SAN FRANCISCO — Two former Purdue football players left their mark on the NFL conference championship games over the weekend.
Former Boilermaker running back Raheem Mostert scored four touchdowns and rushed for 220 yards in the San Francisco 49ers dominating 37-20 win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship. The performance set several post-season franchise records for the 49ers.
Mostert is thankful after having worked his way up from the practice squads and third-string levels of six teams in his early days in the NFL.
“I did have a lot of doubters and naysayers,” Mostert said. “No I get to tell them ‘look where I’m at now.’ I never gave up on my dream. I never gave up on the opportunities when they presented themselves. I always worked hard.”
Mostert, a native of New Smyrna Beach in Florida spent four years in West Lafayette as a running back for the Purdue Boilermakers from 2011 to 2014. He signed with the 49ers in 2016 after having spent time on the practice squads of the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, and Chicago Bears.
Mostert is now the only player in NFL history to rush for over 200 yards and score four rushing touchdowns in a single post-season game.
In the AFC Championship, in which the Kansas City Chief beat the Tennessee Titans 35-24, former Purdue offensive lineman Dennis Kelly caught a touchdown pass for the Titans to extend the Titans lead at one point in the game. Titans would end up faltering after an improbable run to the AFC title game.
Kelly wore a Boilermaker uniform from 2008 to 2011.
(PHOTO: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
