Gators in Super Bowl LVII: Preview of Florida players on both teams

Super Bowl LVII is set to kickoff Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, and for the 21st year in a row, the Gators will be represented in the championship game as multiple UF players are set to compete on both teams.

The matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will feature four active former Florida players and seven total Gators, including two who joined the practice squads just last month.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson makes his Super Bowl debut with the Eagles, who are going for their second championship after winning Super Bowl LII in 2017. Gardner-Johnson has recorded a career-high 75 tackles and six interceptions this season after he was traded to the team in August 2022 following three years with the New Orleans Saints.

“You see who you really are,” Gardner-Johnson said this week of his move to Philly. “You go from your younger age of 20 to the older side of the 20s, so you figure out who you are and what you need to do.

“I’m a football player, smart, physical, and one of the best safeties in the league. That’s how I feel, but I got better as a player and a person. I figured out how to interact outside of football. I learned how to engage differently with my teammates and my friends.”

The Chiefs are playing in their third Super Bowl in the last four years and will be looking to win their first since the 2019 season and third overall (1969). Their roster features a trio of active Gators in Carlos Dunlap, Kadarius Toney and Tommy Townsend.

In his 13th NFL season and first with Kansas City, the 33-year-old Dunlap has his highest number of tackles (41) and pass deflections (8) since 2019 in Cincinnati. He also has 4.0 sacks this year, the last one giving him 100 total for his career.

“This is why I signed up and why I chose to be here,” Dunlap said this week. “There was mutual interest: they wanted a veteran rusher, and I wanted the opportunity to make a run in the postseason and to be in this game. I feel like it was the perfect marriage.”

Toney started his second NFL season with the New York Giants before getting traded to the Chiefs in late October as he recovered from a hamstring injury. In nine total games since his return, Toney has 20 receptions for 216 yards and two touchdowns along with six rushes for 73 yards and one touchdown.

“That s— [has] been satisfying, just to go out there and really execute and play the way I can,” Toney said this week. “I mean, I know I can play. I mean, never been a problem. I just had nicks and injuries. I played through injuries and stuff like that. S–. It is what it is.”

Toney sustained an ankle injury in the AFC Championship Game and did not practice last week but has been a full participant in the past two practices. Kansas City coach Andy Reid said Toney “did everything we asked him to” this week.

Townsend, a second team All-Pro this season, led all punters with 45.6 net yards per punt and is tied for the second longest punt of the season at 76 yards. He also posted career highs with an average of 50.4 yards per attempts and 22 punts inside the 20.

He’s had five more so far in the playoffs, including pinning the Bengals inside the 6-yard line twice in the AFC Championship Game. This Super Bowl will be Townsend’s second in his three years, and he’s looking for a better outing this time around after netting just 29 yards on three punts in Super Bowl LV.

“It was definitely a lot for me my rookie year,” Townsend said this week. “It was different circumstances with the COVID year, not really getting to have the full Super Bowl experience for the week and just flying in the day before the game. I’ve been trying to just have fun with it this week, stay relaxed and take in the experience, but at the same time being focused on what I need to do to be successful throughout the game.” 

Kansas City also signed UF running back La’Mical Perine to its practice squad on Jan. 28. Earlier this season Perine was a member of Philadelphia’s practice squad, which currently features Florida players Fred Johnson and Tyrie Cleveland, who was signed by the team on Jan. 17.

The Gators have had a player in each Super Bowl since 2003, the third longest active streak in the nation. Overall, Florida has been a part of 24 Super Bowl-winning teams (36 total rings won by 29 players). After tonight, at least one UF player will have won a ring in 10 of the last 12 seasons.

Super Bowl LVII kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET inside State Farm Stadium, and it will be televised on FOX.

Feature stories on Gators in Super Bowl LVII

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Credits Eagles for Maturation On and Off the Field

Carlos Dunlap Relishes the Opportunity to Make His Training Camp Goals a Reality

Kadarius Toney, potential Super Bowl X-factor, says ‘unfortunate’ Giants tenure got him here

Tommy Townsend’s quick rise to team, media and league recognition

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