Can Nick Bolton add his name to the list of Mizzou alums with big Super Bowl performances?

On Sunday, Nick Bolton will play in the most important game of his life. With respect to the 35 he participated in as a Missouri football linebacker, the Super Bowl he will start for the Kansas City Chiefs will likely top the list. 

Bolton, who will serve as a captain in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, has started every game so far this season for the Chiefs. He had two sacks, two interceptions, and led Kansas City with 180 tackles. 

The Tigers have had 21 players in previous Super Bowl games, 10 of them starters. Here’s a list of some notable Missouri football alum performances in Super Bowls past. 

Mike Jones 

It looked like Kevin Dyson was going to score. On the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV, following the 1999 season, the Tennessee Titans wide receiver had just caught a pass from Steve McNair and was heading to the end zone, trying to help tie the game. 

Then, St. Louis Rams linebacker Mike Jones entered the picture. Jones made a form tackle as time expired at the Georgia Dome to preserve the victory and give the franchise, which moved to Los Angeles before the 2016 season, its only Super Bowl title.

Jones had six tackles in that game, four of them solo. He would go on to play one more season for the Rams before finishing up his career with the Steelers and Raiders. 

Jones had actually played running back at Missouri, setting the school record for receptions by a running back during his time in Columbia, before going undrafted in 1991. Jones switched to linebacker after signing with the Raiders as a rooke free agent.  

He played 13 total seasons in the NFL, racking up 637 tackles. Jones is currently the wide receivers coach for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League. 

Kony Ealy 

Cam Newton was a tough matchup for anyone in 2015. At the peak of his NFL powers, the then-Carolina Panthers quarterback was the league MVP for that season, and his team went through the regular season 15-1 before cruising into Super Bowl 50. 

Newton wasn’t the only player on that team who had a great year. Carolina had a stellar defense, which included former Tiger defensive end Kony Ealy. 

Ealy and the Panthers lost that game to the Denver Broncos, but it was no fault of the former all-SEC selection. He had three sacks against the Broncos, which tied the Super Bowl record. 

He also had an interception and forced a fumble. In the end, it wasn’t enough, with the Panthers falling 24-10. 

Ealy’s career in Columbia ran from a redshirt year in 2010 to 2014. He started every game his final season with Gary Pinkel’s Tigers, finishing the year with 43 tackles, 9.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. 

Shane Ray 

Ealy wasn’t the only former Tiger playing defensive end in Super Bowl 50. On the other side of the field was his old teammate, Shane Ray. 

Ray didn’t start for the Broncos in the Super Bowl, but was effective, making two tackles and forcing a fumble in the win. The win capped off a rookie season in which Ray, who had been taken No. 23 in the 2015 Draft by Denver, collected four sacks and 20 tackles. 

The defensive end put together a huge senior season at MU, being named a consensus all-American and the SEC’s defensive player of the year. He had 14.5 sacks and 65 tackles, 22.5 of them for loss. 

Ray spent the 2022 season with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts. He had six sacks. 

Eric Wright 

The cornerback had the good fortune of being a part of one of the great dynasties in NFL history, the 1980s San Francisco 49ers. Wright played in more Super Bowls than any other Missouri alum, winning all four of his appearances after the 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989 seasons.  

On the way to the 49ers' first Super Bowl, Wright was a footnote to one of the NFL’s most famous plays. After Dwight Clark caught a Joe Montana pass to make a grab known as “The Catch,” it was Wright who saved a touchdown by tackling Drew Pearson of the Dallas Cowboys to seal the NFC championship. 

Wright, one of the better cover cornerbacks in the league throughout his career, had interceptions in his first two appearances. He finished his NFL career in 1990. 

He was taken in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the 49ers. While at Missouri, he had made all-Big Eight in 1979 and 1980. 

Wright was named to Missouri football’s all-century team in 1990.