Former Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. is now a Super Bowl champion following the Seahawks’ decisive win over the Patriots on Sunday night in the 60th playing of the big game. Jones is now the 41st former Tennessee player to win the Super Bowl, giving the UT program a total of 41 winners with 51 combined Super Bowl rings.
Jones is the most recent former UT Super Bowl champion since VFL Trey Smith won back-to-back championships with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 and 2024. He and quarterback Joshua Dobbs, a backup for the New England Patriots, were the most recent representatives since Smith played in the 2025 Super Bowl.
Jones is now the first Tennessee player from the Josh Heupel era in Knoxville to go to and/or win the championship. Tennessee’s last five players to suit up for the game, including Dobbs on Sunday night, all came from a different coaching era: DB Emmanuel Mosley, DE Derek Barnett, OL Trey Smith, WR Jauan Jennings, QB Joshua Dobbs.
Here’s a look at Tennessee Football’s most recent Super Bowl participants:
| Player | Position | Super Bowl | Years at UT |
| Derek Barnett | DE | 2018 Eagles, 2023 Eagles | 2014-2016 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | WR | 2019 Patriots | 2012 |
| John Kelly | RB | 2019 LA Rams | 2015-2017 |
| Dustin Colquitt | P | 2020 & 2021 Chiefs | 2000-2004 |
| Emmanuel Moseley | DB | 2020 49ers | 2014-2017 |
| Trey Smith | OL | 2023, 2024, & 2025 Chiefs | 2017-2020 |
| Jauan Jennings | WR | 2024 49ers | 2015-2017 |
| Joshua Dobbs | QB | 2026 Patriots | 2013-2016 |
| Velus Jones Jr. | RB | 2026 Seahawks | 2020-2021 |
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Jones spent two seasons as a wide receiver at Tennessee before being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He racked up 22 receptions for 280 yards during his first season in Knoxville in 2020, but elevated his game during Josh Heupel’s first season at the helm. In 2021, Jones tallied 807 yards on 62 receptions with seven touchdowns. He also had 628 yards and one touchdown on kickoff returns. Jones went for 100+ receiving yards in games against South Carolina, Kentucky, and South Alabama during the 2021 season.
Prior to his time at Tennessee, Jones played for Southern Cal from 2016 to 2019.
Jones was elevated from the Seahawks’ practice squad on Saturday. He was inactive for Seattle’s NFC Championship win over the Los Angeles Rams, but was bumped up to the active roster before the Super Bowl with the Seahawks dealing with a key injury in the running back room. Jones did not record any rushing statistics on Sunday, but he was in the game on special teams during kick returns and punts. Jones downed two punts during the game, with a key one coming early in the fourth quarter to set the Patriots back on the 4-yard line.
Jones began the season with the New Orleans Saints but was cut and picked up by the Seahawks in October. He appeared in three regular-season games for Seattle this season and played against the San Francisco 49ers in the Seahawks’ NFC divisional round win a few weeks ago. On the season, he tallied 10 carries for 42 yards.
VFL Peyton Manning, who won Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, was also in attendance as an honorary game captain.
Jones and Dobbs were the 75th and 76th players in Tennessee history to be rostered for the Super Bowl in program history.
