Bulldogs in Super Bowl are recognized with billboards prior to Sunday’s game

Mississippi State's nationally recognized #FromStateToSundays billboard campaign returned this week ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Mississippi State Athletics is paying tribute to its four National Football League Bulldogs still vying for this year's Lombardi Trophy. All- Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones and linebacker Willie Gay Jr. are with the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, cornerback Darius

Slay, and All- Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox will oppose Jones and Gay as members of the NFC's Philadelphia Eagles.

Mississippi State is tied for the Southeastern Conference lead with the most former players participating in this year's Super Bowl. Only one other school in the entire country has more than the four guys MSU boasts. Additionally, the Bulldogs lead the nation with four defensive players in "The Big Game."

"We're not talking about mere participants," MSU head football coach Zach

Arnett said. "We're talking about four game wreckers. These guys are going to directly influence the outcome of that game – the biggest game of the year."

MSU's #FromStateToSundays billboards were featured throughout the week at Yazoo City, Mississippi: Feb. 8 (Fletcher Cox); Houston, Mississippi: Feb. 8 (Chris Jones); Starkville, Mississippi: Feb. 6 ( Willie Gay Jr.); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Feb. 6 (Fletcher Cox and Darius Slay); Kansas City, Missouri: Feb. 6 (Chris Jones and Willie Gay Jr.); Brunswick, Georgia: Feb. 6 (Darius Slay); and Glendale, Arizona: Feb. 9 (Chris Jones, Willie Gay Jr., Fletcher Cox and Darius Slay).

An Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year finalist, Jones was dominant in the AFC Championship win against Cincinnati. He finished the game with four tackles ( three solo), including three tackles for loss, and a game- high five quarterback pressures to go with the two sacks (- 13 yards). His two sacks are tied for the third- most sacks in a single postseason game in franchise history. The fourtime All- Pro racked up 15 sacks during the regular season, which was the most in the NFL among defensive tackles.

Gay combined for a halfsack against the Bengals to go along with another tackle and a quarterback pressure. In 13 starts during the regular season, Gay racked up the third- most tackles on the Chiefs' defense ( 88).

A four-time All-Pro selection, Cox ranks No. 5 on the Eagles' all-time sacks list (65, most by a defensive tackle). He has played in 173 career regular-season games, which is the third-most ever by a defensive player in franchise history. During the 2022 regular season, he started all 17 games, totaled 43 tackles, notched seven sacks, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.

Slay, who earned AllPro honors in 2017 when he led the NFL with eight interceptions on the season, leads all NFL players with 133 pass deflections since the 2013 campaign. In 17 regular season starts in 2022, he turned in 55 tackles, three interceptions and 14 pass deflections.

Both Jones ( LIV) and Cox ( LII) are previous Super Bowl winners.