Four former Buckeyes will play in Super Bowl LVI Sunday.
Neither team would be playing in the big game without the help from Ohio State players. While the Rams don’t have a Buckeye playing in the game, they have a key player on Injured Reserve that helped them get there.
In addition to the ones playing in the Super Bowl, the Bengals also have former Buckeye punter Drue Chrisman signed to a futures contract.
The interesting thing about the Buckeyes playing in Super Bowl LVI is that they all won the 2014 College Football Playoff National Championship.
Another former Buckeye will be leading the Bengals on offense. Joe Burrow claims to be a Buckeye even though he won the Heisman Trophy, 2019 National Championship, and became the first overall draft pick once he departed from Columbus.
The Buckeyes Playing in Super Bowl LVI
Jordan Fuller, FS – Los Angeles Rams
The only Buckeye on the Rams in Super Bowl LVI, Jordan Fuller will actually miss the big game. Fuller suffered an ankle injury in the regular season finale, and is on Injured Reserve.
Although he won’t play in Super Bowl LVI, he has been instrumental for the Rams this season. Starting at free safety in every game but one, he had 113 tackles, and an interception in the Week 17 game against the Ravens.
Fuller has risen from only sixth round pick to a team captain in his second year.
Isaiah Prince, OT – Cincinnati Bengals
Former Ohio State tackle Isaiah Prince is going to start for the Bengals in the Super Bowl after opting out a season ago.
For most of the year, Prince was the sixth offensive lineman, and mostly came in for jumbo packages as an extra blocker. But Riley Reiff suffered a late-season injury, so Prince has been the Bengals’ starting right tackle for eight of the last nine games.
Prince hasn’t been a star for the Bengals, but he’s shown improvement as a young player. The Joe Burrow took nine sacks in the Divisional Round game against the Titans, but Prince and the rest of the line pulled together and only gave up one in the AFC Championship game.
Sam Hubbard, DE – Cincinnati Bengals
Sam Hubbard is one of two players for the Bengals to play his entire high school, college, and professional football career in Ohio.
A product of Moeller High School, Hubbard was a freshman for the 2014 National Championship team. He mostly played across from Joey or Nick Bosa at Ohio State, so he fell under the radar in college.
In 2021, Hubbard had 7.5 sacks, three passes defended, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, 12 tackles for a loss, and 17 QB hits. He had a strip sack at the end of the AFC Championship to keep the Chiefs to only a field goal, and send the game to overtime.
Eli Apple, CB – Cincinnati Bengals
Eli Apple’s career didn’t go the way he thought it would after he won the 2014 National Championship. He bounced between the Giants, Saints, and Panthers, but landed with the injury-riddled Bengals.
Apple responded by playing the best football of his career.
This season, he has two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Perhaps his best play of the year was tackling Tyreek Hill one yard short of the goal line to prevent the Chiefs from scoring before halftime of the AFC Championship Game.
Eli Apple: Gives up pass interference to set the Chiefs up at the one-yard line.
Also Eli Apple: Tackles Tyreek Hill in bounds to preserve the 11-point halftime deficit for the Bengals.
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Vonn Bell, SS – Cincinnati Bengals
Vonn Bell was the leader of the defense back in Columbus, and he is the heart of the Bengals Super Bowl defense.
After playing out his rookie deal with the Saints, the Bengals payed Bell a lot of dough to come back to Ohio.
Over the last two years, Bell has had over 200 tackles for the Bengals, as well as an interception, six forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries.
Of course, the biggest from Bell contribution came in the AFC Championship game. The Chiefs won the coin toss in overtime, and could have ended the game before the Bengals got the ball back. But Bell came down with an interception and set up the game-winning field goal.
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