Former Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett was drafted by the Eagles 14th overall in last year's NFL Draft.
Sunday night's Super Bowl LII matchup between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles is a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX, which New England won 24-21. The Patriots are in pursuit of their sixth Super Bowl victory and the Eagles are aiming for their first.
Both teams are full of former NCAA student-athletes who have found success at the highest level professionally. Twenty-three schools will have multiple former student-athletes represented on the active roster of one of the two teams in this year's Super Bowl. In total, there are 69 schools represented by their former student-athletes who are playing in the Super Bowl.
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Four schools – Florida State, Michigan, Stanford and West Virginia – have four former student-athletes on the Patriots or Eagles' active rosters. All four former Seminoles appear on the Eagles' defense: linebacker Nigel Bradham, cornerback Ronald Darby, defensive tackle Tim Jernigan and cornerback Patrick Robinson.
Three of the four former Wolverines play for the Patriots, quarterback Tom Brady: defensive lineman Alan Branch and linebacker David Harris. Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham also attended Michigan.
#SBLII Bound. #GoBlue #ProBlue pic.twitter.com/qUvMWyPjiQ
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) January 22, 2018
Three of the former Stanford student-athletes will face off with Eagles tight end Zach Ertz going up against Patriots defensive backs Johnson Bademosi and Jordan Richards. Patriots offensive lineman Cameron Fleming also attended Stanford.
West Virginia fans will likely be cheering for the Eagles because all four former Mountaineers in the Super Bowl play for Philadelphia – cornerback Rasul Douglas, wide receiver Shelton Gibson, linebacker Najee Goode and running back Wendell Smallwood.
Here's the full list of participants and their college affiliation:
| School | Number of Players |
|---|---|
| Florida State | 4 |
| Michigan | 4 |
| Stanford | 4 |
| West Virginia | 4 |
| Arizona | 3 |
| Florida | 3 |
| LSU | 3 |
| Oregon | 3 |
| Rutgers | 3 |
| Wisconsin | 3 |
| Arkansas | 2 |
| Cincinnati | 2 |
| Georgia | 2 |
| Memphis | 2 |
| Nebraska | 2 |
| Oklahoma | 2 |
| Oregon State | 2 |
| Pittsburgh | 2 |
| South Carolina | 2 |
| Texas | 2 |
| Texas Tech | 2 |
| Virginia | 2 |
| Washington | 2 |
The Pac-12 leads all conferences with 21 former players in the Super Bowl. The Big Ten (19) and SEC (18) aren't far behind, followed by the ACC (13) and Big 12 (11). The AAC has eight former student-athletes in the Super Bowl.
New England Patriots
Here's a breakdown of the Patriots' active roster.
| Player | School | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Dwayne Allen | Clemson | TE |
| Ryan Allen | Louisiana Tech | P |
| Danny Amendola | Texas Tech | WR |
| David Andrews | Georgia | C |
| Johnson Bademosi | Stanford | CB |
| Brandon Bolden | Ole Miss | RB |
| Tom Brady | Michigan | QB |
| Alan Branch | Michigan | DL |
| Kenny Britt | Rutgers | WR |
| Malcom Brown | Texas | DL |
| Rex Burkhead | Nebraska | RB |
| Adam Butler | Vanderbilt | DL |
| Malcolm Butler | West Alabama | CB |
