COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Super Bowl LVIII, kicks off in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 11 on CBS and WLTX, there will be players on both rosters who came on the national radar while playing in the Palmetto State.
San Francisco 49ers
Two former Gamecocks are on the San Francisco 49ers roster in Deebo Samuel and Javon Kinlaw.
A former All-American at South Carolina, Samuel is making his second Super Bowl appearance. As a rookie with the Niners in 2019, the Chapman graduate caught five passes for 39 yards in Super Bowl LIV as San Francisco lost to Kansas City 31-20. He also rushed for 53 yards, a Super Bowl record for most yards rushing by a wide receiver.
Samuel was the 38th overall selection by San Francisco in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Like Samuel, Kinlaw is a former All-American for the Gamecocks at defensive tackle. The product of Goose Creek High School played two years of junior college football before transferring to South Carolina for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He was chosen by the 49ers with the 14th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Former Clemson wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud is on the 49ers roster. A member of Clemson’s 2016 national championship team, McCloud was chosen with the 187th overall selection in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by Buffalo. He has also had stops in Carolina and Pittsburgh before signing a two-year contract with the 49ers in 2022.
Kansas City Chiefs Roster
On the Kansas City Chiefs roster is former Clemson receiver Justyn Ross who has overcome a serious injury to earn a spot on the roster. A key contributor to the Tigers winning the 2018 national championship, Ross seemed like a sure-fire first round draft pick. But after taking a routine hit in a spring practice and suffering what he thought was a stinger, Ross was diagnosed with a congenital spine condition that needed surgery.
He would miss the 2020 season but made it back for the 2021 season only to have that season cut short with three games left due to a stress fracture in his foot. Injuries caused him to go undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft and he was signed by the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent. He missed the 2022 season due to offseason foot surgery. This season, Ross has registered six catches for 53 yards after playing in 10 games during the regular season.
Rod Wilson, who played a multitude of positions during his playing days at South Carolina, is on the Kansas City coaching staff as a defensive assistant.
Wilson played quarterback, wide receiver, spur, safety and linebacker and in his senior year of 2004, Wilson served as a team captain, led the team in tackles and earned a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Wilson played six years in the NFL after being selected in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. Wilson would play in 51 games for that franchise and Tampa Bay.
As a coach, Wilson worked at Charleston Southern from 2013-2016 working with the safeties, linebackers and special teams.
Wilson would make the move to the NFL where he was hired by Kansas City as assistant special teams coach. and spent three seasons (2017-2019) with the Chiefs, His last game of his first stint with that franchise was the Super Bowl LIV win over San Francisco which marked the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl title in 50 years.
He would return to his alma mater as a part of Will Muschamp’s 2020 staff, coaching the linebackers. Wilson would work on Jamey Chadwell’s 2021 staff at Coastal Carolina which went 11-2 and won the Cure Bowl.
Wilson returned to the Chiefs in 2022 as a defensive assistant working with the defensive backs.
Ted Crews isn’t on the field for the Chiefs but the South Carolina State graduate serves a valuable role as Executive Vice President of Communications for Kansas City. He was promoted to that role on April 22, 2021 after originally joining the franchise as the Vice President of Communications on Jan. 27, 2012.
In his 12th season with the Chiefs, Crews serves as the club’s primary contact and spokesperson for the team’s communications efforts for both football and business operations. He also is the key liaison between coaches, players, team executives and the media. He is a former student assistant at S.C. State where he worked under longtime Sports Information Director Bill Hamilton.
Prior to joining the Chiefs, Crews spent three seasons (2009-11) as Senior Director of Communications for the St. Louis Rams. In that role, he served as the primary contact on all football matters for the owners, general manager and head coach, in addition to serving as the team’s official spokesperson.
Before joining the Rams, he held the title of Football Communications Manager with the Atlanta Falcons for four seasons (2005-08). The Columbia, Md., native spent five seasons as the Media Relations Assistant for the Carolina Panthers (2000-04) after originally entering the NFL as a department intern with the Panthers, serving two years in that role under Pro Football Hall of Famer Charlie Dayton, who became the first director of media relations for the expansion Carolina Panthers in 1994.
Overall, Crews has spent 26 years working in NFL media relations.
Super Bowl LVIII can be seen live on CBS and WLTX on Sunday, February 11 from Las Vegas. Kickoff from Allegiant Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.