Trojans in the Super Bowl
Every kid with even a passing fascination in football dreams of one day suiting up and taking their favorite team to the Super Bowl. It is a dream that requires years of work, effort, and practice to put themselves in a position to be on the sport’s biggest stage.
For some, those dreams end after high school. For others, the dream ends once their collegiate careers are over.
Of the roughly 1,700 NFL players who suit up and compete week in and week out, only around 110 players get to say they were part of a Super Bowl team, and only half of them will say they won the Lombardi Trophy.
Of the thousands of players who have put on the cardinal, silver, and black of Troy, only 9 have experienced the summit of success in the NFL: playing in the Super Bowl.
Editor’s note: asterisks indicate wins.
Virgil Seay – Washington Redskins – Super Bowl XVII* and XVIII
A member of the Fun Bunch, the nickname given to the Redskins’ wide receivers and tight ends, Seay made an impact during his two and a half seasons in Washington.
The Fun Bunch was known for their five-man leaping high-fives after a member of the group scored a touchdown, an early precursor to the choreographed celebrations teams perform today.
Seay spent some time at East Mississippi Community College before transferring to Troy. He was drafted in the 10th round by the Denver Broncos in the 1980 NFL Draft.
He was cut by the team on August 12th, 1980 and relegated to the practice squad. Fatefully, he would be picked up by the Washington Redskins in 1981.
The Redskins were coming off a 6-10 record and looked to improve. Seay caught for 472 yards and three touchdowns. They would only improve to 8-8, but the biggest season of Seay’s life would be the next.
A player’s strike meant that the 1982 season would be a shortened one, with only nine games. The Redskins won the first two before the strike ended the last game in September and cancelled games in October and November.
Once the season resumed, Joe Gibbs’ team went 8-1 in the regular season, only dropping a December 5th game against the Dallas Cowboys, 24-10. Seay had 6 receptions for 154 yards, averaging 25.67 yards per catch.
The Redskins had no trouble in the playoffs. They dispatched the 8-seeded Detroit Lions 31-7 in the first round and the fourth seed Minnesota Vikings in the second.
The NFC Championship saw the Redskins facing the only team to beat them all season, the Dallas Cowboys.
This time, the Redskins would be victorious, sealing their Super Bowl berth with a 31-17 win.
Virgil Seay’s Super Bowl ring (and a Troy alum’s first) would come the night of January 30, 1983 in the Rose Bowl. Joe Gibbs’ team blasted Don Shula’s Dolphins 27-17, winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl and first league championship since 1942.
In 1983, the team was reloaded and ready for back-to-back titles. Unfortunately, Seay’s usage on the team would be drastically reduced in the receiving corps.
He only had two catches for 55 yards, and one touchdown, instead picking up kick and punt return duties. Seay had 9 returns for 218 yards on kicks and returned five punts for 57 yards.
Gibbs’ boys went 14-1 in the regular season and earned a bye to the divisional round of the playoffs. They beat the LA Rams 51-7 and won the NFC the next week in a thrilling 24-21 game vs the 49ers.
The Redskins’ incredible luck would run out in the Super Bowl itself though. The Los Angeles Raiders gave them their worst loss in some time, 38-9.
Seay would ultimately be traded to the Atlanta Falcons in the 1984 season before his career ended. Troy’s first Super Bowl winner would be inducted into the Troy Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jack Peavey – Denver Broncos – Super Bowl XXII
Four years after Troy’s last appearance in a Super Bowl, Jack Peavey would bring the Trojans back to the Big Game. Peavey was picked up as an undrafted free agent by his hometown New England Patriots in 1985, before moving to the Broncos in 1986.
As a center, Peavey anchored the Broncos’ offense, using skills he honed as a 1984 National Champion at Troy.
To the best of my research, it appears Peavey was on the practice squad, but in 1987, due to the NFL Players Association strike, he was made a member of the main squad. Luckily, he would have a familiar face in the coaches’ offices.
Unfortunately, stats for offensive linemen were not tracked extensively during this time, so we don’t have much to go on for Peavey’s time in the league. We do know that he made three appearances in games and started one.
The Broncos won the AFC West with a 10-4-1 record and faced the Houston Oilers in the Divisional round, winning 34-10. Denver won a tight 38-33 slugfest with the Cleveland Browns to win the AFC and advance to Super Bowl XXII.
Peavey, Dan Reeves and John Elway fell short to the Redskins 42-10, missing out on their first title.
As far as I can tell, that would be the extent of Peavey’s playing career. He began a coaching career at Jacksonville State in 1988 that took him across the eastern US.
His last stop was at Texas A&M-Commerce from 2009-2010.
