CRUCIAL FOR REAL WORLD FIREFIGHTING RESPONSES ACROSS ALBUQUERQUE. FIVE PEOPLE WITH TIES TO NEW MEXICO WILL HELP TRY TO GET THE SEAHAWKS WIN THE SUPER BOWL, ONE OF THEM, A FORMER LA CUEVA BEAR. COREY HOWARD, ASKED CONOR O’TOOLE HOW HE’S PREPARING FOR THE BIG GAME. YEAH, O’TOOLE ACTUALLY PLAYED HIS HIGH SCHOOL BALL ON THAT FIELD THAT YOU SEE BEHIND ME. HE GRADUATED IN 2020, AND WHILE HE’S LOCKED IN ON THE BIG OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF HIM, IT DOESN’T MEAN HE HASN’T REFLECTED ON HOW HE GOT HERE. BUT YOU LOOK UP AND YOU KNOW YOU’RE PLAYING THE SUPER BOWL NOW. SO I JUST GOTTA REMIND MYSELF TO TAKE A SECOND TO TO ENJOY THE MOMENT. CONOR O’TOOLE HAS DREAMED ABOUT THIS MOMENT EVER SINCE HE STARTED PLAYING FOOTBALL AT SEVEN YEARS OLD. AS THE YEARS WENT BY, O’TOOLE WOULD EVENTUALLY PLAY HIS HIGH SCHOOL BALL AT LA CUEVA HIGH, THE SAME SCHOOL WHERE HE WOULD FORM BONDS THAT WOULD LAST A LIFETIME. WHEN YOU GET OLDER, YOU GET TO MOVE INTO MORE OF A FRIENDSHIP SETTING. YOU KNOW, YOU GET THE CALL YOU WHEN THEY HAVE BIG QUESTIONS. THE TWO OF THEM ACTUALLY TALKED EARLIER THIS WEEK AS O’TOOLE PREPARES FOR THE BIGGEST GAME OF HIS LIFE. HE’S BEEN A HUGE PART IN MY FOOTBALL CAREER AND ALSO JUST, YOU KNOW, A GREAT MENTOR, GREAT FRIEND. WE’VE GOT A LOT OF GREAT KIDS WHO COME THROUGH HERE AND CONTINUE TO REACH OUT TO US AND JUST ASK FOR ADVICE AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SO. AND JUST IN WATCHING HIM FROM A FAN, YOU KNOW, WE’RE FANS NOW. ANOTHER PLAYER IN THE SUPER BOWL WITH TIES TO NEW MEXICO IS BRYCE CAMPBELL, WHO ACTUALLY PLAYED FOR CLOVIS HIGH SCHOOL, THE SAME TEAM THAT KNOCKED LA CUEVA OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS. DURING O’TOOLE’S SENIOR SEASON, NOW YOU AND BRYCE ARE NO LONGER OPPONENTS IN THIS SITUATION, BUT YOUR TEAMMATES ARE THE SAME GOAL. YEAH, THAT’S PRETTY COOL. IT’S NOT COOL. LIKE, YOU KNOW, MY MY SENIOR SEASON, BUT IT’S JUST COOL BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, YOU GET HER OUT OF NEW MEXICO AND A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE NEW MEXICO IS ON THE MAP. BUT JUST TO BE ABLE TO JOKE AROUND WITH BRYCE AND JUST TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ALL THE TIMES, THE MEMORIES THAT WE HAD IN HIGH SCHOOL, YOU KNOW, PLAYING EACH OTHER. NOW, TOOL AND CABLE DO AREN’T THE ONLY ONES WITH NEW MEXICO TIES. MICHAEL BYRNE AND OFFERS A COACH FOR THE SEAHAWKS. HE’S ACTUALLY AN ALBUQUERQUE NATIVE, AND JEFF HOWARD AND TIM O’HARA. WELL, THEY BOTH PLAYED THEIR COLLEGE BALL AT EASTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY. REPORTING IN ALBUQUERQUE, COREY HOWARD KOAT ACTION S
New Mexico ties highlighted as Seahawks prepare for Super Bowl
Updated: 6:06 PM MST Jan 28, 2026
Connor O’Toole, a former La Cueva High School star, is one of five Seattle Seahawks with ties to New Mexico, and he is on the brink of achieving a childhood dream as the team prepares for the Super Bowl against the Patriots on Feb. 8.”It’s crazy. You kind of got to take a step back and realize the moment that you’re in,” O’Toole said.O’Toole, who graduated from La Cueva in 2020, has dreamed of this moment since he was a 7-year-old playing football. Over the years, he became a standout player at La Cueva, forming lasting bonds with his coaches and teammates.”When they get older, you get to move into more of a friendship setting, you know, you get to, they call you when they have big questions,” said Brandon Back, the head football coach at La Cueva High School.O’Toole recently spoke with Back, his former coach, as he prepares for the biggest game of his life. “He’s been a huge part in my football career. And also just, you know, a great mentor, a great friend,” O’Toole said.”We’ve got a lot of great kids who come through here and continue to reach out to us and just ask for advice and things like that. So, and just in watching him from a fan, you know, we’re fans now,” Back said.O’Toole is not the only Seahawk with New Mexico roots. He and Bryce Cabeldue, who led the Clovis Wildcats to victory over La Cueva in the playoffs, are now teammates preparing for the Super Bowl.”It’s just cool because you get out of New Mexico, and a lot of people don’t even know where New Mexico is on the map. But just to be able to joke around with Bryce and just talk about all the times, the memories that we had in high school, playing each other,” O’Toole said.In addition to O’Toole and Cabeldue, Seahawks assistant coach Michael Byrne is from Albuquerque, and assistant coaches Jeff Howard and Tim Ojeda played college football at Eastern New Mexico University. The Super Bowl kicks off in 10 days at 4:30 p.m.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
Connor O’Toole, a former La Cueva High School star, is one of five Seattle Seahawks with ties to New Mexico, and he is on the brink of achieving a childhood dream as the team prepares for the Super Bowl against the Patriots on Feb. 8.
“It’s crazy. You kind of got to take a step back and realize the moment that you’re in,” O’Toole said.
O’Toole, who graduated from La Cueva in 2020, has dreamed of this moment since he was a 7-year-old playing football. Over the years, he became a standout player at La Cueva, forming lasting bonds with his coaches and teammates.
“When they get older, you get to move into more of a friendship setting, you know, you get to, they call you when they have big questions,” said Brandon Back, the head football coach at La Cueva High School.
O’Toole recently spoke with Back, his former coach, as he prepares for the biggest game of his life. “He’s been a huge part in my football career. And also just, you know, a great mentor, a great friend,” O’Toole said.
“We’ve got a lot of great kids who come through here and continue to reach out to us and just ask for advice and things like that. So, and just in watching him from a fan, you know, we’re fans now,” Back said.
O’Toole is not the only Seahawk with New Mexico roots. He and Bryce Cabeldue, who led the Clovis Wildcats to victory over La Cueva in the playoffs, are now teammates preparing for the Super Bowl.
“It’s just cool because you get out of New Mexico, and a lot of people don’t even know where New Mexico is on the map. But just to be able to joke around with Bryce and just talk about all the times, the memories that we had in high school, playing each other,” O’Toole said.
In addition to O’Toole and Cabeldue, Seahawks assistant coach Michael Byrne is from Albuquerque, and assistant coaches Jeff Howard and Tim Ojeda played college football at Eastern New Mexico University. The Super Bowl kicks off in 10 days at 4:30 p.m.