Former Chippewa Tackles Reach Football Pinnacle

Eric Fisher and Joe Staley have been in each other's orbit for a long time and there are myriad common denominators between the former Central Michigan standouts.

The latest? Their teams – Staley's San Francisco 49ers and Fisher's Kansas City Chiefs -- will square off on Sunday in Super Bowl LIV in Miami.

They won't technically be on the field at the same time as both play left offensive tackle for their respective teams. That said, there will be a Chippewa on the field for nearly every snap from scrimmage, and they are playing one of the most important positions on the field, left tackle, protecting the quarterback's blind side.

"It's a great story," said Plas Presnell, who retired in 2014 after 31 years on the CMU football staff. "Both of these guys, how can you be more proud of two guys from CMU playing in Super Bowl? If there are two better tackles in the NFL I'd like to know who they are. We can be very proud of those guys.

"Last week (Fisher) called me and said, 'Coach I want to bring you down to the Super Bowl.'"

Presell, who declined Fisher's generous offer because of pending hip surgery, coached both Staley and Fisher while they were at CMU. Staley was a Chippewa from 2003-06, Fisher from 2009-12.

Fisher was the overall No. 1 draft pick, by the Chiefs, in 2013, becoming the first player from the Mid-American Conference taken with the top pick. Staley was drafted by the 49ers in 2007 with the 28^th pick in the first round.

The two are the only two Chippewas to have been taken in the first round, both are among the best at their position in the NFL, and both are cornerstones of franchise rebuilds.

Staley, 35, is a six-time Pro Bowler, having appeared in 181 games – all of them starts -- in his career. He is a four-time All-Pro and on Sunday will play in his second Super Bowl. His 49ers lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31, in Super Bowl XLVII.

Fisher, 29, will play in his first Super Bowl on Sunday. It is the Chiefs' first since Super Bowl IV in 1970, when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings. He has appeared in 102 NFL games, 98 of them starts.

Mike Cummings, Central Michigan's offensive line coach, was the Chippewas' offensive coordinator/line coach during Fisher's days at CMU and both Fisher and Staley are products of a CMU program that has consistently produced professional offensive linemen for decades.

"What it shows is the program is a great place to go and develop," Cummings said. "It also speaks to the level of competition that we play. There is a level of expectation of work and of toughness that's in the program and it's in the players that have maintained that culture over the years.

"We take a lot of pride in that. When we're recruiting that's a well-known piece of our history at Central Michigan. It does speak to the culture of the program and the players that are in the program. Obviously, they have some gifts genetically, but it does speak to what we're able to do at Central Michigan."

Cummings said Fisher came to CMU as a tall and relatively thin freshman, weighing 235 pounds coming out of Stoney Creek High School in suburban Detroit's Rochester Hills. By the time he left CMU, he had become the first Chippewa in nearly two decades to earn All-America honors and was a two-time All-MAC selection.

"He was really a hard, hard worker," Cummings said. "Before his senior year we actually had to hold him back so that he didn't over train.

"After his junior year (2011), he left his exit meeting, and two seconds later, he pops his head back in the door and says, 'Do you think I could play in the NFL?'"

Staley came to CMU as a tight end out of Rockford High School and moved to tackle before his sophomore year.

Eric Tunney played alongside Staley on the offensive line at CMU and is now the football coach at Grayling High School. Tunney, who earned All-MAC honors three times as a Chippewa, said he holds up his former teammate as an example to his high school players.

"Joe wasn't all-state as a high school football player," Tunney said. "Kids get bummed that they weren't all-state or all-league or all-whatever. I tell my guys here in Grayling, there's this guy Joe Staley who wasn't even all-state and here he is an All-Pro and going to play in a Super Bowl and he's one of the best tackles in the league."

It was a credit to Staley's selflessness and his work ethic that he was able to make a position change early in his college career and is now completing in his 13^th season in the NFL, Tunney said.

"I love telling stories, especially about Joe, because he was one who changed positions," he said. "I remember the day coach (Brian) Kelly told him he was switching and he wasn't happy about it. I was afraid we were going to lose him.

"But he had faith in the system and lo and behold, he busted it, he worked at it, and ended up being a first-round draft pick. He had trust in the coaches and the staff."

Central Michigan University Athletics

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