Ole Miss in the NFL: Rebels will have at least one rep in Super Bowl LIX

Ole Miss football will have at least one former Rebel in Super Bowl LIX.

The Rebels didn’t have a representative last year — a Kansas City Chiefs win over San Fransisco 49ers.

The only notable connection was the celebration of all-time Ole Miss great Patrick Willis. Willis became just the third Ole Miss Rebel ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Rebels had shown up in each of the previous three Super Bowls. AJ Brown, arguably the greatest wide receiver in Ole Miss history, starred for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. 

Ole Miss has been represented in 23 of 59 Super Bowls. Brown is vying to become 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.

Brown had two scoreless catches for 14 yards in a Philadelphia win over the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round. The Eagles mostly relied on running back Saquon Barkley in icy conditions at home. Barkley carried 26 times for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

Next for Brown and Co. is NFC East rival Washington.

Jayden Daniels — who Ole Miss knows well from his days at LSU — led the Commanders to an upset road win over the Detroit Lions, the NFC’s No. 1 seed. 6-seed Washington is in its first NFC Championship Game since 1991. 

Five Rebels were left in the playoffs going into the weekend. Two remain: Brown and tight end Dawson Knox. Knox didn’t gain a yard on his only catch in a 27-25 win for the 2-seed Bills over the 3-seed Baltimore Ravens in snowy Buffalo. 

Knox had two receptions for 38 yards in a dominant, 31-7 win over former Ole Miss defensive tackle DJ Jones and the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round. His pass-block grade (77.1) was third-highest on the team.

Knox totaled 39 receptions and 605 yards but didn’t score a touchdown in his Ole Miss career. He had a single-season-best 24 receptions for 321 yards for Ole Miss in 2017. He was considered for the Burlsworth Trophy — an award given out annually to the nation’s top-performing former walk-on.

Knox finished this season with the Bills with 22 receptions, 311 yards and a touchdown. He received 33 targets in the regular season.

“A couple of years ago, my only mindset was getting to where I earned a scholarship — and on being a starter for Ole Miss,” Knox told the Tennesseean. “And after my first season as a starter, I kind of started realizing I could compete with anyone on the field.”

Brown this season caught 67 passes for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns. 

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

Brown went over 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth time in six NFL seasons. He was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist at Ole Miss, where he had the most-ever 100-yard receiving games by a Rebel (12). 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