The PA Connections To 2024 Super Bowl

PENNSYLVANIA — The 2024 Super Bowl matchup is now set, and despite rabid preseason prognostications, teams with Pennsylvania-adjacent connections like the Aaron Rodgers-helmed Jets (remember that hype?) and obviously the defending NFC champion Eagles (less than seven weeks ago they had the best record in the NFL) did not get anywhere near the promised land.

No, but for fourth time in five years, Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and the Kansas City Chiefs will take the midwest version of the Brady-Bellichick dynasty to the sport's biggest stage. They'll face off against a longtime NFC favorite, the infamously low salaried Brock Purdy and his San Francisco 49ers.

It's a rematch of the 2020 Super Bowl, when a Chiefs crew that looked similar at the top took on a very different 49ers squad. The Chiefs prevailed, 31-20.

Some might imagine there is not a strong rooting interest for Pennsylvania, but that's not entirely true. Any Jets fans up north or Steelers fans out west have no love lost with the newest dynasty in the AFC, and they're probably happy to cheer for San Francisco. Eagles fans in the rest of the state, meanwhile, have a hated rivalry with both squads, but most will probably choose what they see as the more noble foe, the Kansas City team they did battle with in the big dance last year, rather than the 49ers squad whose very public beating of them on national television presaged their precipitous late season decline.

Those looking for a more local, personal angle, however, can find plenty of Jersey angles. Here's a glance at Super Bowl players with connections to Pennsylvania. Players are listed with hometowns, if applicable, and schools.

San Francisco

Ji'Ayir Brown, safety, Trenton Central High School in New Jersey and then Lackawanna College and Penn State

Kevin Givens, defensive lineman, Penn State

Sebastian Joseph-Day, tackle, grew up in Stroudsburg

Kansas City

Donovan Smith, tackle, Penn State

Justin Watson, wide receiver, University of Pennsylvania

Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator, born in Dunellen, New Jersey, went to Manheim Central High School in Pennsylvania and then the University of Delaware

Travis Kelce, tight end, brother Jason is an Eagles legend

Andy Reid, head coach, helmed the Eagles for years

Brett Veach, general manager, Mount Carmel native, two-time PIAA state champ, and University of Delaware graduate