With the Super Bowl coming up, the Philidelphia Eagles will be playing against the Kansas City Chiefs. There are four players among the teams that have come through Washington colleges, one player from the Huskies and three from the Cougars. The Eagles and Chiefs each have two of these players on their teams. The first of the four is Trent McDuffie, a cornerback born in California. McDuffie committed to the Huskies and played there for three years before declaring for the draft. He was selected with the 21 overall pick in this year’s draft to the Chiefs and was the second cornerback taken in the draft. He made the team as one of their starting cornerbacks. In his first NFL game he got injured, missing six weeks. Once he came back, he played in ten games, making it 11 total.

Jalen Watson, a cornerback that was born in Georgia, went to a community college in California before transferring to the Palouse and going to Washington State. He played for the Cougars for two years before declaring for the NFL draft. He was selected in the seventh round by the Chiefs and made the 53-man roster. He played in 16 games this year, only missing two. In the playoffs, Watson made an interception in both the divisional and the AFC championship.

Andre Dillard, an offensive lineman that was born in Woodinville and played at Woodinville high school, went to Washington State and redshirted his freshman year. After that he played three years for the Cougars. He declared for the 2019 NFL draft after his senior year and was selected 22 overall to the Eagles. He played all games in his rookie year. In 2021 he battled for a starting spot against Jordan Mailata. This year he made the 53-man roster but didn’t play until week six and played in 12 games total this season.

Gardner Minshew, a quarterback from Mississippi, started his college career at Northwest Mississippi before spending his next two years in college playing at East Carolina. In his final year of eligibility, Minshew came to Pullman and started for the Cougars. He and his mustache put WSU on the college football map by getting the Cougars ranked in the top ten that year. After winning the Davey O’Brian National Quarterback Award, Minshew declared for the 2019 NFL draft. He was selected in the sixth round by the Jacksonville Jaguars and battled for the backup spot on the team. In the first game of his rookie year starter Nick Foles got hurt and Minshew came in to take his place. When Foles came back he struggled, and it allowed Minshew to be the starter in week 14. This brought Minshew Mania to Jacksonville. He played another year in Jacksonville until he was traded to the Eagles in the 2021 offseason. He spent most of his Eagles career as the backup to Jalen Hurts, having played a couple games this year because of a Hurts injury. But he will remain the backup to Hurts in the Super Bowl.