How Nate Landman, Other Former Colorado Buffaloes Performed in NFL Conference Championships

With the dust now settled on the NFL's conference championship weekend, two former Colorado Buffaloes standouts are headed to Super Bowl LX.

Special teams standout Brady Russell helped the Seattle Seahawks clinch their fourth Super Bowl appearance, and cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who closed his college career at Oregon, came up big in the New England Patriots' AFC Championship Game victory over the Denver Broncos.

Nate Landman Colorado Buffaloes NFL Conference Championships Ahkello Witherspoon Brady Russell Christian Gonzalez Super Bowl — Nov 30, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks fullback Brady Russell (38) reacts after a play during the second half against the Minnesota Vikings at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Meanwhile, two former Colorado players on the Los Angeles Rams are now in offseason mode, including linebacker Nate Landman.

Take a closer look at how Landman, Russell and Gonzalez performed on Sunday in their respective conference championship games:

Fullback Brady Russell, Seattle Seahawks

Brady Russell is the lone former Colorado player who closed their college career in Boulder headed to the Super Bowl, although his health is now in question after suffering a hand injury in the NFC Championship Game.

Before leaving the game due to injury, Russell had one assisted tackle in the Seahawks' 31-27 victory over the Rams.

Russell, who closed the regular season with a career-high 14 total tackles, was seen wearing a cast on his left hand during Seattle's conference championship celebration.

Cornerback Christian Gonzalez, New England Patriots

Christian Gonzalez helped seal the Patriots' 10-7 win over the Broncos with a fourth-quarter interception on Denver quarterback Jarrett Stidham's final pass of the game. A former first-round NFL Draft pick who spent his first two college seasons at Colorado before transferring to Oregon, Gonzalez also totaled six tackles, including one for a loss, and a sack.

Gonzalez closed his third NFL season with 69 total tackles and 10 passes defended, helping the Patriots secure the AFC's No. 2 seed.

Gonzalez's Patriots will next battle Russell's Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Feb. 8. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. MT (NBC) at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Linebacker Nate Landman, Los Angeles Rams

Nate Landman's dominant season came to a close on Sunday with another strong performance. Although it wasn't enough to help Los Angeles upset the Seahawks, the fourth-year pro totaled six tackles, one forced fumble and a pass defended.

In five seasons with the Buffs (2017-21), Landman totaled 409 tackles, including a school-record 53 third-down stops.

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Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, Los Angeles Rams

The oldest former Colorado player on this list, Ahkello Withersoon was one of the Buffs' top players on their 10-win 2016 team. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2017 draft and now has nine NFL seasons under his belt.

After breaking his clavicle in September, Witherspoon returned to action in November to help with the Rams' postseason push. However, the 30-year-old cornerback re-injured his shoulder against the Carolina Panthers in the wild-card round and was placed on injured reserve, forcing him to miss Sunday's NFC Championship Game.