On Sunday, Jerick McKinnon will join an elite fraternity at Georgia Southern as he suits up for Super Bowl LVII.
In the history of the program, only four players — Fred Stokes, Earthwind Moreland, Adrian Peterson and Matt Breida — have played in the Super Bowl as Georgia Southern alums.
While McKinnon was on the same squad Breida was on for Super Bowl LIV in Miami, he was on the injured reserve and did not play.
Adrian Peterson
Peterson knows precisely what McKinnon is going through right now as he prepares for the big game.
Peterson was in the same spot 16 years ago as a member of the Chicago Bears preparing for Super Bowl XLI against the Indianapolis Colts.
"I don't want to call them distractions, but more of points of preparation," Peterson said. "As a kid, you remember sliding onto the floor to get a good spot to watch the Super Bowl on TV, so it was a joy to be able to play in that game. But so much preparation goes on behind the scenes. You're down there for a week instead of making an overnight trip."
For Peterson, once he got to game day, he was in football mode. He was locked in, and nothing was different ... except for one thing he remembers to this day.
"The flashbulbs on that opening kickoff was something I'll never forget," he said. "I was on the kickoff return team for the opening kick where Devin Hester returned it for a touchdown, and you just saw all the flashes of lights. As a kid, I always thought that was animation, and they did it to make it look good on TV, but it was real."
"When I was on that field right before kickoff, I had a 10-second flashback to being a kid watching the game at our Super Bowl party and just thinking some kid is watching me the same way right now, just like Matt and Jerick will Sunday," he continued. "There's no bigger game than the Super Bowl. People who don't even watch football will be watching all around the world, so to be able to play in it was surreal even though we didn't come out on the right side of the game."
Fred Stokes
It would be the day after the Super Bowl when Georgia Southern alum and Washington Redskin defensive Fred Stokes would fully comprehend that his team had won the Lombardi Trophy with its 37 to 24 win over the Buffalo Bills in 1992.
"I remember the confetti falling, and I couldn't hardly breathe," Stokes said. "It was like a daze. I couldn't put it all together or gauge the impact of what it all meant.”
Stokes was considered for game MVP honors, with 2.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and a caused fumble, putting an end to any Bills' comeback hopes.
"It really dawned on me the next day when I woke up and walked through the hotel," Stokes said. 'Hail to the Redksins!' We won the Super Bowl last night! It was an amazing feeling."
Without the technology available to snap cell phone pictures of the post-game celebration, then, this time of year, Stokes relives his Super Bowl experiences in his mind and brings out his Super Bowl ring.
Earthwind Moreland
Earthwind Moreland put on his first football uniform at the age of five, happy to be playing, never thinking that someday he'd be on the NFL's biggest stage and playing alongside future Hall of Famers.
"I didn't think anything could be better than winning the national championship at Georgia Southern," Moreland said. "I bring my (Super Bowl) ring out sometimes when I am talking to kids and banquets and events. I show it to them and talk to them about working hard, and what it is like to receive something that proves you have reached the very top."
He played for six different NFL organizations and for the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe in the four years after playing collegiately before landing with the New England Patriots in 2004.
He spent a majority of the season on the practice squad, but was elevated to the official roster late in the season and helped lead the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl XXXIX title. New England broke a 14 to 14 tie after three quarters to defeat Philadelphia 24 to 21 for the championship.
"You have had two full weeks to think about the game, and the anxiety can build up," Moreland said. "At the beginning of the game, you are trying to get those jitters out, and you almost can't breathe. On Monday night, you're playing in that week's big game. The Super Bowl is different, it's the game, and it seems like everybody on the planet is watching."
And, on Sunday, everyone will be watching as another Eagle will soon be able to talk about his memories of the game. And hopefully, McKinnon will be able to join the champions club that so many strive to be in.
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