Five former Georgia Bulldogs will represent the two teams playing in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. It is the 23rd consecutive Super Bowl in which a Dawg will be represented. The 23 straight years is tied for longest active consecutive streak with LSU. The last time there was not one was in 2001 when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants.
There are three former Georgia players on the San Francisco 49ers and two that play on the Kansas City Chiefs. Georgia became the first school to have three separate Super Bowl MVPs (Jake Scott, Terrell Davis and Hines Ward). USC has since done it as well, but will any of these Bulldogs help Georgia become the first school the first to have four? Doubtful due to how much they play, but you never know.
Here is a little more on each player.
This is Chris Conley’s ninth season in the NFL, but the first time he will be playing in the NFL’s big game. He played for the Chiefs in his first four seasons in the league including in 2018 which was Patrick Mahomes’ first season as a starter. Conley was fourth on the team this season in receptions with 32. This season was his first with the 49ers and had just three receptions and all came in the final week of the regular season. He added a very important catch late in the divisional playoff against the Packers on January 20.
Sunday's game will feature some big-time tight ends. Charlie Woerner might not be as well known in the NFL world as Travis Kelce and George Kittle, but the former Dawg is no slouch, himself. Woerner has 11 career receptions in four seasons with the 49ers but has played over 200 plays on special teams in each of the last two seasons.
Robert Beal, Jr has played a limit role with San Francisco in his rookie season, but did make a sack in the final week of the regular season against the Rams. He also has four total tackles with one being solo.
Malik Herring has played two seasons in the NFL and has made the Super Bowl each time. In week six against the Broncos, he notched a half of sack and in week 18 against the Chargers he had a complete one. The defensive end also added three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
The player with the most playoff experience of the five Bulldogs on Sunday is Mecole Hardman. Hardman will be appearing in his fourth Super Bowl in this his fifth season in the NFL. He played his first four seasons with the Chiefs before starting this season with the Jets. He had only had one catch in five games with New York before being traded back to Kansas City in the middle of October. He would later suffer a thumb injury before coming back in week 17. He had season-highs with six receptions for 77 yards in week 18. He has been targeted four times in Kansas City’s first three games this postseason with two receptions for five total yards.
Three of the five players mentioned above has a chance to grab receptions on Sunday. In Super Bowl history, there have been 12 former Georgia players to have a catch in the big game and two of them were tight ends. Only one Bulldog has had a touchdown reception in this game, will there be another one on Sunday?
Clarence Kay and Jermaine Wiggins were the only Bulldog tight ends with a Super Bowl catch. Andre Hastings holds the record for most receptions in a Super Bowl by a Georgia player with ten while Hines Ward holds the yards receiving record by a Dawg with 123.
There has been 11 Dawgs with a tackle on defense and five total on special teams. There has also been five Bulldogs with a sack.
Jake Scott is the only former Bulldog with two and he had both en route to a Super Bowl MVP award when the Dolphins defeated the Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
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Hardman’s four Super Bowl Appearances will tie Richard Seymour as the Bulldog with four times playing in the big game. He is one of ten Georgia players to appear in at least three.
With a Chiefs’ victory, Hardman can also tie Seymour as well as Patrick Pass and Guy McIntyre as Dawgs with three Super Bowl victories. Herring can become the 14th Georgia player with two in the win column. None of the current Bulldogs with the 49ers have appeared in the Super Bowl.
Finally, Andy Reid will be mentioned a lot. The Chiefs head coach is a two-time Champion and a future hall-of-famer. He also attended BYU and not Georgia. However, Bulldog fans will remember another Andy Reid. This one played halfback for Georgia in the 1970s and was the hero in the 1975 game against Auburn in which he ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns. He also wore the “34” jersey prior to one, Herschel Walker.
