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Penn State football in Super Bowl LVIII: How long legacy lives on in Las Vegas

Frank Bodani, York Daily Record
·4 min read

Ji'Ayir Brown owns one of the best look-where-I-came-from stories of Super Bowl LVIII.

Brown, San Francisco 49ers teammate Kevin Givens and the Kansas City Chiefs' Donovan Smith will represent Penn State football in Sunday's 58th Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Penn State's Super Bowl history is deep and well-documented with 46 of its players earning championship rings over the years, some multiple times. A Nittany Lion has played in 14 straight Super Bowls and in all but five since the first in 1967.

Brown, a starting safety for the 49ers, has persevered more than most.

Former Penn State Nittany Lion Ji'Ayir Brown makes one of his career-high 10 tackles to help the San Franciso 49ers beat Detroit and play in Super Bowl XLIII.
Former Penn State Nittany Lion Ji'Ayir Brown makes one of his career-high 10 tackles to help the San Franciso 49ers beat Detroit and play in Super Bowl XLIII.

He didn't have a single college scholarship coming out of high school in Trenton, New Jersey. Instead, the kid who grew up with a single mother in a housing project found his football way at Lackawanna, a junior college in Scranton, Pennsylvania. There, he finally earned that all-expenses-paid shot at Penn State, flourishing as a do-everything, turnover-producing machine at safety.

The third-round NFL draft pick last spring has made a big rookie impact, too. He became a regular 49ers safety by Thanksgiving, started five games and recovered quickly from a late-season knee injury. He returned to the lineup in the NFC Championship Game to play every defensive snap and make a career-high 10 tackles in the 34-31 victory over Detroit.

Penn State football: Ji'Ayir Brown, Kevin Givens, Donovan Smith

Nov 20, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Donovan Smith (79) on the line of scrimmage against the Philadelphia Eagles during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Donovan Smith (79) on the line of scrimmage against the Philadelphia Eagles during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Brown now stars with Givens, who's earned a key role on the defensive line after his own football uncertainty five years ago. Givens left Penn State early in 2019 but was not drafted. Instead, he signed with San Francisco as a free agent defensive tackle, stuck with the team and gradually worked his way into the rotation.

He made a career-best 23 tackles (with 1.5 sacks) this season.

Smith, meanwhile, has been one of the premier offensive tackles in the league over the past decade — protecting the blind sides of two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He also left Penn State early, back in 2015, to become a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He started 131 games for the Bucs over eight years and won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady.

Smith signed with Kansas City last year and is now gunning for his second Super Bowl ring, blocking for Patrick Mahomes.

Penn State football in the Super Bowl

Here are Penn State's Super Bowl winners through the years:

Super Bowl I: Dave Robinson, Green Bay; Super Bowl II: Dave Robinson, Green Bay; Super Bowl III: Ralph Baker, New York Jets; Super Bowl V: Glenn Ressler, Baltimore; Super Bowl VIII: Bruce Bannon, Miami; Super Bowl IX: Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Pittsburgh; Super Bowl X: Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Pittsburgh; Super Bowl XI: Dave Rowe, Ted Kwalick, Oakland; Super Bowl XII: Tom Rafferty, Dallas; Super Bowl XIII: Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Pittsburgh; Super Bowl XIV: Matt Bahr, Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Pittsburgh; Super Bowl XV: Chris Bahr, Matt Millen, Oakland; Super Bowl XVI: Pete Kugler, San Francisco; Super Bowl XVII: Larry Kubin, Rich Milot, Washington; Super Bowl XVIII: Chris Bahr, Matt Millen, Jim Romano, Los Angeles Raiders; Super Bowl XX: Mike Hartenstine, Matt Suhey, Chicago; Super Bowl XXI: Brad Benson, New York Giants; Super Bowl XXII: Rich Milot, Washington; Super Bowl XXIII: Pete Kugler, San Francisco; Super Bowl XXIV: Pete Kugler, Matt Millen, San Francisco; Super Bowl XXV: Matt Bahr, Bob Mrosko, New York Giants; Super Bowl XXVI: Andre Collins, Tim Johnson, Matt Millen, Washington; Super Bowl XXXI: Marco Rivera, Green Bay; Super Bowl XXXV: Sam Gash, Kim Herring, Baltimore; Super Bowl XXXVII: Joe Jurevicius, Tampa Bay; Super Bowl XXXVIII: Shawn Mayer, New England; Super Bowl XXXIX: Justin Kurpeikis, New England; Super Bowl XL: Jeff Hartings, Pittsburgh; Super Bowl XLII: Jay Alford, Kareem McKenzie, New York Giants; Super Bowl XLIII: Sean McHugh, Scott Paxson, Pittsburgh; Super Bowl XLV: Andrew Quarless, Green Bay; Super Bowl XLVI: Jimmy Kennedy, Kareem McKenzie, New York Giants; Super Bowl XLVIII: Jordan Hill, Michael Robinson, Seattle; Super Bowl 50: Jordan Norwood, Denver; Super Bowl LI: Chris Hogan, New England (played lacrosse at PSU); Super Bowl LII: Stefen Wisniewski, Philadelphia; Super Bowl LIII: Chris Hogan, New England; Super Bowl LIV: Stefen Wisniewski, Jordan Lucas, Kansas City; Super Bowl LV: Chris Godwin, Donovan Smith, A.Q. Shipley, Tampa Bay; Super Bowl LVI: Grant Haley, Nick Scott, Los Angeles

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football, Super Bowl LVIII: How Ji'Ayir Brown leads legacy