There are 7 players in the Super Bowl this year that played high school football in Texas, 4 for Kansas City and 3 for Tampa Bay.
Patrick Mahomes, Whitehouse
Mahomes was born in Tyler, Texas, to parents Pat Mahomes, then an MLB pitcher, and Randi Mahomes on September 17, 1995.Mahomes attended Whitehouse High School in Whitehouse, Texas He played football, baseball, and basketball.He believes that training pitching and playing basketball improved his quarterback skills. In football, he had 4,619 passing yards, 50 passing touchdowns, 948 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns as a senior. In baseball, he threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts in a game his senior year. He was named the Maxpreps Male Athlete of the Year for 2013–2014.
Mahomes was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star football recruit and was ranked as the 12th best dual-threat quarterback in his class. He committed to Texas Tech University, Mahomes was also a top prospect for the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, but was not expected to be selected high due to his commitment to Texas Tech. He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 37th round of 2014 MLB Draft, but did not sign a contract.
Mahomes started in 32 games over three years for Texas Tech. In 2016, he three for over 5,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. He was projected to be a late first round or early second round draft pick, however the Kansas City Chiefs surprised everyone, taking Mahomes with the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Mahomes was the backup behind Alex Smith his rookie season. In his second season, he threw for 5,097 yards and an NFL record 50 touchdowns and won the NFL MVP. In his second season as the starter, he led the Chiefs to a super Bowl win and won the MVP of the Super Bowl. In just three seasons as a starting quarterback, he is a 3-time Pro Bowler, made 2 All-NFL teams, won a regular season and Super Bowl MVP, and is playing in his second Super Bowl.
Alex Okafor, Defensive End
Okafor was born in Dallas, Texas. He played high school football for Pflugerville where he was an All-American in 2008. He was also a standout in soccer and basketball. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns where he was first team All-American in 2011.
Okafor was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He was with Arizona for four years before moving on to New Orleans for two years. He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. He has a Super Bowl ring from 2020, but he was inured and unable to play in the game.
Ricky Seals-Jones, Tight End
Seals-Jones was born in Houston, Texas. He played high school football at Sealy High School. He was also a basketball standout and was a Parade Magazine All-American in basketball. He played college football at Texas A&M where he plated wide-receiver. He had 123 catches for 1,422 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career with the Aggies.
He went undrafted and was signed by the Arizona Cardinals. He found himself on and off the active roster a few times with the Cardinals, Browns, and then the Chiefs. The Chiefs activated him for the playoff game against the Cleveland Browns and he is expected to be on the roster for the Super Bowl.
Armani Watts, Safety
Mike Evans, Ball High School
Mike Evans from Ball High School in Galveston, Texas will be playing in his first Super Bowl this coming Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chief.
Evans was primarily a basketball player growing up and in high school. His senior season, he averaged 18.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists. His senior year was the only year he played high school football. He caught 25 catches for 7 touchdowns. Evans, could have played division one basketball at a mid-level major, or run track at and division 1 school, but he decided to play football for the Texas A&M Aggies.
Evans was outstanding for the Aggies. As a redshirt freshman, he had 82 catches for over 1,100 yards. In 2013, he had 279 yards receiving in a game against Alabama to set the school record. Later that year, he set the record again against Auburn with 287 yards.
Tampa Bay selected Evans with the seventh pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. In 15 games as a rookie, Evans had over 1,051 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns, which was arguably the best rookie season ever for a wide receiver. Evans has gone over 1,000 yards in all 7 of his NFL seasons. This season, he caught a career best 13 touchdowns from Tom Brady. He is a 3-time Pro Bowl selection and has made one second-team All Pro team.
In three post-season games this year, Evans has 10 catches for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns. Evans has remained the number one red-zone target, even with the addition of Rob Gronkowski, though he has seen a decrease in targets towards. The Chiefs defense has given up big plays in the passing game this season. Evans could be in for a big game in the Super Bowl.
Antoine Winfield Jr., The Woodlands
Woodfield Jr. was born in Columbus, Ohio but moved to Texas as a kid and played high school football for The Woodlands. He was a three-year starter. In his senior season he totaled 87 tackles, five forced fumbles, and one interception, and was named the Montgomery County Player of the Year. Winfield was considered a three-star recruit by 247Sports and ESPN.com and a two-star recruit by Rivals.com
He accepted an offer to play college football at Minnesota. As a true freshman at Minnesota in 2016, Winfield Jr. played in 12 games and made nine starts. During the season, he had 52 tackles, one interception and one fumble recovered for a touchdown. He played in the first four games in 2017 before suffering an injury that caused him to miss the rest of the season. He finished the season with 20 tackles and a sack. Winfield Jr. again played in only four games in 2018, recording 17 tackles and an interception. He returned from the injuries in 2019 and was named a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. After being named a first team all American and Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year during the 2019 season, Winfield announced that he would forgo his final 2 years of eligibility and declared for the 2020 NFL Draft.
Winfield was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 45th pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
He made his regular season debut in Week 1 during a 34–23 loss to the New Orleans Saints, recording six tackles and a pass deflection. In Week 2, during a 31–17 win against the Carolina Panthers, Winfield recorded 11 total tackles and his first career sack, which resulted in a fumble. Winfield was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for his performance in September (23 total tackles, two pass deflections, two sacks, and a forced fumble from Weeks 1–3). In Week 7, during a 45–20 win against the Las Vegas Raiders, Winfield recorded two tackles, a pass deflection, and his first career interception. In Week 14 against the Minnesota Vikings, Winfield led the team with 12 tackles and sacked Kirk Cousins once during a 26–14 win. In Week 17 against the Atlanta Falcons, Winfield recorded 7 total tackles, 1 pass deflection, and recovered a fumble in a 44–27 win.
Winfield finished the 2020 regular season with 94 total tackles, 3 sacks, 6 pass deflections, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery.
In the Wild Card Round of the 2020–21 NFL playoffs against the Washington Football Team, Winfield recorded 6 total tackles in a 31–23 win. In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the New Orleans Saints, Winfield recorded 6 total tackles as well as forced a fumble on tight end Jared Cook that was recovered by teammate Devin White during the 30–20 win, Winfield injured his ankle during practice in the week leading up to the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers and was forced to miss the game, however the Buccaneers defeated the Packers 31–26 to advance to Super Bowl LV.
Ronald Jones II, McKinney North
Jones attended McKinney North High School in McKinney, Texas. He played tailback for the Bulldogs high school football team. Jones was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and in 2015 was ranked as the fourth best running back and 40th best player overall. He committed to the University of Southern California (USC) to play college football.
Jones played college football at USC under head coaches Steve Sarkisian and Clay Helton. As a freshman in 2015, Jones played 14 games with 987 rushing yards, 39 receiving yards, and 9 total touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2016, Jones played 13 games with 1,082 rushing yards, 79 receiving yards, and 13 total touchdowns. As a junior in 2017, Jones played 13 games with 1,550 rushing yards, 165 receiving yards, and 20 total touchdowns. After his junior year, Jones decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2018 NFL Draft.
Jones did not play much his rookie season, but has been the starting back, splitting carries in each of the last two seasons. Though he missed two games this season, he had his best year with 978 yards rushing and 8 total touchdowns.
