Texas Football: Longhorns Super Bowl Trivia
This year's Super Bowl will feature four former Longhorn Lettermen.
San Fransisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and special teams coordinator Richard Hightower both played at the University of Texas. Both Shanahan and Hightower started off as walk-ons but ended up becoming contributors to the program. Shanahan earned playing time on offense while Hightower ended up getting a scholarship thanks to his stellar special teams play.
49ers receiver Marquise Goodwin has a chance to become just the fourth man in history to compete in the Olympics and win a Super Bowl. "Bullet" Bob Hays won the gold medal in the 1964 Summer Olympics in both the 100-meter dash and the 400-meter relay. He would go on to help the Cowboys win Super Bowl VI with Tom Landry's Cowboys. He's still the only man to ever win both the Super Bowl and an Olympic gold medal. Mike Carter won three Super Bowls and a silver medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics in the shot put. Nate Ebner of the New England Patriots has three Super Bowl rings and competed in the Olympics in 2016 as a member of the USA Rugby Team.
Alex Okafor is lining up on the other side of the ball for the Kansas City Cheifs. He is attempting to become the second Pflugerville High School alum to win the Super Bowl after Michael Johnson did it with the New York Giants in 2008.
If you are looking for the Super Bowl-winning team with the most Texas Longhorns on it, that would be the 1969 New York Jets. Four Texas former Longhorns (John Ellliot, Jim Hudson, Pete Lammons and George Sauer) participated in one of the greatest upsets in NFL history as the Jets knocked off the seemingly indestructible Colt 16-7 in Super Bowl III. The quartet was also the first UT grads to ever play in the big game as neither Super Bowls I or II featured any Texas players.
The 1988 Denver Broncos (Laron Brown, Bobby Micho, Dave Studdard and Paul Jetton) and the 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers (Limas Sweed, Jonathan Scott, Tony Hills and Casey Hampton) each had four Texas exes on the team, but neither squad was able to win the game.
Don and Diron Talbert are the only set of Texas Longhorn brothers to ever participate in the game. Unfortunately for the Talbert family, neither was able to triumph in their appearance. Don's 1970 Dallas Cowboys lost to the Baltimorebronbrong Colts 16-13 and Diron's 1972 Washington Redskins lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins.
Malcom Brown and Casey Hampton are tied among UT players for the most Super Bowl appearances with three. Both own 2-1 records in the game.
And finally, the Denver Broncos have featured the most Texas players in the Super Bowl by far with 12 appearances by UT alums.