HAPPY SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! | Watch Seahawks-Patriots now on NBC, Peacock
Football fans in East Texas have had a few guys from our region throughout the 60 years of the Super Bowl to play in the big game, probably most notably and most recently, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes was injured late in the season, and the Chiefs, quite frankly, didn’t have their typical year, and missed the playoffs. It’s been 30 years this year since the Dallas Cowboys reached the Super Bowl and won it (January 1996, Super Bowl XXX, and a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers). And the Houston Texans have never made it to the NFL’s championship game.
It was none other than White Oak’s own Max McGee that caught the first touchdown in Super Bowl history, making the catch for the Green Bay Packers from quarterback Bart Starr. The Packers won the first two Super Bowls, of course, and the trophy is actually named for late Packers coach Vince Lombardi.
This year’s Super Bowl is No. 60 (LX), and it’s the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks (16-3) against AFC champ New England (17-3). The game is being played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the home of the San Francisco 49ers.
It kicks off at 5:30 p.m., and is airing live on NBC, and also on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.
Mahomes, of course, has won three Super Bowls as the quarterback and leader of the Chiefs. And he’s from nearby Whitehouse, in the Tyler area.
Other East Texans that have played in the game in Super Bowl history:
- Lane Johnson, offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles, is from Groveton, a former Kilgore College standout. Johnson, still active, has two Super Bowl wins with the Eagles, most recently last year.
- Tyler’s Benny Malone was a running back for the Miami Dolphins in the NFL’s only undefeated season, from beginning to end culminating in the Super Bowl victory.
- Aaron Ross, also a former Tyler standout, was a teammate of Eli Manning’s when the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots.
- Marv Fleming, originally from Longview, played for both the Packers in the first two Super Bowls, then for Miami in three Super Bowls. Fleming attended high school in California.
- Pete Lammons, a former Jacksonville High and University of Texas standout, played for the Super Bowl-winning New York Jets in 1969, beating the then-Baltimore Colts in a game where Jets quarterback Joe Namath famously guaranteed a Jets win.
- Former Hallsville running back Robert Newhouse helped the Cowboys to Super Bowls X, XII and XIII.
That’s just a few. Others include former 49ers safety Dave Whitmore (Daingerfield), defensive back Thomas Everett of the Cowboys (also Daingerfield), quarterback Wade Wilson (from Greenville, with the Cowboys), tight end Rickey Dudley (from Henderson; won the Super Bowl with Tampa Bay), Larry Centers (fullback, from Tatum, won it with the Patriots), tight end Jermichael Finley (from Diboll, played for the Packers in their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Arlington in 2011), quarterback Matt Flynn (from Tyler Lee and now Legacy, also with Green Bay, and also in the win over Pittsburgh), Fred Coleman (a wide receiver from Lee / Legacy who played for the Patriots with Tom Brady at QB), linebacker Cody Glenn (from Rusk; played for the Colts with Peyton Manning at QB when the Colts lost to the New Orleans Saints), and of course, Longview’s own Trent Williams, a current active player with the 49ers who has played in two Super Bowls.