12 Super Bowl Players Have Ties To Georgia; Four Played For The Georgia Bulldogs

GEORGIA — After the Georgia Bulldogs won it all in college football, four old ‘Dawgs have a chance to take home the biggest gridiron prize of all … a Super Bowl ring.

They join eight other players on the team rosters when the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals square off in Super Bowl LVI, the biggest game of the NFL season, to be played at 5:30 p.m. Central on Sunday in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Three players on the Los Angeles Rams and one on the Cincinnati Bengals all played for the University of Georgia in Athens.

L.A. quarterback Matthew Stafford was drafted No. 1 overall in 2009 by the Detroit Lions where he spent 12 frustrating years with more losses than wins. Stafford was traded to the Rams at the beginning of the ‘21-’22 season to lead a new Rams offense and is now one win away from a complete and historic reverse of fortune.

Rams running back Sony Michel played second-string his senior year at UGA but scored the winning touchdown in the 2017 Rose Bowl against Oklahoma. Drafted that year by the New England Patriots, Michel is no stranger to Super Bowl play, scoring the only touchdown in the 2018 big game against the team he will suit up with on Sunday … the Rams.

Leonard Floyd was born in Atlanta and went to Dodge County High in tiny Eastman, Ga. He committed to the University of Georgia where he moved from playing defensive end to outside linebacker. After a junior season with 72 combined tackles, Floyd entered the NFL draft and was picked up by the Chicago Bears in the first round. He was traded to the Rams in 2020 and signed a four-year contract in 2021.

Bengals Center Trey Hill was born in Warner Robbins, Ga., where he played football at Houston (pronounced HOWS-tun) County High. The Bulldogs recruited him with their 2018 freshmen class. In his junior year, Hill joined the NFL draft and signed a four-year deal with Cincinnati.

Other Georgia-born Super Bowl players include:

• Tremayne Anchrum, LA Rams Offensive Tackle, Powder Springs, McEachern High School
• Grant Haley, LA Rams Cornerback, Atlanta, The Lovett School
• Ernest Jones, LA Rams Linebacker, Waycross, Ware County High School
• Vonn Bell, Cincinnati Bengals Safety, Rossville, Ridgeland High School
• Mike Hilton, Cincinnati Bengals Cornerback, Tyrone, Sandy Creek High School
• Cameron Sample, Defensive Lineman, Snellville, Shiloh High School
• D’Ante Smith, Offensive Tackle, Grovetown, Grovetown High School
• C.J. Uzomah, Tight End, Suwanee, North Gwinnett High School

Between them, the 2022 Super Bowl teams have 107 former college football players, according to the NCAA. Together, the SEC and Big Ten are sending the most players to the game, with 46 players. NCAA Division I FCS and Division II schools are also represented.

According to the NCAA, Florida and LSU have the greatest representation in the 56th annual Super Bowl, with five each.

Washington, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma each have four players on the teams' Super Bowl rosters.

Alabama, Texas A&M and Purdue have three representatives each.

And two players each come from Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, Florida Atlantic, Delaware, Cincinnati, Florida State, Iowa, Penn State, TCU, Utah, Wisconsin, Stanford, Colorado and North Carolina State.