When you think of the University of California, you might think of groundbreaking discoveries, world-class education … but how about some Super athletes?
UC’s football programs at Berkeley, Davis and UCLA have all sent players to the most popular sporting event in the United States — the Super Bowl. In fact, UCLA is among the top 5 colleges to feature alumni in the Super Bowl, with 114 players suiting up. And Cal alumni boast the fourth-most points scored in Super Bowl history (and they would have had six more if Pete Carroll would have run the damn ball).
There’s no shortage of UC history in connection with the NFL’s marquee event, with hundreds of players and coaches involved in its now 58 Super Bowl championships. So here’s a bit of UC Super Bowl lore to help you impress your friends, no matter who you’re rooting for during the game this Sunday.
Bears and Bruins in the bowl
This year’s Super Bowl features a UC alum in one of the most important roles on the field — center for the San Francisco 49ers. A three-time team captain while at UCLA, Jake Brendel started 52 games for the Bruins, a school record, and graduated in 2015 with a degree in business economics. At UCLA he earned a number of honors, including being named to the first-team All-Pac-12 academic team his senior year. Brendel bounced around the league a bit before finding a home with the 49ers and becoming a starter, earning a four-year contract extension in 2023.
Jake Brendel in the playoffs this season:
— PFF SF 49ers (@PFF_49ers) January 31, 2024
79 pass-blocking snaps
2 pressures allowed
0 sacks allowed
💥 pic.twitter.com/xdm5pYQxk8
On the other side of the ball, and the field, Kansas City’s defensive tackle Matt Dickerson, a UCLA alum, is also in Las Vegas preparing for the game. While currently on the practice squad, he could be elevated to the active roster. He’s already made an impression in the playoffs — he played 16 defensive snaps and made one tackle, in the third quarter, as the Chiefs clinched a trip to the AFC title game with a 27-24 win at Buffalo on Jan. 21.
Cal alum and tight end Jake Tonges is also in Vegas, helping the 49ers as a practice squad player, and is eligible for elevation on game day. Wide receiver Nikko Remigio, another Cal alum, will be waiting for his chance next year for Kansas City as a member of their injured reserve.
Score bleeping points*
He might not be in the booth calling the game, but Troy Aikman will always be part of Super Bowl history as a three-time Super Bowl champion and MVP of Super Bowl 27. UCLA’s first Davey O'Brien Award winner as the nation’s top quarterback, Aikman has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Rehabbing from an ACL injury, New York Jets quarterback and famed former Cal Bear Aaron Rodgers will be trying to earn his second Super Bowl ring next year. He’ll have some UC help on that front: offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is a former UC Davis Aggie player and coach. (There must be something about the Jets and UC — Ken O’Brien of the famed 1983 draft class played for the Aggies and while he never made it to the Super Bowl, he made it to the Pro Bowl twice.)
On Sunday, spare a thought for Detroit Lions QB and former Cal Bear Jared Goff, who came close to the Super Bowl, with his Lions falling just short in the NFC championship this year. Nose tackle Tyson Alualu, also from Cal, was on the nonetheless historic Lions squad, who had only been to the NFC title game once before, in 1992. Goff led the 2018 Los Angeles Rams team, which saw their title hopes sunk by the presently-between-jobs Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
Of course, football isn’t just about the passing game, even in this big play-dominated era. Cal Bear and Oakland native Marshawn Lynch has one ring from his time on the Seattle Seahawks, where he earned the nickname Beast Mode for his forceful running style. He could have had two, depending on how harshly you judge Pete Carroll’s play call near the end of Super Bowl 49 (called the “dumbest call in football history”).
And Lynch is not the only Super Bowl running back from the UC system: Cal Bears C.J. Anderson (Denver Broncos) and Shane Vereen (New England Patriots) both have rings.
The battle is in the trenches
While no UC alum is suiting up this Sunday for Kansas City, Cal Bear Mitchell Schwartz, winner of a Super Bowl ring in the team’s most recent title matchup against San Francisco, will be keenly watching and offering commentary on offensive line play. Schwartz was an All-Pro offensive tackle who enjoys explaining the nuances of the position (and the officiating of it) on Twitter. He and his brother, Geoff, also an offensive lineman, teamed up to write a book, “Eat My Schwartz: Our Story of NFL Football, Food, Family, and Faith,” about their journey to become the first Jewish brothers in the league since 1923.
Ok let's break down this #Chiefs vs. #Eagles Super Bowl matchup. Eagles opened as slight favorites and have remained there. It's about what I figured. Would have been a lot higher I think if not for Mahomes. Might as well dive right into the QB matchup.
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) February 11, 2023
UC Davis has produced its own brother combo along the offensive lines, Brad and Cory Lekkerkerker, as well.
Old school Niners fans (I’m talking Montana era) might remember UCLA alum Randy Cross, a three-time Super Bowl champion and center/guard on those legendary teams. Other UCLA linemen with rings include Jonathan Ogden, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001. Like Ogden, UC Berkeley's Tarik Glenn was a first-round draft pick and lineman and won a Super Bowl ring in 2007, with the Indianapolis Colts. Rings for the team that left Baltimore and the team that replaced them — a good wrinkle for your trivia efforts.
