Bolton-Harris Battle Sunday for Super Bowl LIX
2/8/2025 8:08:00 PM | Football
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former University of Missouri Tigers Nick Bolton and Charles Harris are both one win away from becoming Super Bowl LIX champions.
The problem is, only one of them will claim the title. Bolton, who's in his fourth season with the Kansas City Chiefs, is in search of his third consecutive Super Bowl crown, while Harris is looking for his first ring with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The two will battle it out on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans for a chance to hoist the coveted Lombardi Trophy. Fox will provide television coverage of the game.
Regardless of who wins Sunday, a former Tiger is going to earn a Super Bowl ring for the sixth straight year, joining QB Blaine Gabbert (Super Bowl LV and LVIII), TE Kendall Blanton (Super Bowl LVI and LVII), and Bolton the last two years.
Sunday will also mark the 39th and 40th time a former Tiger has played in a Super Bowl and the first time a player has participated in three consecutive Super Bowls. Bolton (Super Bowls LVII and LVIII) and Harris join LB Bud Abell (Super Bowl I), OLB Gus Otto (Super Bowl II), CB Henry Stuckey (Super Bowl VII and VIII), C Scott Anderson (Super Bowl IX), OLB Andy Russell (Super Bowls IX and X), DE John Matuszak (Super Bowls XI and XV), CB Eric Wright (Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII and XXIV), RB Tony Galbreath (Super Bowl XXI), DL Jerome Sally (Super Bowl XXI), OG Phil Pettey (Super Bowl XXII), CB Otis Smith (Super Bowls XXXI and XXXVI), TE Byron Chamberlain (Super Bowl XXXIII), OLB Mike Jones (Super Bowl XXXIV), DE Rick Lyle (Super Bowl XXXVIII), CB Michael Harden (Super Bowl XL), WR Justin Gage (Super Bowl XLI), QB Chade Daniel (Super Bowl XLIV), DL Ziggy Hood (Super Bowl XLV), OLB Aldon Smith (XLVII), DL Justin Smith (Super Bowl XLVII), OT Justin Britt (Super Bowl XLIX), OLB Shane Ray (Super Bowl L), DE Kony Ealy (Super Bowl L), LB Sean Weatherspoon (Super Bowl LI), OT Yasir Durant (Super Bowl LV), Gabbert (Super Bowl LV and LVIII), and Blanton (Super Bowl LVI and LVII).
A native of Frisco, Texas, Bolton started every game for the Chiefs this season, making 99 tackles. He also had three sacks, a pass interception and one forced fumble on the year, while making six tackles in the AFC Championship game. Bolton was a First Team All-SEC selection for Missouri in 2019 and 2020 before being drafted in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Chiefs.
Harris, in his eighth NFL campaign, played in nine games this season for the Carolina Panthers with 21 tackles and three sacks before being acquired by the Eagles. He's played in four games for Philly this year. The Kansas City native was a Second Team All-SEC recipient in 2015 and 2016 and was a first-round pick by the Miami Dolphins in the 2017 NFL Draft.
SUPER BOWL NUGGETS
The most decorated Tiger Super Bowl performers were Wright, Mike Jones and Bolton. Wright starred on four Super Bowl winning teams for the 49ers in the 1980s, and intercepted passes in their first two Super Bowl victories over the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins. Jones' impact was made in Super Bowl XXXIV when he dragged down Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line on the last play of the game to cinch the St. Louis Rams' 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Hence his nickname, "The Tackle." Bolton is the only Tiger to score in a Super Bowl game with a 36-yard return of a Jalen Hurts' fumble in Super Bowl LVII.
The greatest statistical performance turned in by a former Tiger came from Ealy. During Super Bowl 50 against the Broncos, Ealy tied the Super Bowl record with three quarterback sacks and recorded an interception and forced a fumble. The Panthers lost the game 24-10, but Ealy became the first player in Super Bowl history to have an interception and multiple sacks. He was the first player since 1993 to record multiple sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in a postseason game. His sack total tied the Super Bowl record previously shared by Reggie White and Darnell Dockett.
SUPER BOWL TIES
Current Tigers Jayden Bolton (Nick Bolton, Kansas City Chiefs) and Josiah Trotter (Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Philadelphia Eagles) both have brothers playing in Sunday's game, while offensive coordinator Kirby Moore will watch his brother, Kellen, try to earn a victory as the offensive coordinator of the Eagles.
Additionally, Mizzou has some coaching ties to the Chiefs as head coach Andy Reid served as an offensive line coach from 1989-91, before beginning his NFL career that has taken him to Green Bay, Philadelphia and Kansas City. This will be Reid's seventh Super Bowl and sixth as a head coach.
Two members of his coaching staff also have Missouri connections in assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Dave Toub and assistant special teams coordinator Andy Hill. Toub served as Mizzou's head strength coach from 1989-97, and the Tigers' defensive line coach from 1998-2000, while Hill was an assistant coach from 1996-2019 spending various periods coaching wide receivers, quarterbacks and special teams. He also played wide receiver at MU from 1980-84, and most notably caught a 20-yard touchdown pass in Mizzou's 10-0 upset of 11th-ranked Oklahoma in 1983.
Super Bowl LIX: Sunday, Feb. 9
No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs (15-2) vs. No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
Sunday | 5:30 p.m. CT | Fox
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