When the San Francisco 49ers finished their domination of the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, a pair of Notre Dame alumni earned their first trips to the Super Bowl.
Sheldon Day and Mike McGlinchey will be wearing the red, gold and white of the 49ers when they meet the Kansas City Chiefs on February 2 in Miami.
Day is in his fourth NFL season after spending a year and a half in Jacksonville before being waived in 2017 and picked up by the 49ers.
Day played in all 16 regular season games for San Francisco this season, making 15 tackles and recording one sack this year.
Day played on Notre Dame’s defensive line from 2012-15 and was a valuable rotational piece in the the 2012 year that finished with a 12-0 regular season. He had 32 tackles for loss in four seasons at Notre Dame.
Joining Day in Miami will be Mike McGlinchey who reaches the Super Bowl in just his second NFL season.
McGlinchey was a key part of why Notre Dame won the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s best offensive line in 2017 as he and Quenton Nelson of the Colts were both drafted in the first round the following spring.
McGlinchey was key in the 49ers dominating run game as the right tackle was part of the reason they ran for 285 yards and attempted just eight passes all day.
The 49ers will meet the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV as the Chiefs have no active former Notre Dame players on their roster but do feature former Irish tight end Alize Mack on their practice squad and former Notre Dame offensive lineman Andy Heck who has coached Kansas City’s offensive line since 2013.