Familiar faces on sidelines at Super Bowl LIV
Plenty of ex-Pats in contention for a ring
It will almost feel strange to watch a Super Bowl played without the Patriots.
Yet even while the Pats sit out Super Bowl LIV, the first big game they’ve missed in four years, their fingerprints can be found all over each sideline. The Chiefs and 49ers have both reached the Promised Land with the help of former Patriot players and coaches.
Here’s a rundown of all the past Pats to know ahead of Super Sunday.
49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo
Remember him?
The former heir apparent to Tom Brady has reached the Super Bowl in his third year with San Francisco. Garoppolo completed 69.1% of his passes for 3,978 yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions over his first full regular season leading the 49ers. He’s now chasing his third ring, having won two as Brady’s primary backup at the end of the 2014 and 2016 seasons.
Recently, Garoppolo has ceded the spotlight to San Francisco’s defense and running game. He threw just eight times in the 49ers’ win over Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game.
WR Jordan Matthews
One of the first cuts of the Patriots’ 2018 training camp, Matthews has continued to bounce around after a strong start to his career in Philadelphia.
During a brief reunion with the Eagles this season, he caught four passes before he was released in late November. The 49ers signed Matthews two weeks later. Like his New England stint, he’s yet to register a catch in San Francisco.
K Robbie Gould
Long ago, an undrafted rookie kicker unsuccessfully challenged Adam Vinatieri during a 2005 Patriots training camp battle. That kicker was Gould.
Gould, of course, has more than proved himself since leaving Foxboro. In his 15th year, he’s made 23 of 31 field goals, including a season-long 54-yarder in the NFC Championship
Game. He previously spent 11 years in Chicago and one in New York.
WRs coach WesWelker
The greatest Patriots wide receiver of all time, statistically speaking, is taking his fourth shot at a Super Bowl ring.
Over his six years in New England, Welker set numerous franchise records, including the five highest single-season reception totals in team history, the record for receiving yards in a season, most receptions in a single game, most receiving yards in a single game, longest reception and most career receptions. Welker and the Pats lost Super Bowls XLII and XLVI to the Giants. Later, with the Broncos, he fell in Super Bowl XLVIII to the Seahawks.
He spent the past two seasons as an offensive/special teams assistant in Houston.
Chiefs DT Mike Pennel
The hulking 330-pounder flopped after signing as one of the Pats’ top free agents last offseason and was cut shortly after the team’s third preseason game.
It wasn’t until October that Pennel joined Kansas City, which was in dire need of run-stopping talent. Over eight regular-season games, he collected a sack and 24 total tackles. He assisted on four stops during the Chiefs’ win over the Titans in the AFC Championship Game, when Derrick Henry was limited to 69 rushing yards.
DL coach Brendan Daly
Daly spent five seasons in New England, including his last four as the defensive line coach. Last offseason, Daly left the Pats to join former boss Steve Spagnuolo, whom he coached under in St. Louis and had just been hired as Kansas City’s new defensive coordinator. With the Chiefs, Daly has the title of “defensive run game coordinator.” He will be coaching in his fourth straight Super Bowl and the fifth of his career.
QB coach Mike Kafka
Kafka lasted barely fourth months with the Patriots during the 2013 offseason, when he was cut to create a roster spot for Tim Tebow. The 32-year-old spent time with seven NFL teams and threw two picks over his 16 career passes. Far more impressively, Kafka has been molding Patrick Mahomes the past two seasons and coaching him into arguably the best player in the league today.