Cal Sports Report

Cal Will Finally Have a Starter in the Super Bowl -- Sort Of

Cal grad Nikko Remigio, the Chiefs' big-play kick returner, may be the first player to touch the ball with his hands in the big game against the Eagles
Jake Curtis|
Nikko Remigio
Nikko Remigio | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

No former Cal player has started a Super Bowl game since offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz was a starter for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 Super Bowl in the 2019 season.

However, a former Cal player will be a starter for the Chiefs in this year's Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles. Well, sort of.

You have to manipulate the facts a tad, but you can make a strong case that former Cal wide receiver Nikko Remigo will be a starter for Kansas City against the Eagles on February 9 in New Orleans. In fact, he could be the literal game starter.

When Remigio's alma mater is mentioned on television, it will say it is Fresno State. And, in fact, his final season of college ball was at Fresno State under former Cal head coach Jeff Tedford when Remigio had 74 receptions and six touchdown catches to go along with a 19.9-yard average on punt returns, two of which he returned for touchdowns.

That was easily his best college season. But Remigio played only one season at Fresno State after playing his first four seasons at Cal, catching 97 passes and returning punts and kickoffs for the Bears in those four seasons. He even graduated from Cal with a degree in legal studies, so it seems acceptable to claim him as a former Cal player.

And he has been a signficant factor as a kickoff and punt returner for the Chiefs since being elevated from Kansas City's practice squad prior to the December 8 game aginst the Chargers.

Because he returns kickoffs for the Chiefs, Remigio is likely to be the first player to touch the ball with his hands in the upcoming Super Bowl if the Eagles kick off to open the game. That's a true starter.

And he has had a major impact in the postseason. He returned the opening kickoff 63 yards in Kansas City's playoff game against Houston, and that led to a Chiefs field goal that gave Kansas Ciy the lead in a game the Chiefs won.

In Sunday's AFC championship game, Remigio returned a punt 41 yards to set up a Kansas City touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 21-10 lead in the second quarter of the victory over the Bills.

So when the Eagles punt or kick off they will be concerned if the boot goes to the the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Remigio.

There is also an outside chance that Remigio will get into the game as a wide receiver at some point, but it is as a kick returner that he could have an influence on the outcome.

By the way, Remigio made a big annoucement this past October when he stated that he is engaged to star track athlete Maureen Schrijvers, a member of the Philippines national team. It's not quite Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, but . . . .

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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