Connolly, Amano enter Southeast Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame

~ The two NFL players attended Friday's induction ceremony

For Southeast Missouri State Hall of Fame inductee Dan Connolly, having to miss the Southeast Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday night would not have been a bad thing.

His lack of attendance would've meant he was preparing to play in his second Super Bowl with the New England Patriots.

Instead he was able to be at the Show Me Center after the Patriots lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship last Sunday.

"I had my fingers crossed that I wasn't going to be able to make it," Connolly said with a smile. "Unfortunately we didn't win the game when it counted, so I'm here. I'm glad to be here and better luck next year, right?"

Eugene AmanoCQ poses for a portrait during the Southeast Missouri State University Athletics Hall of Fame Dinner Friday, Jan. 24, at the Show Me Center. Amano, who played center on the Redhawks football team and later as an offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans, was inducted into the Southeast Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame at the dinner. (Adam Vogler)

Connolly, who has a year left on his 3-year, $9.75 million contract with New England, was inducted into the Southeast Hall of Fame along with former Southeast teammate and former Tennessee Titan Eugene Amano, track and field athletes Kathleen Hudson and Miles Smith, the 1996 Southeast volleyball team and the Kohlfeld Family.

When he got a phone call a few months ago that informed him that he was an inductee it "caught me off guard," he said.

"I just really appreciate that I'm being honored with this for what I've been able to accomplish," Connolly said. "It's a great honor to be able to go to a small school like Southeast and be able to have the success at the professional level that I've had. It's just great to be recognized."

Connolly played football at Southeast from 2001 to 2004. He went undrafted before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005. Connolly joined the Patriots in 2007 as a member of the practice squad, and eventually worked his way to a starting spot on the offensive line.

He's missed only three starts in the past four years, started every game the past two seasons and was the starting center for the Patriots in the 2012 Super Bowl.

"That's an experience that not many people get to do, and so I've been blessed to be able to be part of that," Connolly said.

He started at right guard this season where he remained a key component in protecting quarterback Tom Brady.

"He's one of the best competitors I've ever met and he's always pushing all of us to achieve that ultimate goal that we all play for," Connolly said. "It's been an honor to play with him."

Connolly and Amano, who played at Southeast from 2000 to 2003, keep in touch with each other and follow how the Southeast football team is doing.

"It's always good to look back and see the success they've gotten a couple years ago," Amano said. "And hopefully -- I see they got a new coaching staff and all that, so hopefully things come up and they'll get better. I'm sure it will."

Connolly recalled one game from his career at Southeast that stands out to him. He and Amano were part of a team that pulled off a 24-14 defeat of Middle Tennessee State in 2002.

"I always think of when we made a trip to Murphysboro, Tenn., and beat Middle Tennessee State, a [Division] I-A opponent that I don't think the school had ever done in its history," he said. "That was just huge for our team and our school to be able to do something like that."

Southeast finished 8-4 that season.

Amano was drafted by the Titans in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He spent nine seasons with the Titans and missed just one start from 2008 to 2011.

"It goes to show it doesn't matter what school you come from," Amano said, acknowledging his and Connolly's NFL careers, "as long as you have the talent you can definitely go to the next level."

Amano said he's "looking for the next step after football."

"Nashville's home now for me, so now it's kind of raising the kids now and kind of relaxing. It's been great. Playing nine years in the NFL has taken its toll, and I'm looking forward to the next step."