Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles: 4 Super Bowl LVII players have ties to Illinois
Super Bowl 57 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 12, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Yet for at least four of the hundred-plus players, the journey to the NFL's championship game included at least one pre-NFL stop in the state of Illinois.
We take a look at Chiefs and Eagles players with ties to the Land of Lincoln.
Super Bowl 2023: Everything you need to know for Chiefs vs. Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs
Khalen Saunders
The 26-year-old 6-foot, 324-pound defensive lineman played at Western Illinois, from which he was a third-round pick in 2019. A force in the middle for KC, he has played in 16 games this season, recording 18 solo tackles and 3.5 sacks.
Nick Allegretti
The 26-year-old 6-foot-4, 310-pound offensive lineman is a graduate of Lincoln-Way East and Illinois. He played every game in his fourth season in the NFL and the Chiefs, starting three. The seventh-round draft pick played on KC's Super Bowl LV championship team.
Philadelphia Eagles
T.J. Edwards
The 6-foot-1, 242-pound 26-year-old linebacker is from Lake Villa and was a quarterback his junior and senior seasons at Lakes High School. He signed with the Eagles as an undrafted rookie out of Wisconsin in 2019. Since, he's become one of the NFL's top tacklers, his 159 combined tackles good for seventh leaguewide in 2022.
Jake Elliott
The 5-foot-9, 167-pound 28-year-old Pro Bowl kicker is a native of Western Springs and played at LaGrange Lyons. He was drafted out of Memphis in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. His 51 extra points this season led the NFL.
Other Illinois ties of note
Kansas City Chiefs — Tyler Kirby is in his 14th season with the Chiefs and first as the club's Executive Vice President of Business Development. The Illinois State graduate (2007) spent time with the ISU athletic department and was marketing coordinator at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, Illinois. ... Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen spent 2005 as a defensive assistant at the University of Illinois. ... Chiefs linebackers coach Brendan Daly is a Chicago native who attended Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and spent 2004 as tight end coach at Illinois State. ... Chiefs running backs coach Greg Lewis is a Chicago native and played at the University of Illinois from 1999-2002. ... Matt Kenny, the Executive Vice President of Arrowhead Operations and Events, worked for the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field and attended Northwestern. ... Chiefs strength and conditioning assistant and sports science director Ryan Reynolds is from Fulton. ... Chiefs statistical analysis coordinator Mike Frazier is from Evanston. ... Chiefs assistant equipment manager Holt McKenney played football at Carthage Illini West before graduating in 2014.
Philadelphia Eagles — Eagles assistant quarterbacks coach and offensive assistant Alex Tanney is a native of Lexington who played quarterback at Monmouth College. The former NFL QB is in his second season with the Eagles. .. Eagles receivers coach Aaron Moorhead is a Deerfield native and played at the University of Illinois. He is in his third season with Philly. ... Eagles first-year senior personnel director and advisor to the general manager Matt Russell, who played at Colorado, is from Belleville. ... Eagles director of player personnel Alan Wolking was a grad assistant and quality control assistant while attending Northwestern from 2008-10.
Central Illinois to the Super Bowl: 5 things to know about Eagles assistant Alex Tanney
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 2023 Super Bowl: Meet the players with an Illinois connection
