Which Gators from Florida are participating in Super Bowl LVIII?
This Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII will feature five former Gators on the field or in the sidelines, making it the third-longest streak among college football programs as Florida will be represented in the NFL Championship Game for the 22nd time in a row. All four former Florida players—offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, punter Tommy Townsend, wide receiver Kadarius Toney, and running back La’Mical Perine—will line up for Kansas City.
Trey Dean III, a former Florida safety, is also on the Chiefs practice squad; however, he was not added to Kansas City’s active roster for the game. Taylor, who was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, took advantage of his four years of starting experience by signing a four-year, $80 million contract with Kansas City this past offseason. Taylor now starts at right tackle for the Chiefs.
He played the position for Kansas City in every game in 2023, protecting three-time All-Pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes and clearing the path for Isiah Pacheco, the Chiefs’ most productive single-season rusher this season since Kareem Hunt in 2018.
After the 2020 NFL Draft, Townsend signed with Kansas City as an undrafted free agent and replaced 15-year Chief Dustin Colquitt as the team’s starting punter. Since then, Townsend has averaged 47.4 yards per punt. In 2022, he set a career-high 50.4 yards per punt, earning him a spot in the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team.
After being selected in the first round by the New York Giants in 2021, Toney was traded to Kansas City in the latter part of the 2022 season, where he quickly showed promise, finishing the season with two touchdowns over nine appearances and two starts. Toney is still listed as a 53-man player for the Chiefs, but he hasn’t played since Week 15 and isn’t anticipated to do so on Sunday, according to ESPN. Throughout the regular season, he struggled with a number of injuries and did not play well when healthy, catching just 27 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown. After spending two seasons in the Big Apple after being selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Perine was released in August of 2022.
Prior to his December elevation to the active roster, Perine spent the majority of the 2023 season as a member of the Chiefs’ practice squad, having joined it during the 2022–2023 postseason. In the season finale, he ran 21 times for 76 yards and caught three passes for 33 yards as a starting point.
Townsend is making his third appearance in the NFL Championship Game with Super Bowl LVIII. As a fourth-year player, he won the Lombardi Trophy with his Kansas City teammates the previous season after defeating Philadelphia in the championship game. As a rookie in 2020, he ended the season second to Tampa Bay.
