For the 24th straight year, at least one Georgia Bulldog will be on one of the rosters for the Super Bowl. Last season, former Bulldog Mecole Hardman caught the game-winning pass, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to victory. Hardman and a few other Dawgs are hurt for Sunday, but plenty will be available.
Here is a deeper look at Georgia and its history with pro football's season finale.
If the Chiefs win, I assume Hardman would still be credited with a Super Bowl victory. He is one of four former Bulldogs with three titles, and he would be the all-time leader with a Kansas City win. He had 12 receptions this season and added an 18-yard rushing touchdown against the 49ers in week seven. Defensive End/Linebacker Malik Herring can earn his third ring with a Chiefs win. He is listed as the second-string defensive end behind George Karlaftis.
On the other side, the Philadelphia Eagles and their defense have benefitted greatly from the Georgia Bulldogs. Six Bulldogs (counting injured ones) are part of this impressive bunch. Jalen Carter is already one of the league's top defensive linemen. The former first-rounder was already named All-Pro in his second season. Carter applied great pressure up the middle and racked up 42 tackles with 12 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. He has also added a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in the postseason. Carter has not been one hundred percent heading into Sunday but should be ready to go at kickoff.
Jordan Davis entered the league one season prior to Carter, but the two have done an outstanding job pairing up and disrupting opponent's offensives. Quarterbacks and running back's rhythm were affected with that big 300+ pound defensive tackle in the middle. Davis has continued his dominance in the playoffs with a sack against the Commanders in the conference championship.
Nolan Smith Jr. has definitely improved a lot from season one to season two in the NFL. He tripled his tackle total and added 6.5 sacks for the season. He also forced a fumble and recovered two during the regular season. He has even done better in these playoffs. His four sacks in the postseason lead all NFL players.
Defensive Backs' Kelee Ringo and Lewis Cine surely knew how to make big plays in big games for the Dawgs and the duo can have the chance to do it again for the Eagles against the Chiefs.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean tore his left patellar tendon in week 16 and hasn't played since. He finished second on the team in tackles with 128. Seven times this season, Dean had double-digit tackles.
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Georgia has had some success when it comes to defenders in the Super Bowl. Bill Stanfill and Jake Scott were important cogs as the Miami Dolphins won back-to-back titles and Richard Seymour's postseason play helped him secure an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Here are some of the statistical leaders for defensive Dawgs in Super Bowl history.
Jake Scott has Georgia's only interceptions in Super Bowl history when he picked off Billy Kilmer twice in Super Bowl VII. He ended up winning Super Bowl VII MVP and year's later Terrell Davis (XXXII) and Hines Ward (XL) won the prestigous award as well. Georgia became the first school to have three different Super Bowl MVP awards (USC has done it since).
Here is a nice video that Georgia's Football account put on twitter...
