Two Gators continue UF’s streak in Super Bowls
Two Florida Gators alums — Kansas City Chief’s Demarcus Robinson and San Francisco 49ers’ Marcell Harris — will play in Super Bowl 54. UF has had at least one former player in 18 consecutive Super Bowls.
For three years, Demarcus Robinson and Marcell Harris were teammates at the University of Florida.
This week, they stand in each other’s way as Robinson’s Chiefs and Harris’ 49ers face off in Super Bowl 54 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
Regardless of which team wins, though, the former Gators are continuing a trend nearly two decades in the making. UF has now had at least one player in each of the past 18 Super Bowls, the thirdlongest active streak in the Southeastern Conference behind 19 by LSU and Georgia.
Overall, there have been 58 former Gators who have made 76 appearances in Super Bowls, and a former UF player will have been on the winning team 22 times once Sunday comes to an end.
“It’s starting to settle in,” Robinson said. “We’re just enjoying the moment.”
UF, despite some down seasons during the past decade before coach Dan Mullen’s turnaround the past two years, has still found ways to consistently produce NFL talent. There were 35 former Gators on Week 1 rosters this season, the fourth-most in NFL and one behind the Miami Hurricanes for most in the state.
Thirteen Gators were selected in the first round during the past 10 drafts.
Now, Robinson and Harris, both members of
the Gators’ 2013 recruiting class that ranked third in the nation according to the 247sports composite rankings and had nine players reach the NFL, are ready to play on the biggest stage of their career.
Robinson, 25, has 74 catches for 925 yards and seven touchdowns in his NFL career since being selected by the Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He’s the third or fourth option in a Kansas City offense that features solid pass-catchers in tight end Travis Kelce and speedy receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins.
But with his 6-1, 203pound frame, Robinson has the size to excel on the boundary. He showed his potential in Week 2 this season, when he caught six passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-10 win over the Oakland Raiders.
“He’s a guy who kind of gets lost in the shuffle of things sometimes,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “He’s a guy who’s super talented and makes a lot of big plays happen. It’s everything from catching the ball in scrambles, catching touchdowns maybe in the last read across the middle of the field or making the blocks and doing whatever he can to help his teammates out.”
At UF, Robinson caught 106 passes for 1,355 yards and nine touchdowns before declaring for the draft after his junior season. He broke out as a sophomore, with 53 catches, 810 yards and seven touchdowns. His 810 receiving yards were the most by a Gator in a single season last decade.
His highlight-reel game that year: A 15-catch outing in a double-overtime win over Kentucky that tied for the school record. His 214 yards in that game are the fourth-most in UF history and just the second time a player recorded at least 200 receiving yards against an SEC opponent.
“It was a big step,” Robinson said, “a big place for me to go there and have that college experience.”
Harris’ road to the NFL has had a few more speed bumps.
His UF career was bookended by season-ending injuries, missing out on his freshman year in 2013 while recovering from a knee injury in high school and losing his redshirt senior year in 2017 due to a torn Achilles’ tendon in a preseason practice.
The 49ers took a chance on Harris in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, and he has given them value for the spot they took him in.
The hard-hitting safety has 74 career tackles in 18 career games. He has tallied 40 tackles and five pass deflections during 13 games during the 49ers’ Super Bowl run this year and forced a fumble on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in their Dec. 1 matchup.
At UF, Harris recorded 102 tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions, three pass deflections, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while playing in all 37 games from 2014 to 2016.
He also had some stout internal competition during his college days just for playing time.
Among the defensive backs who Harris called teammates who are now in the NFL: Vernon Hargreaves, Keanu Neal, Brian Poole, Marcus Maye, Teez Tabor, Duke Dawson, Quincy Wilson and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
“Being around those guys — that bond, that competitiveness through my years — helped me get here,” Harris said.
Just like it has for the former Florida Gators players before him.
“The season isn’t over until Sunday,” Robinson said. “We’re going in with a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence.”
PAST GATORS IN SUPER BOWL HISTORY
While Robinson and Harris attempt to stake their claim in Super Bowl history, a host of former Gators have already put up big performances on the NFL’s biggest stage. Among them:
Trey Burton, a quarterback-turned-wide receiver/fullback/tight end during his four years at UF (2010-13), helped pull off one of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history when he threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Nick Foles on a play dubbed the “Philly Special” in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 41-33 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl 52. Jaylen Watkins played primarily on special teams for the Eagles, while kicker Caleb Sturgis was on IR. For the Patriots, running back Mike Gillislee was on the roster but inactive during the playoffs.
Percy Harvin returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to begin the second half, ran for 45 yards on two carries and caught a 5-yard pass in the Seahawks’ 43-8 win over the Broncos in Super Bowl 48. For Denver, defensive lineman Jeremy Mincey recorded four tackles and wide receiver Andre Caldwell played 11 snaps on offense without recording a statistic.
Tight end Aaron Hernandez caught eight passes for 67 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ 21-17 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl 46. Hernandez was one of four former Gators on New England’s roster. Brandon
Spikes started at linebacker and tallied 11 tackles. Defensive lineman Gerard Warren recorded two tackles. Jermaine Cunningham was a healthy scratch. The Giants had former UF defensive lineman Justin Trattou, who did not play in the Super Bowl, which capped his rookie season.
Running back Emmitt Smith, still the Gators’ and NFL’s all-time leading rusher, earned MVP honors after rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries in the Dallas Cowboys’ 30-13 win over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl 28. It was the second of three Super Bowl titles for Smith, who also won Super Bowls 27 and 30 with Dallas. His 289 career rushing yards in the Super Bowl are third all time behind Franco Harris (354) and Larry Csonka (297).
Ten former UF players played in seven of the 10 Super Bowls in Miami prior to Super Bowl 54.
Kicker/punter Don Chandler booted four field goals — still a single-game Super Bowl record, tied with the 49ers’ Ray Wersching in Super Bowl 16 — to help the Green Bay Packers to a 33-14 win over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl 2 at the Orange Bowl. Chandler was also on the Packers’ roster in Super Bowl 1.
Bobby McCray started at defensive end and tallied two tackles, a quarterback hit and a pass deflection in the New Orleans Saints’ 31-17 win in Super Bowl 44 over the Indianapolis Colts at Sun Life Stadium.
Three former Gators — quarterback Rex Grossman, defensive tackle Ian Scott and defensive end Alex Brown — started for the Chicago Bears in a 29-17 loss to the Colts at Dolphin Stadium in Super Bowl 41. Grossman, the only UF quarterback to start a Super Bowl, completed 20 of 28 passes for 165 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Scott and Brown combined for six tackles. Defensive back Todd Johnson also recorded two tackles.
Offensive lineman Burton Lawless is the only former Gator to appear in multiple South Florida Super Bowls, playing for the Dallas Cowboys in their losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowls 10 and 13 — the final two played at the Orange Bowl.
Jordan McPherson: 305-376-2129, @J_McPherson1126