Kerry Jenkins – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Super Bowl XXXVIII*
After three Super Bowls in five years, Troy players would have a 15-year hiatus from the game. Kerry Jenkins would be the man to break that dry spell.
Undrafted in 1997, Jenkins was picked up by the Chicago Bears and added to their practice squad. I couldn’t find when or how, but he became a New York Jet during the same season in Week 13.
He would start his only two games for the Jets that season. From there, his career took off.
He was on the Jets’ roster for all 16 games of the 1998 season. In 1999, he started every game at left guard, even recovering a fumble.
Jenkins held onto starting duties through the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
In the 2002 offseason, contract talks brought change for the lineman. While the Jets’ offer was good, the Bucs ultimately lured him to Tampa with a five-year, $10 million contract, complete with a $2.6 million signing bonus.
Jenkins started every game at left guard for the Buccaneers as Jon Gruden’s team had a season for the ages. They finished 12-4 in the regular season, winning the NFC South.
The once-hapless Bucs were poised for something special in 2002.
They beat the Niners 31-6 in the Divisional Round and followed it up with a win over the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship, 27-10. This would be the franchise’s first NFC Championship.
Super Bowl XXXVIII might be the crowning moment for Tampa’s team. Facing Gruden’s former and future team, the AFC’s Oakland Raiders, the Bucs outplayed them most of the game.
Tied 3-3 after the first quarter, the Bucs went on to outscore the Raiders 45-18.
With his Super Bowl ring secured, Jenkins would start only 11 out of the 16 games in the 2003 season before retiring.
Osi Umenyiora – New York Giants – Super Bowl XLII* & Super Bowl XLVI*
Drafted 56th in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft, Osi Umeniyora’s football journey sent him from the Wiregrass to the Big Apple as a New York Giant.
Once Umenyiora was given the starting spot in 2005, he began to shine in New York and established himself as one of the best pass rushers in the league. He even earned All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl selection for his hard work.
The Giants dropped from 11-5 in 2005 to 8-8 in 2006, but something special was on the horizon for the Giants organization in 2007.
In this Cinderella season for the Giants, the team went 10-6 in the regular season and finished 2nd in the NFC East. They were a wild-card team at the 5 seed going into the playoffs.
They beat the Bucs 24-14 in the Wild Card round, eliminated the No. 1 seed Cowboys 21-17 in the Divisional round, and in an epic moment we will talk about soon, they won the NFC Championship over the Packers 23-20 in overtime.
This made the Giants the 9th wild card team to reach the Super Bowl.
Their opponent from the AFC would be a New England Patriots team on the cusp of history. This Pats team was 18-0 and looking to become only the second NFL team to finish the season undefeated.
Umenyiora, along with his teammates, stepped up to the challenge. He finished the game with four tackles, three of them solo and a tackle for loss. He also hit Brady once and recovered a fumble.
After some late game magic, the Giants’ Cinderella story would upset the Pats’ quest for perfection, 17-14. Umenyiora finished the season with five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries for 75 yards and one touchdown.
Osi says that this play was his favorite of the entire 2007 season. It happened in week 7 vs the San Francisco 49ers.
He had 52 tackles, 40 of which were solo, with 11 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, and 21 quarterback hits.
A torn meniscus kept Osi out of the 2008 season, but he returned to form in 2009 and 2010, forcing 10 fumbles in the latter season.
In 2011, it was time for Cinderella to go dancing again. The 2011 Giants finished first in the NFC East with a 9-7 record, a game worse than their 2007 season.
They started the playoffs in a Wild Card matchup versus the Falcons, which they won easily 24-2. A trip to Lambeau followed in the Divisional Round, but once again, the Giants triumphed 37-20.
Mirroring 2007, they eliminated the No. 1 seed in the Divisional Round and also won by three in overtime in the NFC Championship, this time 20-17 over the 49ers.
Who else awaited the Giants in the Super Bowl, but the New England Patriots.
Due to the improvements on the Giants’ defensive line rotation, Umenyiora’s stats were not as high as the previous Super Bowl, but he still recorded one assisted tackle and two quarterback hits.
After a fierce back-and-forth game, the Giants came from behind to win their second Super Bowl, 21-17.
“My most lasting moment from the Super Bowl was when we realized we were actually going to win: Eli [Manning] throwing the game-winning pass to [Plaxico] Burress,” Umenyiora told The Wall. “We knew it was over after that, even though we still had to go on the field and stop them.”
Osi would finish 2011 with one pass deflection, two forced fumbles, nine sacks, 25 tackles (16 solo), seven tackles for loss, and 11 quarterback hits.
Umenyiora was traded to Atlanta in 2013 and played another year in 2014 before retiring.
