Harrison Butker and Mecole Hardman of the Kansas City Chiefs, each poised to participate in their fourth Super Bowls, are among eight active former Georgia high school football players whose teams won their conference championship games Sunday.
The Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 for the AFC championship while the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Detroit Lions for the NFC title. The Super Bowl will be played Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.
Chiefs tackle Wanya Morris of Grayson, 49ers tight end Charlie Woerner of Rabun County and 49ers wide receiver Chris Conley of North Paulding will be the first players from their high schools to play in a Super Bowl.
Other Georgians in the Super Bowl as active players will be cornerback Jaylen Watson of Laney and defensive end Malik Herring of Mary Persons for the Chiefs and defensive linemen Robert Beal of Norcross.
Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon of Sprayberry is on injured reserve. Defensive linemen Austin Bryant of Thomas County Central and T.Y. McGill of Wayne County are on the 49ers’ practice squad. Wide receiver Montrell Washington of Cherokee is on the Chiefs’ practice squad.
Butker, formerly Westminster and Georgia Tech, made the winning field goal in the final seconds of last year’s Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Butker is the first Georgia player to make four active Super Bowl rosters since Nate Odomes of Carver-Columbus with the Buffalo Bills in the 1990s.
Hardman, a wide receiver from Elbert County and Georgia, was on injured reserve for last year’s Super Bowl, so this will be his third as an active player. Hardman, in his fifth season with the Chiefs, signed with the New York Jets in the offseason but was reacquired in October.
There has been at least one Georgia player in every Super Bowl except the second one, played in 1968. The average number of active Georgia players over the first 10 Super Bowls was only 3.4. Over the past 10 season, it has been 7.1.
The Georgia player with the most active-roster Super Bowl appearances is Pro Football Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright with five. An alumnus of Fairmont High in Griffin, Wright played for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s.
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