Former Stanford Cardinal in the NFL Playoffs

Will a former Cardinal win a Super Bowl for the fourth straight season?

Jan 3, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA;San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) takes the field before the game at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

The NFL playoffs are nearly here. Over the course of a few weeks, the remaining 14 teams will compete for a coveted Super Bowl championship, with the winner able to bask in eternal glory. In what has been a wide open NFL season, with no clear-cut favorite, this year's playoffs will be very interesting. And for the Stanford Cardinal, representation in the tournament will be very high.

Having around 30 former players in the NFL this season, many of those ex-Cardinal standouts will be in the playoffs, hoping to make it four straight seasons that a Stanford player lifts the Lombardi trophy.

Last season, former Stanford starting quarterback Tanner McKee won the Super Bowl as the backup quarterback on the Philadelphia Eagles while in the two seasons before that, former Stanford safety Justin Reid won back-to-back titles with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here are the former Stanford players that will be in this year's playoffs and which team they play for.

WR Brycen Tremayne, Carolina Panthers

C Drew Dalman, Chicago Bears

QB Davis Mills, Houston Texans

TE Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

OL Walker Little, Jacksonville Jaguars

TE Tucker Fisk, Los Angeles Chargers (injured reserve-- not on active roster)

OL Foster Sarell, Los Angeles Chargers

DB Kendall Williamson, Los Angeles Chargers

TE Colby Parkinson, Los Angeles Rams

TE Austin Hooper, New England Patriots

QB Tanner McKee, Philadelphia Eagles

OL Andrus Peat, Pittsburgh Steelers

RB Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

LB Curtis Robinson, San Francisco 49ers

Tremayne's Panthers, the No. 4 seed in the NFC, are the only team in the playoffs with a losing record. But because they won the NFC South, they earn a top four seed and will host Parkinson's Rams on Wild Card weekend.

The Rams, the second place finishers in the NFC West finished at 12-5 and have looked like a major Super Bowl contender at times. At other times, they've have looked like a team that could be eliminated earlier than expected.

Dalman and Hooper are the two Stanford players that could have the best chance of winning it all this season, given how both of their teams earned a top two seed in their conferences.

The Bears, winners of the NFC North, are on a two-game skid, but played well enough during the regular season to secure their first division title since 2018. With the chance to host every playoff game through the Super Bowl (depending on how the No. 1 seed Seattle Seahawks do), Dalman and his squad are hungrier than ever.

Hooper and the Patriots are the No. 2 seed in the AFC and winners of the AFC East for the first time since 2019. Facing the Chargers in the first round, a win would mark the franchise's first playoff win since their win in Super Bowl LIII. But with quarterback Drake Maye playing MVP level football, it would not be shocking to see the Patriots win more than one playoff game.

Arguably the biggest name from Stanford in this year's playoffs is 49ers' star Christian McCaffrey. Making his first playoff appearance since the 49ers' 2023 Super Bowl run, McCaffrey has stayed healthy, has played at a relatively high level for all 17 games during the regular season, and is ready to take the No. 6 seed 49ers back to the promised land.