There are dozens of second-generation NFL players who successfully followed their father’s footsteps into the pros. Some of the more notable ones include Archie, Peyton, and Eli Manning, Howie, