Super Bowl LV to showcase former Pac-12 Conference stars

Over 100 million people are expected to tune in this Sunday to see the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. Among the many stars in this matchup will be six former Pac-12 standouts, competing for a championship on football's biggest stage. 

Already one of the most prolific Super Bowl performers in history, Rob Gronkowski will be playing in his first title game as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. The former Arizona Wildcat already has three rings on his resume and only Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice has more career touchdown catches in the Super Bowl. Playing with his longtime quarterback Tom Brady, Gronk is sure to try and run it back and have a performance for the ages. 

Helping out Gronk and Brady on the Bucs’ offense will be former USC speedster Ronald Jones II. Tampa Bay selected Jones 38th overall in the 2018 draft after the running back amassed over 3,600 rushing yards for the Trojans. Playing in his first NFL postseason, Jones already has racked up 78 yards on 23 carries. 

On the other side of the field, one Pac-12 alum is expected to replace another on the Chiefs offensive line. Mitchell Schwartz, a former California Golden Bear, is likely to miss the big game due to injury, with Oregon State’s Mike Remmers taking his place. Remmers will look to make fans in Corvallis proud as he seeks to keep Patrick Mahomes, the former NFL MVP, safe from the Bucs’ defensive front.

Also on the Chiefs active roster, added for the big game, will be former Oregon State & UCLA QB Matt Moore who will be ready to back up Mahomes for Kansas City.

One man Remmers will have to pay particularly close attention to is the Bucs’ Vita Vea. The 6-foot-4, 350 pound defensive tackle made his mark by terrifying Pac-12 quarterbacks for the Washington Huskies from 2015-17. While Vea was injured for much of the 2020 season, he appears healthy and ready to showcase the explosiveness that made him the 12th overall pick in 2018. 

Two Bucs special teams specialists round out the final Pac-12 alumni to be active in Super Bowl LV, returner Jaydon Mickens (Washington) and linebacker Deone Bucannon (Washington State).

The action takes place on CBS this Sunday, Feb. 7 at 3:30 p.m. PT/ 4:30 p.m. MT, as several of these former Pac-12 players seek to join other Conference of Champions legends, such as Jim Plunkett, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Aaron Rodgers and many others, as Super Bowl champions.