Since retiring, Umenyiora has become the face of the NFL in Africa, acting as the leading ambassador for helping to develop talent. He was inducted into the Troy Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Umenyiora that the Super Bowl was an “amazing experience.”
“Never would have imagined I would play in one,” Umenyiora said. “Being able to say I was on a Super Bowl winning team is special.”
When asked about how Troy prepared him for the sport’s biggest stage, Umenyiora said “My time at Troy was special to me.”
“Great people, great players, and [it] helped me build a resilience that carries me to this day,” he told The Wall. “It was tough. Very tough, but necessary.”
In 2024, during the Giants’ celebration of their 100th season, Umenyiora was named the 32nd greatest player in Giant history.
Lawrence Tynes – New York Giants – Super Bowl XLII* & Super Bowl XLVI*
Another British-born Trojan, Lawrence Tynes’ Super Bowl story is enmeshed and entwined with Osi’s. Their time in New York overlapped starting in 2007, and both departed New York after 2012.
Tynes’ journey to the Super Bowl started by signing to the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He was on the practice squad that season and 2002, when he moved to NFL Europe and played for the Scottish Claymores.
Tynes shifted to the Canadian Football League, also in 2002, to play two seasons for the Ottawa Renegades. The Chiefs then brought LT back, giving him his first NFL experience from 2004-06.
He was 137-141 on extra points in KC and 68-87 on field goals before he was traded to the Big Apple.
During the Giant’s first Cinderella run, Tynes was 10-10 on extra points and 5-7 on field goals. Maybe his most legendary kick happened in the NFC Championship against Green Bay.
He already scored two field goals early in the game, but the Giants let the Packers tie the game at 20 with a Mason Crosby field goal in the fourth quarter.
The teams couldn’t separate. With 12:25 left in the overtime period, Tynes booted a 47-yard field goal to send the Giants to the Super Bowl.
During Super Bowl XLII, Tynes was perfect kicking, going 2-2 on extra points and hitting his lone field goal, a 32 yarder to give the Giants a 3-0 lead early.
As mentioned before, the 2011 season mirrored the 2007 one to odd degrees, including Lawrence Tynes booting in a field goal in overtime of the NFC Championship to send the Giants to the Super Bowl.
The only difference this time—the kick was a 31-yarder against the 49ers.
Tynes continued his perfect record in Super Bowl XLVI, going 2-2 on field goals and 1-1 on extra points. Once time was up, Tynes was a two-time Super Bowl winner.
Troy has had 9 players in the Super Bowl, but Troy alums have only scored 12 points. Lawrence Tynes is responsible for all of them.
In 2014, Tynes was inducted into the Troy Sports Hall of Fame. Like Umenyiora, Tynes was named to the Top 100 Giants players at #91.
Steve McLendon – Pittsburgh Steelers & Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Super Bowl XLV & Super Bowl LV*
Steve McLendon was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2009 by the Steelers, but was ultimately placed on their practice squad. He floated back and forth between active status and practice squad until he finally made the roster in 2010.
McLendon recorded two solo tackles during his 7 regular season games that year. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t factor much into the Steelers’ run to Super Bowl XLV, but he represented the sixth Troy alum in the NFL championship.
Pittsburgh would be defeated by the Packers 31-25.
McLendon’s stock rose in the Steelers organization in the coming years, as he appeared in more and more games, racking up tackles. After 2015, though, his contract was up.
The Jets swooped in to get a great pass rusher. He played in New York from 2016 until he was traded to the Bucs in 2020.
This would be extremely serendipitous for McLendon.
That year, the Bucs had a magic weapon – Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in NFL history. He was moved south to win a Super Bowl outside of the Pats and Bill Belichick’s mentorship.
Brady’s team finished second in the NFC South at 11-5, just behind the 12-4 Saints.
McLendon didn’t play in the Bucs’ 31-23 Wild Card win over the Washington Football Team, due to COVID protocols. He also missed the final game of the regular season, as well.
He returned in the Divisional Round win over the Saints, a 30-20 win, recording an assisted tackle and two quarterback hits. McLendon picked up a solo tackle and two assisted in the NFC Championship vs Green Bay.
The 31-26 win sent McLendon back to the Super Bowl a decade after his first attempt at securing the Lombardi Trophy.
The Super Bowl LV matchup against the Chiefs was not a contest by any means. The Bucs blasted Kansas City 31-9 and McLendon contributed a tackle and quarterback hit to help bring the Super Bowl back to Tampa for the first time in nearly 20 years.
At the time of writing, this is the last Super Bowl won by a Troy player.
McLendon would play one more season in Tampa before retiring. He ended his career starting 90 out of 165 games.