Defense wins championships
While the UC system has churned out no shortage of flashy skill players (Tony Gonzalez, DeSean Jackson, anyone?), a dream team made up of UC defenders could lock them down. Cal linebacker Tully Banta-Cain won two rings with the New England Patriots, the team later defeated in 2017 by Cal linebacker Mychal Kendricks’ squad, the Philadelphia Eagles. (Mychal’s brother, Eric, a UCLA alum, plays for the Minnesota Vikings). Perhaps because it’s the most cerebral position on defense, the UC system seems to be some sort of linebacker factory — Ken Norton was a Pro Bowl linebacker on the Dallas Cowboys’ Super Bowl-winning teams in the 90s.
A number of other UC defensive players have been Super Bowl champions, too, including Carnell Lake (defensive back on the Pittsburgh Steelers) and Brandon Mebane, the Cal Bear who went on to anchor the defensive line on the famed “Legion of Boom” defense of Marshawn Lynch’s Super Bowl-winning team.
Special teams gives an edge
Special teams helps give you an edge as a player fighting for playing time; it also can make a huge difference in the outcome of games. Naturally, UC has produced some remarkable special team players. UC Berkeley longsnapper David Binn played on the San Diego Chargers Super Bowl team in 1995; he was defeated in that game by Niners placekicker and former Cal Bear Doug Brien. Most famous of all (though technically not a Super Bowl player) is UC Davis kicker and zoology major Rolf Benirschke, who went on to become the NFL Man of the Year in 1983 and have a successful public speaking career; he overcame surgeries for ulcerative colitis to become a successful pro player.
Have the right gameplan
Of course in football, coaches play an outsized role, particularly coordinators. New Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan was the offensive coordinator for the Bengals from 2019 to 2023, helping to get the Bengals to their first Super Bowl in decades. UC Davis’ Ejiro Evero made it to the Super Bowl as the safeties coach for the Los Angeles Rams (on the 2018 Jared Goff-led team); he is now one of the hottest names in the coaching circuit as a potential head coaching candidate. And “Riverboat Ron” Rivera, part of the Cal linebacker factory, is one of the most well-respected coaches in the game, having won a Super Bowl on the legendary Ditka-coached 1985 Bears team and led the Carolina Panthers to the Bowl in 2015.
Learn from the legends
UC’s football history dates back well before the modern NFL — we’re talking leather helmets here. The first “Big Game” between the Cal Bears and Stanford, played in 1892, predates the NFL’s big game, the Super Bowl, by more than 70 years. And it truly was big — organizers, including Stanford’s Herbert Hoover, expected 10,000 fans to show up, and had to scramble to collect admissions fees for the 20,000 that actually arrived.
Fast forward to those early Super Bowls, and it’s no surprise a veteran of the original Big Game was a star. Joe Kapp, Cal QB, led his team to the Rose Bowl in 1958 and went on to be drafted late by the Minnesota Vikings the following year. What followed was a decade in the Canadian Football League, where his play would earn a spot in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. The Vikings managed to roster Kapp in 1967 and he led them to a Super Bowl appearance during the 1969 season and tied a record for the most touchdown passes in a single game along the way. In 1970, he made the cover of Sports Illustrated, dubbed “The Toughest Chicano” by the magazine, an achievement in visibility for Latino players in its own right. Kapp, who returned to UC Berkeley to coach in the 80s, passed away last year of Alzheimer’s. Proceeds from his memoir go to support scholarships for first-generation Latino/a students at UC Berkeley.
UC Riverside may no longer have a football program, but its alumni have still made Super Bowl history. Michael McColly "Butch" Johnson played a pivotal role in the 12th Super Bowl as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. At the end of a bomb from none other than Hall of Famer Roger Staubach, Johnson laid out for a diving 45 yard touchdown, helping the Cowboys seal the game against the Denver Broncos. The following year, Johnson also nabbed a touchdown from Staubach in the Super Bowl. Although the Cowboys lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers that year, it made Johnson only the second player to score back-to-back touchdowns in the NFL’s biggest game.
There’s no doubt players we missed that would make it on your UC fantasy football team — but there were only so many names we could draft in one piece. Let us know your favorites and your NFL history deepcuts (Craig Morton?) and enjoy the game!
Bonus: Are you watching for the ads? If so, show off your psychology acumen by brushing up on this UC Davis study about what Super Bowl commercials work, and why. Curious how an event as massive as the Super Bowl comes together? Check out this interview with UC Davis alum and Allegiant Airlines CEO Maurice Gallagher ‘71. He serves as chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee, and the game will be played in his company’s (very, very swanky) backyard — Allegiant Stadium.
*Former UCLA coach Chip Kelly, paraphrased
Joe Kapp, the “Toughest Chicano.”
