Super Bowl LIX: True underdog stories from both the Chiefs and Eagles who overcame the odds to star in the NFL
The journey to the Super Bowl is a difficult one. It's not easy to make it to the NFL, let alone the championship game. But where does the journey begin for the few players who actually get to participate in football's most celebrated competition? For many it's in high school, where they're evaluated by scouts […]
The journey to the Super Bowl is a difficult one. It's not easy to make it to the NFL, let alone the championship game. But where does the journey begin for the few players who actually get to participate in football's most celebrated competition? For many it's in high school, where they're evaluated by scouts across the nation and ultimately assigned a star rating, signifying just how good they might be one day based on their athletic traits and production.
If you aren't too familiar with the system, players receive a star rating, with five being the best (although sites don't assign any star ratings below two). In every recruiting class there are about 40 five stars, 400 four stars, and 2000 three stars. The other 250,000 high school graduating seniors who play football rate somewhere below that or not at all.
So where did all the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles players stack up as recruits? And most impressively, who were the underdogs that overcame unbelievable odds to become key contributors and starters on their Super Bowl LIX teams? The post below outlines where all active roster players ranked as recruits on the 247Sports Composite scale (0.8 and above were 3, 4, and 5 star recruits).
The most obvious thing to note is that most all of the players involved in Super Bowl LIX were mid to high pedigree players coming into college. However, some true underdogs stories emerged, becoming some of the best players competing in the NFL's championship game this year. Let's dive into those players and their stories.
Kansas City Chiefs Underdog Stories
- Hollywood Brown, WR Oklahoma
- Travis Kelce, TE Cincinnati
- Carson Steele, Ball State
- Bryan Cook, S, Cincinnati
- Mike Pennel, DL Colorado State Pueblo
- Tershawn Wharton, DL Missouri S&T
- Joshua Williams, CB Fayetteville State
Yes, surprisingly enough Travis Kelce, one of the greatest tight ends to ever play the game was a massive underdog who probably should never have made it to the NFL, but he broke through anyway. A two-star recruit with almost no power conference scholarship offers, Kelce pushed into a prominent role during his final season with Cincinnati, got drafted to the Kansas City Chiefs, and the rest is history.
Safety Bryan Cook also starred with Cincinnati prior to landing with the Chiefs, but he was an even lower rated recruit who came out of absolutely nowhere. Cook played briefly at Howard University prior to landing with the Bearcats, a school at the FCS level of competition. Even more impressive, he rose so high up NFL Draft boards he was selected in the second round.
The rest of this underdogs list for the Chiefs either played at the junior college level before transferring, or never even made it past some of the lower levels college football before somehow making it in the NFL.
Wide receiver Hollwood Brown played for a small junior college school called College of the Canyons before putting up back to back 1100-yard seasons at Oklahoma, leading to him being selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Running back Carson Steele only had one FBS Division I offer coming into college. Mike Pennel transferred up from the JUCO level up to Arizona State, but then had to transfer down to Colorado State Pueblo before fighting his way through the NFL ranks as an undrafted free agent. Tershawn Wharton (DL) and Joshua Williams (CB) both had zero FBS Division I scholarship offers prior to college. Yet all of them somehow made it to Super Bowl LIX against all odds.
Philadelphia Eagles Underdog Stories
- Dallas Goedert, TE South Dakota State
- Bryce Huff, LB Memphis
- Lane Johnson, OT Oklahoma
- Jordan Mailata, OT International Player Pathway Program
- Jalyx Hunt, EDGE Houston Christian
- Milton Williams, DL Louisiana Tech
Lane Johnson is one of the best underdog long shot stories in the entire NFL, not just Super Bowl LIX. Johnson kicked off his college career having to play for Kilgore College in East Texas where he served as both a quarterback and tight end. From there he transferred up to Oklahoma, but was merely a back of the roster quarterback. He spent the next three years transitioning from tight end to defensive end and finally to offensive tackle. Now he's a five-time All Pro (including second team), six-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion, and he's looking to win for another.
Jordan Mailata never even played college football. He was a rugby star who at 6'8", 360+ pounds made sense to pursue a career as an offensive lineman. After joining the NFL's International Player Pathway Program he was eventually selected in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Since then he's won second team All-Pro honors and continues to dominate with the Eagles.
Every other on this list, Milton Williams (DL), Jalyx Hunt (EDGE), Dallas Goedert (TE), and Bryce Huff (EDGE) all scraped and clawed their way from being complete nobody recruits in high school to contributing greatly towards a chance at Super Bowl LIX for the Philadelphia Eagles.
So, regardless of whether you're rooting for the Chiefs, the Eagles, or both teams to lose, just know that there are a handful of players on each side worth rooting for as the true underdogs who overcame everything to get to where they are today. It might get tiring seeing the Chiefs win every year. Philadelphia fans might not be the easiest bunch to root alongside given their passionate and sometimes crazy antics. However, we can all root for the underdog stories in Super Bowl LIX.
We'll be back with more Chiefs and Eagles coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
And if you want to check out some Travis Kelce highlights from his days back at Cincinnati to see why we all should have known he was destined for greatness you can watch the video below!
