KNOXVILLE — As the football world prepares for Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, Vols Wire takes a look at those players with Tennessee ties who have previously appeared in the big game.
Tennessee has produced more players to play on the NFL’s grand stage than any other school in the country and the Volunteers will boast a Super Bowl champion when the final gun sounds late Sunday night as Dustin Colquitt plays for Kansas City and Emmanuel Moseley is a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
The first former Volunteer to play in the Super Bowl was the late Bill Anderson.
Anderson, who was a longtime radio analyst who worked alongside the legendary John Ward, was a member of the 1966 Green Bay Packers who won Super Bowl I, making him the first Vol to win a title.
He was the first of 72 VFLs to play in the big game.
Colquitt, a Bearden High School product, will be the third punter in the Colquitt family to appear in the Super Bowl when he takes the field on Sunday. He joins his father, Craig, a two-time champion with the Steelers, and brother, Britton, who played for the Broncos.
Peyton Manning has played in four Super Bowls, two with Indianapolis and two with the Broncos, winning a title in each city.
Bill Bates, a Farragut High School alumnus, won three Super Bowls under two head coaches (Barry Switzer and 2020 Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Johnson) with the Dallas Cowboys.
Other VFLs to have multiple Super Bowl rings include: Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds (San Francisco), Marcus Nash (Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos), Raleigh McKenzie (Washington Redskins) and Mickey Marvin (Raiders).
Other VFLs to play in the big game include John Kelly, Cordarrelle Patterson, Reggie White, Neil Clabo, Jabari Greer, Troy Fleming and others.
