It's a historic year for the professional football players and supporters of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, who are among the throngs anxiously awaiting Super Bowl XLVIII – the first NFL championship game in the New York City metropolitan area, coming Feb. 2, 2014.

For the first time since the first Super Bowl in 1967, the championship game will be played outdoors in a cold weather location – MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., home of New York's Giants and Jets.

Fans of former HBCU players – who have made impressive contributions to the NFL and its annual Super Bowl matchup over the years – are betting that black college players will continue this tradition.

The black colleges' influence runs long and deep:

Grambling University graduate Paul (Tank) Younger, a star of the 1951 Rams team, won the NFL Championship and also was the first African-American to work in the administrative offices of an NFL team (as scout and executive with the Rams).

Doug Williams, another Grambling University alum, was the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

Among the HBCU local heroes are N.Y. Giants' star Harry Carson, a graduate of South Carolina State University, who played in a Super Bowl and was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame; and Texas Southern University graduate Michael Strahan, won a Super Bowl with the Giants and is now co- host of ABC-TV's "Live with Kelly & Michael" as well as the Fox NFL Sunday football show.

There has been a decline in the number of players from HBCUs playing in the NFL over recent years, but they still have a major impact in the Super Bowl. Last year, Morehouse College alum Jerome Boger made history as the first HBCU graduate to serve as head referee of the Super Bowl. There is great inspiration for athletes and students attending HBCUs to impact the nation's most watched sporting event.

Each year, Harlem Week celebrates the academic and athletic accomplishments of black higher educational institutions by hosting the National Historic Black College Fair and Expo. This year's event will take place during Harlem Week's "Summer in the City" event on Aug. 17 on W. 135th St., between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Malcolm X Blvds., from noon to 5 p.m.

Representatives from more than 60 HBCUs will share information about their schools, programs and financial aid – and the success of their graduates.

Making their mark

More than 1,200 players from Historically Black College and Universities have played in the NFL, and approximately 150 of those have made it to the Super Bowl. They include:

• Bob Hayes, who attended Florida A&M, played in two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. He won two Olympic track gold medals in 1964, and played on the winning Super Bowl VI team.

• Rayfield Wright, who attended Fort Valley State University and played in five Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys.

• Larry Little, who attended Bethune-Cookman University and played in three Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins.

• Mel Blount, who attended Southern University and A&M College and played in four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

• L.C. Greenwood, who attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and played in four
Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

• John Stallworth, who attended Alabama A&M University and played in three Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

• Art Shell, who attended University of Maryland Eastern Shore and played in two Super Bowls with the Oakland Raiders. He then became the first African-American head coach in the NFL.

• Jackie Slater, who attended Jackson State University and played in Super Bowl XIV with the Los Angeles Rams.

• Steve McNair, from Alcorn St. University, led the Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV.

• Donald Driver, of Alcorn State University, played in Super Bowl XLV for the Green Bay Packers.