Mississippi
Mississippi has 12 ties to the Super Bowl between Chiefs and Eagles. Here’s the list
KC Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles celebrate path to Super Bowl
The Chiefs are facing off against the Eagles at Super Bowl LIX. The teams faced off at the 2023 championship, with the Chiefs taking home the trophy.
The matchup is set for Super Bowl 59 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s a star-studded game featuring Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jalen Hurts and probably singing star Taylor Swift, too. There are also a handful of Mississippi ties to the Super Bowl — 12 to be exact, including players and coaches.
Southern Miss has the most connections among the Mississippi colleges with four.
Here’s are the Mississippi ties to know for the Super Bowl.
Mississippi State’s Super Bowl connections
Chris Jones is back in the Super Bowl as Kansas City’s star defensive lineman. The six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro played at Mississippi State from 2013-15 and is a Houston, Mississippi, native. In 15 games this season, Jones has 37 tackles, five sacks and 20 quarterback hits. He’s played his entire career with the Chiefs and already won three Super Bowls.
Eagles cornerback Darius Slay played at Itawamba Community College from 2009-10 and Mississippi State from 2011-12. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round and was traded to Philadelphia in 2020. Slay is a six-time Pro Bowler and has 49 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season.
Ole Miss’ Super Bowl connections
Ole Miss’ connections are both on the Eagles.
AJ Brown, Philadelphia’s star wide receiver, played at Ole Miss from 2016-18. Brown was a second-round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans but was traded to the Eagles in 2022. He’s a three-time Pro Bowl selection and eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth time out of six seasons. Brown is also a Starkville native.
Eagles assistant special teams coordinator Joe Pannunzio coached tight ends and special teams at Ole Miss from 1995-98.
Southern Miss’ Super Bowl connections
Linebacker Swayze Bozeman signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring. He’s spent time on the practice squad and active roster this season, appearing in three games with three tackles. Bozeman is a Flora native, attended Tri-County Academy and played at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before Southern Miss from 2019-23.
Two other former Golden Eagles are on the Chiefs’ practice squad: cornerback Eric Scott Jr. and wide receiver Jason Brownlee.
Scott played at Southern Miss from 2020-22 and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys. He was cut by the Cowboys in August and signed by Kansas City on Sept. 3. Scott has not played in a game this season. Brownlee, a West Point native, played at East Mississippi Community College from 2018-19 and Southern Miss from 2020-22. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets and caught a touchdown as a rookie but was cut in January. The Chiefs signed him to the practice squad on Jan. 15.
Todd Pinkston is in his second season as the Chiefs running backs coach. The Forest native played wide receiver at Southern Miss from 1995-99 and was a second-round draft pick by the Eagles. Pinkston also coached at Petal High School.
Mississippi high school connections to the Super Bowl
There are four Mississippians who are participating in the Super Bowl but played college football out of the state:
- Nakobe Dean, the Eagles linebacker, is a Horn Lake native. He’s a former five-star in the 2019 recruiting class and the No. 1 player in Mississippi, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Dean went to Georgia and was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round.
- Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell is from Yazoo City. He played at Memphis and was a fifth-round draft pick in 2021. Gainwell, the backup to Saquon Barkley, suffered a concussion in the NFC Championship game and did not return.
- Eagles defensive tackle Byron Young is from Laurel and went to West Jones. He played at Alabama before being drafted in the third round by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. Young has been on injured reserve since Oct. 26.
- Defensive tackle Fabien Lovett Sr. signed with Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring and has been on the practice squad. He’s an Olive Branch native, played at Mississippi State from 2018-19 before transferring to Florida State.
When is the Super Bowl?
- Date: Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
- Location: New Orleans
- Time: 5:30 p.m. CT
How to watch the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl will broadcast on FOX. Streaming is available via FuboTV, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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Mississippi
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Between 2015 and 2023, the most recent data available, median rents here rose by nearly 30%, according to the U.S. census. The number of short-term rentals in the county has nearly tripled from May 2024 to May 2025, according to data from AirDNA, which tracks listings from Airbnb and similar services, as landlords increasingly cater to steel industry workers.
“Housing is a huge need,” said Blytheville Mayor Melisa Logan.
“I used to say a ‘housing desert,’ but now I’m in a housing crisis.”
Logan said she’s tried to find solutions to these housing woes. She said she spends time networking with developers and builders, hoping they might bring projects to Blytheville.
She’s also encouraged by steelmakers’ efforts to incentivize full-time employees to stay local. “If you trust us to come and earn your living,” Logan said, “you should trust us enough to raise your family.”
Roughly half of the county’s steelworkers live outside of Mississippi County, according to Chitwood, of the Great River Economic Development Foundation.
A new program called “Work Here, Live Here,” sponsored by Big River Steel Works, Hybar and other companies, will give steel industry workers who stay in their jobs for at least four years up to $50,000 to build or purchase new homes in the area. One hundred and sixty three have already signed up.
“You get these families in. They make the school districts better. They bring in restaurants, hotels,” said Dan Brown, vice president and chief operating officer of Big River Steel Works. “The community starts building up.”
We’re a little more than 48 hours away from the opening rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft and finding out where Mississippi State signees and players will be headed in the professional ranks.
One of the most intriguing players Mississippi State fans should keep an eye on is Jack Bauer. For one, great name. For another, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has tagged Bauer as one of the two players in the draft with the highest ceilings.
Even if you’ve never seen an episode, you’re probably aware of the tv series, 24, where each season takes place over a span of 24 hours. The main character of the series is named Jack Bauer, played the talented Kiefer Sutherland.
Recently, MLB.com posted an article talking to Sutherland about the baseball player named after his famous character.
“To see someone excel at that level at such a young age, and the fact that he has the last name Bauer and his parents chose to call him Jack. … It’s kind of fun for me,” Sutherland told me, laughing, in a recent phone call. “Like I said, I’m not the most avid baseball fan, but now I’ve got something to root for.”
Bauer, the left-handed high schooler who hit 103 mph, is aware of the connection, too. He wore the number 24 in high school because, as he put it on the MLB Pipeline podcast, he wanted to “play into the number a little bit.”
Hopefully, he continues to wear the number wherever he plays next season. Speaking of which…
In McDaniel’s latest mock draft, Bauer is not selected in the first two rounds. Bauer is mentioned (see previous comment about highest ceiling) as a rumor that the Los Angeles Dodgers will select Bauer and Quentin Young with the last two picks of the first round, but McDaniel has other players being selected.
It’s interesting, but Mississippi State fans shouldn’t start getting their hopes up too high that Bauer will come to Starkville. As a recent 247Sports story explained (very well I might add), players selected in the first 10 rounds are expected to sign with the professional team that drafted them.
But “expected” doesn’t mean “guaranteed” so, we’ll pull out my favorite cliché, anything can happen.
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