "Sports have become a much more integral part of what we do."

While the Kraft family is more involved with the University because of their close proximity, Reinharz stressed that he is not rooting for either team.

"I'm just rooting for a great game," he said. "Both families are very close to us. Whoever wins, Brandeis is part of it."

With Brandeis already a winner in Super Bowl XXXIX, the school also hopes to celebrate having a former athletic director elected to the Football Hall of Fame.

The day before the Super Bowl, voters including media and football veterans will decide on this year's entry class to the Hall in Canton, Ohio. Former coach, athletic director and N.F.L. quarterback Benny Friedman is on this year's ballot, along with all-time great quarterbacks Steve Young and Dan Marino.

"I think [Friedman] is a part of a very important period in Brandeis' history," Reinharz said. "He was a great American and a great football player."

Friedman had a stellar professional football career, and is widely credited for bringing the forward pass to the game. Prior to Friedman's career, rules were different to prevent excessive passing, and football was more of a smash-mouthed, running game. Friedman was the first to use the forward pass frequently, and crowds turned out in droves to see him and his airborne attack. In 1928 he led the N.F.L. in both rushing and passing touchdowns.

"He is the best quarterback, maybe of all time," Ed Mangniello '54, a former guard under Friedman said. "He was a god to us because he had accomplished [so much]. When he spoke, he spoke words of wisdom."

Friedman was brought here in 1950 as both athletic director and football coach. His stardom was a powerful tool for fundraising, and Friedman is credited with getting Brandeis' Athletics program off the ground. At one point during the 1950s with female athletics funding in jeopardy, Friedman found room in the budget to keep women's athletics alive until more funds could be raised.

Bob Weintraub '55 served as manager of the football team for Friedman and has been helping to lead the campaign to get him selected. Weintraub has sent packets detailing Friedman's accomplishments to all of the voters.

"The players on the team probably didn't realize at the time how great a football player he had been and how great his talent was," Weintraub said.

Despite Friedman's incredible career, it will be hard to gain entry to the Hall of Fame in a class so rich in talented quarterbacks. Marino and Young both had excellent careers and both players' accomplishments are more recent in the voters' minds.