JUSTIN REID ’19 will become the second Stanford alum to play in three consecutive Super Bowls when his Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Reid, the Chiefs’ starting strong safety, will be among three former Cardinal on Super Bowl rosters, joining Eagles’ defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV '22 and quarterback Tanner McKee '24. This is the second consecutive season Stanford will be represented by multiple players.
Booker is expected to be the 44th Stanford alum to play in a Super Bowl. Already, 43 different alums have played in 39 different Super Bowls. Of those, 22 have played in a Super Bowl and won. They are among 26 different alums to have played in and won National Football League championship games, including the pre-Super Bowl era. If McKee, the Eagles’ No. 3 quarterback, sees action, Stanford’s Super Bowl total would be 45. McKee would also be the third Cardinal quarterback to play in a Super Bowl.
The Eagles have two coaches with Stanford ties. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was Stanford's defensive coordinator in 2010 when the Cardinal went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl. Wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead was an offensive assistant to the wide receivers coach at Stanford from 2010-12, helping the Cardinal to an Orange Bowl and two Rose Bowls.
Reid made nine tackles and shared Kansas City's only sack in the Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory over Christian McCaffrey’s San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII last year in Las Vegas. Reid had a quarterback hurry and four solo tackles while playing 73 of the Chiefs' 75 defensive snaps, plus five special teams plays.
In Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, Reid had seven tackles, including five solo, in Kansas City’s 38-35 victory over the Eagles.
Reid will join James Lofton as the only two Stanford alums to play in three consecutive Super Bowls. Reid needs one more title to join Ed McCaffrey and Hampton Pool of the 1940s Chicago Bears as Stanford alums to have played on the most NFL championship teams, with three each.
Ed McCaffrey was a receiver for San Francisco in the 1994 season, and Denver in 1997 and 1998. McCaffrey totaled eight catches for 122 yards in three Super Bowls.
Pool was an end for the champion Chicago Bears in the 1940, 1941, and 1943 seasons. A two-way player, Pool returned an interception for a touchdown in Chicago's historic 73-0 championship victory over Washington in 1940.
McCaffrey, along with quarterback John Elway and cornerback Darrien Gordon of the Denver Broncos in XXXII (1998) and XXXIII (1999) were the last alums to win consecutive Super Bowls before Reid.
Elway played in five Super Bowls, more than anyone from Stanford, and all for the Broncos. He beat Green Bay and Atlanta in Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII in the final two seasons of his 16-year career. In the 34-19 victory over the Falcons on Jan. 31, 1999, in Miami Gardens, Florida, Elway completed 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards and passed and ran for a touchdown on the way to being named as the game's MVP.
Stanford’s three Super Bowl representatives matches last year when Reid, and San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Robinson, were on Super Bowl rosters.
This will mark the fifth consecutive Super Bowl with Stanford player representation.
Fifty-two alums have played in league title games, including the Super Bowl and in the pre-Super Bowl NFL and American Football League, and All-America Football Conference.
The most Stanford players to see action on a Super Bowl-winning team was four, for the 1977 Dallas Cowboys -- DB Benny Barnes, LB Pat Donovan, WR Tony Hill, and RB Scott Laidlaw. The Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII (Jan. 15, 1978). Along with defeated Denver defensive back Randy Poltl, the five players represent the most from Stanford in any Super Bowl or NFL championship game.
The first Stanford player in an NFL championship game was Ernie Caddel, nicknamed the "Blond Antelope," who rushed for 62 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown in helping the Detroit Lions beat the New York Giants, 26-7, on Dec. 15, 1935.
Stanford's first Super Bowl player was tight end Chris Burford of the Kansas City Chiefs. He had four catches for 67 yards in a 35-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers in what is now called Super Bowl I (Jan. 15, 1967), at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The first alum on a Super Bowl winner was Blaine Nye, Dallas's starting right offensive guard in the Cowboys' 24-3 victory over Miami in Super Bowl VI (Jan. 16, 1962) at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
Jim Plunkett was Stanford's first Super Bowl MVP, leading the Oakland Raiders past the Eagles, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV (Jan. 21, 1981). Plunkett completed 13 of 21 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns at the Superdome in New Orleans. He also quarterbacked the Los Angeles Raiders to a 38-9 victory over Washington in Super Bowl XVIII (Jan. 22, 1984) in Tampa.
Tight end Zach Ertz had one of the great Super Bowl moments among Stanford alums, catching the winning touchdown pass in the Eagles' 41-33 victory over New England in Super Bowl LII (Feb. 4, 2018). Ertz had seven catches for 67 yards, including an 11-yarder from Nick Foles with 2:21 left to put the Eagles ahead 38-33. Three former Card played for the Patriots: offensive lineman Cameron Fleming, defensive back Johnson Bademosi, and safety Jordan Richards.
An unsung NFL championship game hero was Norm Standlee of the 1941 Chicago Bears. A year after helping Stanford to an undefeated season and share of the national championship, Standlee rushed 17 times for 89 yards with two touchdowns, caught two passes for 34 yards, and intercepted a pass, in a 37-9 victory over the New York Giants (Dec. 21, 1941).
Adding to Stanford's Super Bowl legacy are its coaches. Four former Stanford coaches became head coaches of Super Bowl winners.
Bill Walsh coached the 49ers to three Super Bowl titles. He also spent three stints as a Stanford coach – as an assistant from 1963-65 and head coach in 1977-78 and 1992-94.
George Seifert, a Stanford defensive backs coach from 1972-74, coached the 49ers to wins in Super Bowl XXIV over Denver (Jan. 28, 1990) and Super Bowl XXIX (Jan. 20, 1995) over San Diego.
Dick Vermeil was a Stanford assistant from 1965-67, including head freshman coach in 1965, before he was a head coach on two Super Bowl teams: the 1980 Philadelphia Eagles that lost to Plunkett's Raiders in Super Bowl XV, and the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who held off the Tennessee Titans, 23-16, to win Super Bowl XXXIV (Jan. 30, 2000) in Atlanta.
And Brian Billick, a Stanford assistant head coach and tight ends coach from 1989-91, coached one of history's great defensive teams to a Super Bowl victory when the Baltimore Ravens beat the Giants, 34-17, in Super Bowl XXXV (Jan. 28, 2001) in Tampa.