Former Penn State OL Donovan Smith wins second Super Bowl
Penn State was guaranteed to have a Super Bowl champion in this year’s Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, and former offensive lineman Donovan Smith was the one ending up on the winning side of an overtime classic on Sunday. Smith and the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII when Patrick Mahomes completed a pass for the game-winning touchdown to Mecole Hardman in overtime in Las Vegas.
Smith, who joined the Chiefs in 2023, is now a two-time Super Bowl champion. Smith won his first Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. Smith also helped add to Penn State’s all-time Super Bowl champion count by raising Penn State’s Super Bowl ring count up to 63. Penn State has been represented by at least one Super Bowl participant in 53 out of 58 Super Bowl games in NFL history.
The 49ers had two former Nittany Lions looking to win a Super Bowl. Defensive lineman Kevin Givens and rookie safety Ji'Ayir Brown each played for the 49ers in the Super Bowl. Brown started off the second half of the game with a big interception of Mahomes and ended the night with 11 tackles. Givens had two tackles in the game.
Smith will now enter free agency this offseason. Whether or not he will return to Kansas City in 2024 remains to be seen, but he did prove his value after starting 12 regular season games and returning from injury for the playoff run.
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