Florida High School Players in the Super Bowl

[MarkECannon]

Rosters could change some by game time but since I saw an article on highschoolfootballamerica.com I decided to go ahead and post this. Guess which state has the most players on the Super Bowl rosters? Florida. The number is 14. Two of those are from IMG. One is from the state of Georgia and the other from California so you could say if you omit . . . Oh never mind.

The Eagles have 10 and the Chiefs have 4 on their rosters that played their high school careers in the state of Florida.

BREAKDOWN BY STATE
Florida 14
Texas 12
California 10
Georgia 7
Ohio, Virginia (6 each)
N Carolina 5
Indiana, Pennsylvania (4 each)
Mississippi, Wisconsin (3 each)
Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Nevada, Oklahoma, S Carolina, Tennessee (2 each)
Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, N Dakota, S Dakota, Utah (1 each)

Australia has 1 (wonder what position he plays?)

#/NAME/POSITION/HIGH SCHOOL/BIRTH PLACE/COLLEGE
************************************************************
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

#3 Nolan Smith Jr OLB
IMG Savannah, GA Georgia

#8 CJ Gardner-Johnson S
COCOA Cocoa, FL Florida

#21 Sydney Brown S
ST STEPHEN’S EPISCOPAL London, Ontario, Canada Illinois

# 23 Eli Ricks DB
IMG Rancho Cucamonga, CA LSU

#27 Quinyon Mitchell CB
WILLISTON Williston, FL Toledo

#34 Isaiah Rodgers CB
BLAKE Tampa, FL UMASS

#56 Tyler Steen OL
STA Miami, FL Alabama/Vanderbilt

#58 Jalyx Hunt OLB
UNIVERSITY (ORANGE CITY) Debary, FL Houston Baptist/Cornell

#74 Fred Johnson OT
ROYAL PALM BEACH COMMUNITY West Palm Beach, FL Florida

#98 Jalen Carter DL
APOPKA Apopka, FL Georgia

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

#5 Hollywood Brown WR CHAMINADE/MADONNA Hollywood, FL Oklahoma/College of the Canyons

#27 Chamarri Conner DB
TRINITY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (Jacksonville) Jacksonville, FL Va Tech

#55 Joshua Uche LB
COLUMBUS Miami, FL Michigan

#74 Jawaan Taylor OT
COCOA Cocoa, FL FLORIDA

Some observations:
*Only 3 went to college at a state school. All 3 went to Florida.
* Cocoa and IMG both have 2 participants.
* If the player transferred in college I listed the school he finished at first .
* I have wondered why Hollywood Brown was called Hollywood. Now we know.
* Except for Sydney Brown and the 2 IMG players all of the remaining players went to a school that was in the same town or very close to where they were born.
* I’m sure you did a double maybe triple take at Sydney Brown’s info. Here is a link with his story. It is worth checking out.

Sydney Brown

 

[MarkECannon]

Found this gem with Devin Hester who attended Palm Beach Gardens then transferred to Suncoast Community High School in Rivera Beach which is magnet school for Math, Science and Engineering, Computer Science, International Baccalaureate and some IT thing. He graduated from Suncoast Community then played for The U and was drafted in the 2nd Round by the Chicago Bears.

 

[MarkECannon]

Super Bowl XXV MVP Ottis Anderson played at Forest Hill Community High in West Palm Beach, Florida. He went on to play at the University of Miami. He was selected 8th overall in the 1979 draft by the St Louis Cardinals. His New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills in the old Tampa Stadium aka The Big Sombrero in 1991.

 

[gatorman001]

In Super Bowl XXVI on January 26, 1992, cornerback Alvoid Mays (1983 Manatee State Camps) stripped the ball from Buffalo Bills quarterback Kelly and gave it to defensive end Fred Stokes. This play helped the Washington Redskins seal their third Super Bowl victory. Tim Johnson DT (Sarasota Sailors) also played and started for the Redskins

 

[MarkECannon]

Emmett Smith was the 1994 Super Bowl MVP leading his Dallas Cowboys by defeating the Buffalo Bills to win Super Bowl XXVIII. Before he became a member of the NFL Hall of Fame Emmett Smith was a high performing running back for the Escambia Gators in Pensacola, Florida from 1983-1986. Emmett became the second-leading rusher in high school history for that time. Escambia won 2 state championships while he played for them. He was named the 1986 High School Player of the Year in by many publications and organizations. The FHSAA recognized Smith as the Player of the Century. He played 3 years for the Florida Gators before being drafted 17th in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys.

* Posted this video because all of Smith’s Super Bowl videos that I found were copyrighted.

