Despite having the second-most players in the NFL this season, Ohio State is at risk of going five straight years without having a player on a Super Bowl-winning roster.
Ohio State hasn’t had a player on the 53-man roster of a Super Bowl champion since Darron Lee was on the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster for their Super Bowl victory five years ago. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t have any Buckeyes on their roster when they beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV one year later. Jordan Fuller was a member of the Los Angeles Rams when they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, but he was on injured reserve after a season-ending ankle injury.
The Chiefs didn’t have any Buckeyes on their roster for the last two seasons, and they don’t have any on this year’s roster either as they seek the first-ever Super Bowl three-peat.
Ohio State’s four-year drought without having a player on the Super Bowl champion’s active roster is already tied for the second-longest in program history, behind only the six years it didn’t have a Super Bowl winner from 1993-98. Its chances of ending its Super Bowl drought this year rest on the shoulders of the Philadelphia Eagles and Parris Campbell, who seeks to end his sixth NFL season with championship glory after starting the year with disappointment.
Go Bucks https://t.co/OTsqnyDS4M
— Parris Campbell (@PCampbell21) February 8, 2025
Campbell’s NFL career hasn’t gone the way he would have drawn it up when he was selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft. The former Ohio State receiver was plagued by injuries in his first three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, playing in just 15 total games from 2019-21. He finally had a fully healthy season in 2022 and had a breakout year as a result, catching 63 passes for 623 yards and three touchdowns in his final season with the Colts. After signing with the New York Giants as a free agent in 2023, however, Campbell caught just 20 passes for 104 yards in his lone season with the team.
Campbell left the Giants after just one year to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason, but failed to make the Eagles’ initial 53-man roster following the preseason, which prompted Campbell to consider retiring from football.
“If this is the only opportunity that I have, to go be on a practice squad, I'm done with ball, and we'll figure out what's next,” Campbell told his wife, mother and agent, as he recalled in an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal earlier this week.
But Eagles coach Nick Sirianni convinced Campbell to stay with the team as a member of its practice squad, and Campbell’s decision to stay the course has paid off. While Campbell vacillated between the Eagles’ active roster and practice squad during the regular season, playing in five regular-season games and catching six passes for 30 yards and a touchdown, he’s been on the Eagles’ active roster for all of their playoff games.
Jalen - > Parris TD #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/BZzWnrBUH6
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 29, 2024
Now, Campbell has the opportunity to suit up for a Super Bowl, and he’s proud to represent his home state and his alma mater on football’s biggest stage.
“Representing the city of Akron, representing my family, representing Ohio State ... it's just all come kind of full circle,” Campbell told the Beacon Journal.
BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!! God is Good!!
— Parris Campbell (@PCampbell21) January 27, 2025
It’s been even longer than five years since a player from Ohio State played a major role in a Super Bowl victory. Lee was a gameday inactive for the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV win, so the last Buckeyes to actually play for the winning team in the Super Bowl were Nate Ebner and John Simon for the New England Patriots six years ago. The last Buckeye to start for a Super Bowl-winning team was Malcolm Jenkins when the Eagles beat the Patriots seven years ago.
| Player | Years (Teams) |
|---|---|
| MATT SNELL | 1969 (New York Jets) |
| JIM TYRER | 1970 (Kansas City Chiefs) |
| BOB VOGEL | 1971 (Baltimore Colts) |
| PAUL WARFIELD | 1973, 1974 (Miami Dolphins) |
| JACK TATUM | 1977 (Oakland Raiders) |
| MORRIS BRADSHAW | 1977, 1981 (Oakland Raiders) |
| NEAL COLZIE | 1977 (Oakland Raiders) |
| JOHN FRANK | 1985, 1989 (San Francisco 49ers) |
| SHAUN GAYLE | 1986 (Chicago Bears) |
| MIKE TOMCZAK | 1986 (Chicago Bears) |
| PEPPER JOHNSON | 1987, 1991 (New York Giants) |
| WILLIAM ROBERTS | 1987, 1991 (New York Giants) |
| JIM LACHEY | 1992 (Washington Redskins) |
| TITO PAUL | 1999 (Denver Broncos) |
| ORLANDO PACE | 2000 (St. Louis Rams) |
| JOE GERMAINE | 2000 (St. Louis Rams) |
| LORENZO STYLES | 2000 (St. Louis Rams) |
| MIKE VRABEL | 2002, 2004, 2005 (New England Patriots) |
| RICKEY DUDLEY | 2003 (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) |
| TOM TUPA | 2003 (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) |
| SANTONIO HOLMES | 2009 (Pittsburgh Steelers) |
| MALCOLM JENKINS | 2010 (New Orleans Saints), 2018 (Philadelphia Eagles) |
| WILL SMITH | 2010 (New Orleans Saints) |
| A.J. HAWK | 2011 (Green Bay Packers) |
| RYAN PICKETT | 2011 (Green Bay Packers) |
| MATT WILHELM | 2011 (Green Bay Packers) |
| JAKE BALLARD | 2012 (New York Giants) |
| JIM CORDLE | 2012 (New York Giants) |
| NATE EBNER | 2015, 2017, 2019 (New England Patriots) |
| BRADLEY ROBY | 2016 (Denver Broncos) |
| JOHN SIMON | 2019 (New England Patriots) |
| DARRON LEE | 2020 (Kansas City Chiefs) |
| Note: The years listed are the years in which the Super Bowls were played. | |
Campbell likely won’t play a major role for the Eagles win or lose on Sunday, as he’s played only eight offensive snaps in the playoffs – all in their NFC Championship Game win over the Washington Commanders – and hasn’t caught a pass in the postseason. All he needs to do is play one snap in an Eagles win, though, to become the first Buckeye to actually play for a winning team in a Super Bowl in more than a half-decade.
Did You Know?
A former Ohio State player has won the Super Bowl after all of Ohio State’s previous national championship seasons in the Super Bowl era.
- 1968: Matt Snell (Jets)
- 1970: Bob Vogel (Colts)
- 2002: Rickey Dudley (Buccaneers)
- 2014: Nate Ebner (Patriots)
With a win, Campbell would become the 33rd different Buckeye to win a Super Bowl and the first Buckeye who’s played for Ohio State since 2016 – Lee completed his Ohio State career in 2015 – to win a Super Bowl as a member of the team’s active roster.
Campbell, who won a national championship ring as a redshirting freshman at Ohio State in 2014, completed his Ohio State career in 2018. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in his final season after catching 90 passes – a single-season Ohio State record at the time until it was broken by Jaxon Smith-Njigba three years later – for 1,063 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Super Bowl LIX kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in New Orleans and will be televised by FOX.
