Tee Higgins Shares What an NFL Player’s First Super Bowl Is Really Like

The Bengals wide receiver looked back at Super Bowl LVI four years later.

Tee Higgins put together a terrific performance in Super Bowl LVI in defeat. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

When wide receiver Tee Higgins joined the Bengals in 2020, he was no stranger to big games. During his three-year career at Clemson, Higgins played in three College Football Playoffs and caught touchdown passes in the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame and national championship against Alabama.

None of that could prepare him for his first Super Bowl in Feb. 2022. On Tuesday, speaking to SI on behalf of Bounty, Higgins recalled the run-up to Cincinnati’s 23–20 loss to the Rams in Inglewood, Calif.

“It’s definitely a step up from the national championship for sure,” Higgins said. “Once you walk out there on the field for warm-ups, you look around and you’re just like, ‘OK, I’m here. Like this is crazy. Like this is the moment that I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid.’”

That Super Bowl was the first played in the Los Angeles metro area since Jan. 1993, when the Cowboys blew out the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl. Because of that, and the milieu of the first Super Bowl with full attendance since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the game had a large Hollywood presence.

Higgins, then just 23, took notice.

“You’re like, ‘What, LeBron’s at the game? Beyonce and Jay-Z at the game? This is crazy,’” he said. “I just soaked in the moment, it’s a great experience. Obviously, the outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but at the end of the day, it was fun.”

The Bengals’ loss was not for any lack of effort on the part of Higgins; he caught four passes in the game for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

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