 

[MarkECannon]

Born in Bartow, played for the Lakeleen Kathleen Red Devils, played for the Miami Hurricanes, Ray Lewis won the Super Bowl XXXV MVP leading the Baltimore Ravens to defeat the New York Giants in the 2000 season.

While playing at Kathleen Lewis earned All-American Status as a linebacker. He also played running back and won a state wrestling title. Lewis earned a scholarship to the University of Miami where he became a starting linebacker the last 5 games in of his freshman year. He was selected in the first round with the 26th pick by the Baltimore Ravens. Ray was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2018.

*Most of Ray Lewis’ NFL highlights are copyrighted.



* This wrestling video is not the year he won a state wrestling but it’s pretty cool video anyway.

 

[gatorman001]

Born in Bartow, played for the Lakeleen Kathleen Red Devils, played for the Miami Hurricanes, Ray Lewis won the Super Bowl XXXV MVP leading the Baltimore Ravens to defeat the New York Giants in the 2000 season.

While playing at Kathleen Lewis earned All-American Status as a linebacker. He also played running back and won a state wrestling title. Lewis earned a scholarship to the University of Miami where he became a starting linebacker the last 5 games in of his freshman year. He was selected in the first round with the 26th pick by the Baltimore Ravens. Ray was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2018.

*Most of Ray Lewis’ NFL highlights are copyrighted.

View embedded media

* This wrestling video is not the year he won a state wrestling but it’s pretty cool video anyway.

View embedded media

Don't get me started on Lewis and his suspicious involvement with murder in Atlanta on Super Bowl week.

 

[MarkECannon]

Don't get me started on Lewis and his suspicious involvement with murder in Atlanta on Super Bowl week.

That’s why I didn’t mention it 🙂

 

[gatorman001]

Tyrone Williams cb, Manatee high school 89- 91. 2 time national champ at Nebraska, and Starting CB for the Green Bay Packers super bowl 31. Had the fastest change.of direction and closing speed of any DB I've ever seen at Manatee. Oddly enough was used primarily has a RB until his senior season, when due to some massive personnel issues in the defensive backfired, Joe kinnan moved him to the defensive backfield because of his ability to shut down one whole side of the field. I always thought of him as more of a deion sander type dB, because of his tendency to avoid contact, but a outstanding cover corner.

 

[Silver King]

Burton Lawless Charotte High School: Super Bowls X, XII and XIII

 

[MarkECannon]

I met the Super Bowl XXXVII MVP at the New Tampa Y a couple of years ago. Nice guy, looked like he could still play. Dexter Jackson had 2 interceptions in the Tampa Bay Bucs blowout of the Oakland Raiders.

Jackson was born in Quincy, Florida. He played quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back at James A. Shanks High School in Quincy, Florida. Shanks High was combined with a magnet school to form what is today East Gadsden High School. He went on to play safety at Florida State. He was drafted in the 4th Round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay.

 

[MarkECannon]

Muck City gives us our last and latest Super Bowl MVP from Florida. Santonio Holmes was born in Belle Glade, Florida. He played at Glades Central High Raiders graduating in 2002. He lettered in football, basketball and track. In football, he won 2 state titles. In basketball, in his junior year, Glades Central was a state runner-up. In track, Glades Central won a state title his junior year. Holmes’ 4 x 400 meter team won two consecutive state titles. He then played at Ohio State from 2002-2005. He was picked with the 26th pick in the first round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Holmes won his 1999 Super Bowl XLIII MVP after catching 9 passes for 131 yards for one touchdown. He caught 4 passes for 73 yards on the final drive.

 

[MarkECannon]

For the record, I did not mention any off the field issues any of these players may have had choosing to focus on their football story.

If there is no video with a player I did not find videos I could post or I felt worth posting.

I enjoyed bringing up some of the men that played in the Florida high school football system. With the 14 Florida players in the Super Bowl we can appreciate that our state continues to provide significant talent to the NFL.

 

[Silver King]

I met the Super Bowl XXXVII MVP at the New Tampa Y a couple of years ago. Nice guy, looked like he could still play. Dexter Jackson had 2 interceptions in the Tampa Bay Bucs blowout of the Oakland Raiders.

Jackson was born in Quincy, Florida. He played quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back at James A. Shanks High School in Quincy, Florida. Shanks High was combined with a magnet school to form what is today East Gadsden High School. He went on to play safety at Florida State. He was drafted in the 4th Round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay.

My 1970 team with Burton Lawless on it lost to Quincy Shanks on a late penalty up there in the State Semi-Final game. It was the right call, can't argue it.