Sunday marks the most exciting day in sports for many, as the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks take on the AFC Champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. For the Trojan faithful, the game will feature four USC alumni, who will all look to bring home the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in their careers.

In the Super Bowl era, USC has stood out as a premier college football program, producing the second-most players featured in Super Bowls. In Super Bowl LX, USC is tied for the third-most players with Michigan and sits behind football powerhouses like Alabama and LSU. 

All Projans in the Super Bowl this year play for the Seahawks: starting quarterback Sam Darnold, defensive lineman Leonard Williams, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and defensive tackle Brandon Pili.

Despite USC having the most QBs drafted into the NFL all time, including recent stars like Caleb Williams and notable alumni like Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez, Darnold is the first Trojan signal caller to start in the Big Game.

Darnold’s resurgence highlights Trojan field

Before Darnold’s recent resurgence over the past two years, his six seasons in the NFL did not live up to the hype he built in college.

During his two years at USC, Darnold thrived. After winning the starting job four games into the 2016 season, he immediately became a star, winning the Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year and leading the Trojans to their most recent Rose Bowl win. 

In his second season, he led USC to a Pac-12 Championship, the team’s most recent conference title, and threw for over 4,000 yards with 26 touchdowns.

He was selected third overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 draft, and played with Williams, whom he would meet up with on the Seahawks. However, Darnold struggled mightily in his three seasons with the Jets, winning just 13 games, throwing 39 interceptions and fumbling the ball 20 times.

Those struggles led to a trade to the Carolina Panthers, where Darnold also struggled, and later a backup role with the San Francisco 49ers, where he would make the Super Bowl, but as a backup.

In the 2024 offseason, Darnold signed with the Minnesota Vikings and was projected to be the backup to rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy before McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in his first preseason game. This thrust Darnold into the starting role, where he had his best season to that point, helping the Vikings win 14 games — their second-most ever.

Following his strong 2024 campaign, which landed him in the Pro Bowl and saw him receive MVP votes, both for the first time, he signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks this past offseason. In his first season, he led Seattle to its first Super Bowl appearance in over a decade and earned a second consecutive Pro Bowl nod.

Three Trojan alumni among top NFL defense

The “Legion of Boom” was the name for the Seahawks’ infamous defense during most of the 2010s, including their Super Bowl XLVIII win in 2014 and Super Bowl XLIX loss to the Patriots in 2015. The new but still strong defense is nicknamed the “Dark Side,” and three former Trojans will help the Seahawks try to go out on top.

Williams, who is in his 11th NFL season, was one of the best defensive players in USC history, accumulating 20 sacks in three seasons and helping the Trojans reach three bowl games. Over the last two seasons with the Seahawks, Williams has been selected to back-to-back Pro Bowls and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive linemen in the league.

Williams was drafted sixth overall by the Jets in 2015, where he would play with Darnold for a little over a season before being traded to the New York Giants. After five seasons with the Big Blue, he was traded to Seattle during the 2023 season.

Another former Trojan, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, is known for his ability to stop the run and hunt the quarterback. At USC, he totaled 20.5 tackles for loss, over 150 combined tackles and 12.5 sacks. His 9.5 sacks were fourth in the Pac-12 in 2017.

The Los Angeles Chargers drafted him in the second round of the 2018 draft, where he would play for four seasons before signing with the Seahawks. This season was one of his best, totaling seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits.

In his career as a strong-side linebacker, Nwosu has totaled 34.5 sacks, 97 quarterback hits and 45 tackles for loss across eight seasons.

The final USC alum in the Super Bowl is defensive tackle Brandon Pili, who played for five seasons in the cardinal and gold because of the COVID-19-affected 2020 season and an Achilles tendon tear. As a Trojan, he collected 74 combined tackles and 10 tackles for loss. 

After going undrafted in the 2023 draft, the Miami Dolphins signed him as a free agent, where he stayed for over a season before being cut and signing with the Seahawks midway through this season. He currently does not start but remains on the roster as a nose tackle, forcing one fumble this season.

Super Bowl LX between Darnold’s Seahawks and the Patriots will take place Sunday at 3:30 p.m.