A former Michigan player will win the Super Bowl for a ninth straight season
For a ninth consecutive season, at least one former Michigan Wolverines football will lift the Lombardi Trophy, with four set to participate in Super Bowl LVII Feb. 12 in Glendale, Ariz. Defensive end Brandon Graham and the Philadelphia Eagles will represent the NFC, while defensive ends Frank Clark and Mike Danna and quarterback Chad Henne topped the AFC with the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams entered the postseason as the top seed in their respective conferences.
The last Super Bowl-winning team that did not include a former Michigan player was the 2013-14 Seattle Seahawks, who beat the Denver Broncos Feb. 2, 2014. The run has been highlighted by quarterback Tom Brady winning four during that span, three with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Graham is searching for his second world title, after registering the game-sealing strip sack on Brady back in Super Bowl LII in 2018. Henne, the Chiefs’ backup signal-caller to Patrick Mahomes, and Clark are also seeking Super Bowl No. 2, after beating the San Francisco 49ers three years ago in Super Bowl LIV. This is Danna’s first appearance.
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Graham and the Eagles are coming off a blowout win over San Francisco in the NFC championship game. The former Michigan defensive end notched 1 tackle in 22 snaps and was taken out late in the game with the result all but decided. His 4 pressures ranked second on the team. He had a sack the week prior in a 38-7 victory over the New York Giants and totaled a career-high 11 for the regular season.
“I was more focused than I’ve ever been, because I know I don’t have long left,” Graham said of this season, following his team’s win. “Whatever my role was, I was just going to embrace it. Just embracing my role this year because we have a great team, great personalities, people that actually just wanted to be here.
“I’m just excited because we ain’t done yet and those boys are still hungry. We’re starving for it. You can tell by how we practice.”
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The Chiefs won in dramatic fashion in a back-and-forth game that ended with a 45-yard game-winning field goal by kicker Harrison Butker. The defense held Cincinnati to just 71 rushing yards and 238 passing yards with 2 interceptions in the 23-20 win.
Clark played a big role, with 1.5 sacks and 3 quarterback hits on Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, who was sacked 5 times. The former Michigan defensive end notched a sack in a 27-20 win over Jacksonville the week prior and had 5 in 15 regular-season games. He now has 13 career postseason sacks, which is the third most in NFL history. The only players he trails are former Buffalo Bill Bruce Smith (14.5) and former New England Patriot Willie McGinest (16). Clark has registered at least one sack in seven of 11 playoff contests with the Chiefs, after beginning his career with Seattle.
“They said they run the damn AFC. They lied,” Clark said in an on-field postgame interview. “They said we weren’t going to whoop they ass. They lied. Cincinnati Bengals, who? Who dat? Sent they ass home. That’s who.”
Danna chipped in with 5 tackles, and Henne did not play in the AFC championship game, though he did lead a 98-yard drive versus Jacksonville when Mahomes was out with an ankle injury for a stretch.
