INDIANAPOLIS — If you're having trouble picking a team to cheer for in Super Bowl LVIII, there are several players with Indiana connections playing in the big game.
Four members of the San Francisco 49ers and three players on the Kansas City Chiefs' roster have ties to the Hoosier state. Of those seven players only two of them – San Francisco linebacker Randy Gregory and Kansas City linebacker Drue Tranquill – grew up in Indiana.
San Francisco 49ers
Linebacker Randy Gregory played at Hamilton Southeastern before attending the University of Nebraska in college. After five NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, the 31-year-old was in his second season with the Denver Broncos before an October trade sent him to San Francisco.
Since coming to the 49ers, Gregory has recorded 15 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks in 14 games, including the playoffs.
Lineman Aaron Banks is in his third season after starting 31 of 38 games at Notre Dame, where he was named an All-American his senior year.
Wide receiver Willie Snead is in his second season with the 49ers and his ninth in the NFL. He has over 3,400 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in stops with five teams.
Snead played three seasons at Ball State, where he caught 214 passes for 2,904 yards and 25 touchdowns, earning All-MAC first team honors in 2013.
Linebacker Jalen Graham was selected by the 49ers in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Purdue. He's played in one game for San Francisco, recording a tackle against Seattle in Week 14.
For the Boilermakers, Graham recorded 169 tackles and two sacks in four seasons. He had three interceptions in his collegiate career and recovered a pair of fumbles.
Kansas City Chiefs
In addition to Gregory, linebacker Drue Tranquill is the only other player on a Super Bowl LVIII roster with pre-college roots in Indiana. He played at Carroll High School in Fort Wayne before moving on to Notre Dame.
In his fifth year in the NFL and first in Kansas City, Tranquill recorded 75 tackles and 4 1/2 sacks this season. He has 343 tackles and 11 sacks for his career, which started with four seasons in Los Angeles, playing for the Chargers.
Cornerback Nic Jones was drafted in the seventh round of last April's NFL draft. He's played in nine games in his rookie season, recording four tackles, including three in a Week 18 win over the Chargers.
He had 64 tackles and picked off three passes in four seasons at Ball State.
Another Boilermaker in the Super Bowl is defensive end George Karlaftis, who is in his second season with the Chiefs. Karlaftis has started 33 games in two seasons in Kansas City, amassing 79 tackles and 16 1/2 sacks. He's also recovered two fumbles.
Karlaftis was picked 30th overall by the Chiefs in the 2022 NFL Draft. At Purdue, he recorded 97 tackles and 14 sacks in 26 games.