ASHBURN — Darius Fleming flashed some serious bling on Instagram on Monday.
Fleming, a Streeterville resident, showed the world the Super Bowl ring he earned as a special teams contributor for the 2015 New England Patriots.
The Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1. The team rallied from 10 points down to beat the defending champion Seahawks at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Fleming grew up in Auburn Gresham. He went on to play football at St. Rita High School in Ashburn where he helped lead the Mustangs to the 2006 Class 7A state crown as a junior.
The South Sider then had a standout career as an outside linebacker at the University of Notre Dame.
Fleming was drafted by the 49ers in 2012 at No. 165, though injuries kept him sidelined early in his career. In fact, he was relegated to the practice squad in New England until landing on the active roster on Nov. 29.
Ironically, Fleming was actually a better high school bowler than football player, and as a St. Rita sophomore he almost transferred to nearby Brother Rice, which had a better bowling squad.
But Fleming decided to stick with football at St. Rita, much to the delight of head football coach Todd Kuska. The pair reunited just 16 days after the Super Bowl as Fleming was the guest of honor at a school assembly.
"When you are as talented as he is and you work as hard as he does, good things are gonna happen," Kuska said.
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