He recorded 1 interception, three pass deflections, and four forced fumbles with two fumble recoveries. McLendon had 276 tackles in his career, with 172 of them being solo.
Of the tackles, 44 were tackles for loss and 13 were sacks. He also had 33 quarterback hits.
Jerrel Jernigan – New York Giants – Super Bowl XLVI*
The final entrant in our New York Trilogy was Jerrel Jernigan, who was picked 83rd in the 3rd round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Giants.
After joining his 2007 Super Bowl-winning Trojan brothers, Jernigan played in 6 games during the 2011 season, primarily on kick returns. On eight returns, he gained 186 yards for a 23.25 ypr average.
In the playoffs, his numbers would be similar, catching 5 returns for 115 yards. In Super Bowl XLVI, he caught three kicks for 71 yards and a 23.67 average.
Jernigan earned his Super Bowl ring and continued to play for the Giants for the next two years. He was worked into the passing game and even start four games for the Giants, before a foot injury ended his time in New York.
He was named head coach at Eufaula High School in 2022.
DeMarcus Ware – Denver Broncos – Super Bowl 50*
We’ve covered a lot about the history of Troy’s only Pro Football Hall of Famer here before, but we’ve never talked a lot about the season that cemented his legend – 2015.
Ware actually missed five games during this season due to a lingering back injury. Even in 11 games, he still managed 7.5 sacks, 17 solo tackles (25 combined), 8 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, one forced fumble and one fumble return.
Injured or not, Demarcus Ware was a legendary pass rusher.
Peyton Manning and the Broncos fought their way to a 12-4 record and an AFC West crown. In the 23-16 Divisional round win against the Steelers, Ware had two solo tackles, one assisted, a sack, two tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, and a fumble recovery.
His tackle numbers went down in the AFC Championship, but the Broncos beat the Patriots 20-18. Ware still hit Brady 7 times, while combining for two tackles and a half sack.
The 15-1 Carolina Panthers, led by Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton finally met the buzzsaw against the Broncos. Ware had the game of his life on the sport’s biggest stage.
He finished the game with two sacks, four quarterback hits, three solo tackles, two assisted, and two tackles for loss.
He retire following the 2016 season as one of the greatest defensive ends in NFL history. He was inducted into the Troy Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2014.
In 2023, he was placed into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor and became the first Troy alum in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
On September 2, 2023, Troy retired his 94 for the football team, marking the first official retirement of a number in program history.
Mario Addison – Carolina Panthers – Super Bowl 50
An undrafted free agent in 2011, Mario Addison had the most journeyman career of any of Troy’s Super Bowl players. He was signed to the Bears’ practice squad in 2011, but was cut.
The Colts claimed him, along with the Bucs, but the Colts ultimately got him for 2012. The Redskins signed him on October 9, 2012, but after five games, he was waived and signed to the practice squad.
Stability came on December 4, 2012 when the Panthers signed him off of the Redskins’ practice squad. Addison would remain in Carolina for eight years, including his taste of the Super Bowl in 2015.
The Cam Newton-led Panthers tore through the NFC, destroying teams en route to a 15-1 record. Addison would have 6 sacks, 23 tackles (15 solo), 5 tackles for loss and 17 quarterback hits.
His numbers would reduce in the playoffs, though. In the Divisional round win over the Seahawks, he would only get one QB hit. In the NFC Championship win against the Cardinals, he would get an assisted tackle and another QB hit.
In Super Bowl 50, the Panthers were just no match for Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware. Addison would only log one solo tackle in six defensive snaps.
Super Bowl 50 was bittersweet for Trojans, as this was the first time Troy had players on both teams. Someone was guaranteed to win, and another was guaranteed to lose.
Unfortunately, Addison was on the losing end that February day.
Addison would remain in Carolina until 2020, when he was signed as a free agent by Buffalo. He would play two seasons with them, before retiring as a Texan after 2022.
Super Bowl Facts
- Of the five British-born Super Bowl winners, Troy produced two of them (Osi Umenyiora & Lawrence Tynes).
- DeMarcus Ware is the only Trojan to win a Super Bowl from an AFC team.
- Virgil Seay and Steve McLendon are the only Trojans to win one Super Bowl appearance and lose the other.
- Jack Peavey and Mario Addison are the only Trojans to reach the Super Bowl, but not raise the Lombardi Trophy.
- Jack Peavey, Kerry Jenkins, Lawrence Tynes, Steve McLendon, and Mario Addison won the Super Bowl after being undrafted free agents.
- Lawrence Tynes’ field goal in Super Bowl XLII was both the first recorded points and stats for a Trojan in any Super Bowl.
- As mentioned, Tynes’ 9 points are the only points scored by a Trojan in the Super Bowl.