| Joe Cardona | Navy | LS |
| Patrick Chung | Oregon | S |
| Brandin Cooks | Oregon State | WR |
| Cole Croston | Iowa | OL |
| James Develin | Brown | FB |
| Phillip Dorsett | Miami (FL) | WR |
| Cameron Fleming | Stanford | OL |
| Marquis Flowers | Arizona | LB |
| Trey Flowers | Arkansas | DL |
| Mike Gillislee | Florida | RB |
| Stephon Gilmore | South Carolina | CB |
| Stephen Gostkowski | Memphis | K |
| Nicholas Grigsby | Pittsburgh | LB |
| Geneo Grissom | Oklahoma | DL |
| Rob Gronkowski | Arizona | TE |
| Lawrence Guy | Arizona State | DL |
| Duron Harmon | Rutgers | DB |
| David Harris | Michigan | LB |
| James Harrison | Kent State | LB |
| Chris Hogan | Monmouth | WR |
| Jacob Hollister | Wyoming | TE |
| Brian Hoyer | Michigan State | QB |
| Ricky Jean Francois | LSU | DL |
| Ted Karras | Illinois | G |
| Brandon King | Auburn | DB |
| Eric Lee | South Florida | DL |
| Dion Lewis | Pittsburgh | RB |
| Shaq Mason | Georgia Tech | OL |
| Devin McCourty | Rutgers | DB |
| Bernard Reedy | Toledo | WR |
| Jordan Richards | Stanford | DB |
| Elandon Roberts | Houston | LB |
| Eric Rowe | Utah | DB |
| Matthew Slater | UCLA | WR |
| Nate Solder | Colorado | OT |
| Joe Thuney | NC State | G |
| Kyle Van Noy | BYU | LB |
| LaAdrian Waddle | Texas Tech | OL |
| James White | Wisconsin | RB |
| Deatrich Wise | Arkansas | DL |
Philadelphia Eagles
Here's a breakdown of the Eagles' active roster.
| Player | School | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Nelson Agholor | USC | WR |
| Jay Ajayi | Boise State | RB |
| Beau Allen | Wisconsin | DT |
| Kenjon Barner | Oregon | RB |
| Derek Barnett | Tennessee | DE |
| Will Beatty | UConn | T |
| LeGarrette Blount | Oregon | RB |
| Nigel Bradham | Florida State | LB |
| Bryan Braman | West Texas A&M | DE |
| Brandon Brooks | Miami (OH) | G |
| Trey Burton | Florida | TE |
| Brent Celek | Cincinnati | TE |
| Corey Clement | Wisconsin | RB |
| Fletcher Cox | Mississippi State | DT |
| Vinny Curry | Marshall | DE |
| Ronald Darby | Florida State | CB |
| Rasul Douglas | West Virginia | CB |
| Dannell Ellerbe | Georgia | LB |
| Jake Elliott | Memphis | K |
| Zach Ertz | Stanford | TE |
| Nick Foles | Arizona | QB |
| Nathan Gerry | Nebraska | LB |
| Shelton Gibson | West Virginia | WR |
| Najee Goode | West Virginia | LB |
| Brandon Graham | Michigan | DE |
| Corey Graham | New Hampshire | S |
| Kamu Grugler-Hill | Eastern Illinois | LB |
| Mack Hollins | North Carolina | WR |
| Alshon Jeffery | South Carolina | WR |
| Malcolm Jenkins | Ohio State | S |
| Tim Jernigan | Florida State | DT |
| Lane Johnson | Oklahoma | T |
| Marcus Johnson | Texas | WR |
| Donnie Jones | LSU | P |
| Sidney Jones | Washington | CB |
| Jason Kelce | Cincinnati | C |
| Mychal Kendricks | California | LB |
| Chris Long | Virginia | DE |
| Rick Lovato | Old Dominion | LS |
| Rodney McLeod | Virginia | S |
| Steven Means | Buffalo | DE |
| Jalen Mills | LSU | CB |
| Elijah Qualls | Washington | DT |
| Patrick Robinson | Florida State | CB |
| Isaac Seumalo | Oregon State | G |
| Wendell Smallwood | West Virginia | RB |
| Torrey Smith | Maryland | WR |
| Nate Sudfeld | Indiana | QB |
| Destiny Vaeao | Washington State | DT |
| Halapoulivaati Vaitai | TCU | T |
| Chance Warmack | Alabama | G |
| Jaylen Watkins | Florida | S |
| Stefen Wisniewski | Penn State | G/C |
