Cover 9@9: 8 Georgia high school players in Super Bowl LIX

The Chiefs, who are seeking to three-peat, have six and the Eagles, the NFC champions, have two players who prepped in-state.

Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker of Westminster, is set to make his fifth Super Bowl appearance.

The only other Georgia player with five Super Bowl appearances is Pro Football Hall of Fame offense tackle Rayfield Wright, who played in five for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s. Wright, from the now-closed Fairmont High in Griffin, won two Super Bowls. The affable Wright died April 7, 2022.

Butker can win his fourth Super Bowl title.

Others from Georgia on the Chiefs’ active roster are cornerback Jaylen Watson of Laney and safety Justin Reid of Dutchtown, who started in the Chiefs’ secondary, along with center Hunter Nourzad of Walker, defensive end Malik Herring of Mary Persons and offensive tackle Wanya Morris of Grayson.

This will be the first Super Bowl appearance for Nourzad, the Chiefs’ backup center. Herring and Morris were inactive for the AFC championship games.

Eagles players from Georgia, are cornerback Darius Slay of Brunswick and linebacker Nolan Smith of Calvary Day, both starters on defense. Smith played his final two high school seasons at IMG Academy in Florida.

Having eight Georgians in the Super Bowl is about average over the past 10 seasons. The record is 12 for the Super Bowls during the 2015 and 1998 seasons. There has been at least one Georgia player in every one except Super Bowl II in 1968.

Those on injured reserve or practice squads, such as the Eagles’ C.J. Uzomah of North Gwinnett and Cameron Irving of Colquitt County, could be activated by game time.

Super Bowl Georgians:

K Harrison Butker, Westminster, Chiefs

OL Hunter Nourzad, Walker, Chiefs

CB Jaylen Watson, Laney, Chiefs

S Justin Reid, Dutchtown, Chiefs

DE Malik Herring, Mary Persons, Chiefs

OL Wanya Morris, Grayson, Chiefs

CB Darius Slay Jr., Brunswick, Eagles

OLB Nolan Smith Jr., Calvary Day, Eagles

2. Philadelphia Eagles like New Orleans

After losing to the Falcons 22-21 on Sept. 16, some believe the Eagles turned their season around when they beat the Saints 15-12 the following week to improve to 2-1 when running back Saquon Barkley broke loose for two fourth-quarter touchdowns runs in New Orleans.

The Eagles dropped their next game to Tampa Bay and then ripped off 10 consecutive wins on their way to finishing the regular season 14-3.

“You can say that, but everybody has got their own perspective on it,” Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter said about turning the season around in New Orleans. “But at the end, we all knew we had a job. We all knew what the goal was to get where we are now. Right now, we’re here, but it’s still a goal to win the game.”

3. Jalen Carter on the tush push

Carter was asked if the Eagles know how to stop their offense’s “tush push” of quarterback Jalen Hurts.

“That’s a tough question,” Carter said. “Wow, I don’t think so. That thing right there is unstoppable.”

4. What to do with Tom Brady?

Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady is a broadcaster for Fox Sports and an executive with the Las Vegas Raiders. He may be able to get an advantage for his team while preparing for his television job.

“But let me start with the fact that everybody in the National Football League, owner to personnel, is still subject to tampering rules and other policies,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “They’re responsible for that conduct, and they’re all held accountable for that.”

Brady won’t be allowed to do some aspects of his television job.

“In the case of this actual transition, as you know, we had special rules that were designed for this, for some of the concerns that some of the ownership had on this,” Goodell said. “Make sure, as we learn a little bit more about this, where could there possibly be any kind of conflicts?”

The owners could look at the policy shift at their upcoming meeting.

5. Saints, Catholic Archdiocese case

The NFL is aware that the Saints allegedly played a role in helping the local Archdiocese allegedly cover up some sexual abuse cases.

“(Owner) Mrs. (Gayle) Benson and the Saints are very involved in this community and they are good corporate citizens,” Goodell said. “Mrs. Benson takes all of these matters seriously. Particularly, someone who has worked with the Catholic church like she does. I would say this, the FBI and local law enforcement are involved with this. Mrs. Benson mentioned this back in 2018 and has made multiple comments about this ... I have to leave it to them.”

6. Helping Los Angeles

Goodell said the NFL has raised more that $5 million and has already started helping to rebuild parts of Greater Los Angeles that was hit by wild fires.

The league moved the wild-card game between the Rams and Vikings to Arizona.

“We are going to be good corporate citizens and support whatever efforts take place in the recovery,” said Goodell, who noted that five NFL employees lost their homes. “Our owners step up every time.”

7. Looking for Penix’s new backup

Quarterback Jameis Winston, who working for Fox Sports at Super Bowl LIX, is set to become a free agent after playing last season with the Cleveland Browns.

Because Kirk Cousins was benched last season, the Falcons could be in the market for a backup quarterback for Michael Penix Jr.

“Man, I’m not trying to (be a) backup,” Winston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “But you know, I’ll go and serve my brother.”

Winston was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft by Tampa Bay. He’s played for the Buccaneers (2015-19), Saints (2020-23) and Browns (2024). He has thrown 154 touchdown passes and 111 interceptions over his career.

8. Falcons had Chiefs on the ropes

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach believes his team’s Week 3 win over the Falcons, 22-17 on Sept. 22 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, was instrumental in getting the Chiefs moving this season.

The Falcons were driving to try to take the lead in the final minute of the game, but running back Tyler Allgeier was held for no gain on third-and-1 from the Chiefs’ 13. On fourth-and-1, Chiefs linebacker Nic Bolton dropped running back Bijan Robinson for a 3-yard loss.

“(Early-season wins) are super important, not just to get them early in the season, but to go into a hostile environment,” Veach told the AJC on Super Bowl LIX “Opening Night” on Monday. “That’s a tough place to play.”

If the Falcons had won, they would have had wins over both of the Super Bowl teams this season. The Falcons beat the Eagles on “Monday Night Football” the previous week with a last-ditch touchdown drive. Things would come unhinged for the Falcons, who were 2-6 down the final stretch.

“That came down literally to the fourth-down play,” Veach said. “Great play by Nick Bolton. Those guys had us on the ropes.”

The Chiefs went on to post a 15-2 regular-season record and win 11 one-score games.

“It was one of those series, where tight games really build character along the way, so that when you get into these late-season games,” Veach said. “You’ve kind of been there, done that. On the road. Close games. Have-to-have-it possessions. It kind of builds character along the way.”

9. Questions for Raheem Morris at the NFL combine

Falcons coach Raheem Morris is scheduled to speak at the NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 25.

Don’t expect him to corroborate Cousins’ story that he got injured, because as he’s stated several times, he doesn’t like to fined by the league office.

However, we’ll have to ask him if he wished he’d gotten Penix more reps in the exhibition season and in the regular season. They clearly should have had a better emergency plan when Cousins was trying to play hurt and tossing interceptions at a Jameis Winston-like pace.