Ole Miss helped shape and prepare AJ Brown for Super Bowl LIX

All-time Ole Miss football great AJ Brown will get his second crack at a Super Bowl title on Sunday. 

His Philadelphia Eagles take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at 5:30 p.m. CT on FOX. The game is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII — a 38-35 Chiefs win. Brown had six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown in the losing effort two years ago. 

Brown left Ole Miss in 2018 as the Rebels’ career leader in receiving yards (2,984) and 100-yard receiving games (12). He signed in 2016 as a 4-star recruit and out of the back yard of Ole Miss’ bitter in-state rival, Mississippi State. 

Brown led Starkville to a 6A state championship as a senior. However, he didn’t see the postseason again until he reached the NFL.

“Every moment of my journey prepared me for this moment,” Brown said this week. “Those moments in college (at Ole Miss) prepared me for moments like these. We didn’t go to a bowl game or anything. But every step of my journey prepared me for Sunday.”

Ole Miss has been represented in 24 of 60 Super Bowls. 

Brown is just the seventh Rebel in history to appear in two. The others are Allen Brown, Andrew Townsend, Willie Green, Nate Wayne, Eli Manning and Brandon Bolden. Bolden (3) has the most of all Rebels.

Ole Miss didn’t have a Super Bowl representative last year, when the Chiefs took down the San Fransisco 49ers. Rebels had shown up in each of the previous three.

Brown lifted the Eagles over the division-rival Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game with six receptions, 96 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s where I’m from. Mississippi is where I’m from,” Brown said, when asked how his home state helped shaped him as a football player. “It’s a state where, you know, it’s overlooked. You’ve really got to grind for what you want. Probably don’t have that many resources. 

“(New Orleans, site of Super Bowl LIX) is not too far from home. It’s not about where I’m from or how close it is to where I’m from. It’s just about making plays on Sunday.”

Brown this season went over 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth time in six NFL seasons.

He landed All-Pro honors for the third consecutive year.

Brown is arguably the greatest wide receiver in Ole Miss history. He was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist his final season. 

Brown finished third in career receptions (189) and fifth in receiving touchdowns (19). He’s the only Ole Miss receiver on record with 60 or more receptions in back-to-back seasons.

“(Ole Miss) is home,” Brown exclusively told the Ole Miss Spirit while in town for the ‘Grove Bowl Games’ to launch his foundation. “This will forever be home, and I’m proud to say this is my home.”

OLE MISS REBELS IN THE SUPER BOWL

TE Allen Brown | Green Bay Packers | SBI and SBIII
LB Larry Grantham | New York Jets | SBIII
DT Jim Dunaway | Miami Dolphins | SBVII
QB Norris Weese | Denver Broncos | SBXII
RB Paul Hofer | San Francisco 49ers | SBXVI
P Jim Miller | San Francisco 49ers | SBXVI
DB Barry Wilburn | Washington Commanders | SBXXII
DT Andrew Townsend | Denver Broncos | SBXXII
TE Wesley Walls | San Francisco 49ers | SBXXIV
DT Andrew Townsend | Denver Broncos | SBXXIV
DB Alundis Brice | Dallas Cowboys | SBXXX
WR Willie Green | Denver Broncos | SBXXXII
WR Willie Green | Denver Broncos | SBXXXIII
LB Nate Wayne | Denver Broncos | SBXXXIII
TE Kris Mangum | Carolina Panthers | SBXXXVIII
OL Tutan Reyes | Carolina Panthers | SBXXXVIII
DE Derrick Burgess | Philadelphia Eagles | SBXXXIX
LB Nate Wayne | Philadelphia Eagles | SBXXXIX
OL Chris Spencer | Seattle Seahawks | SBXL
OL Terrence Metcalf | Chicago Bears | SBXLI
QB Eli Manning | New York Giants | SBXLII
WR Mike Wallace | Pittsburgh Steelers | SBXLV
QB Eli Manning | New York Giants | SBXLVI
RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis | New England Patriots | SBXLVI
OL Michael Other | Baltimore Ravens | SBXLVII
LB Patrick Willis | San Francisco 49ers | SBXLVII
RB Brandon Bolden | New England Patriots | SBXLIX
RB Brandon Bolden | New England Patriots | SBLI
DB Mike Hilton | Cincinnati Bengals | SBLVI
WR A.J. Brown | Philadelphia Eagles | SBLVII
WR A.J. Brown | Philadelphia Eagles | SBLIX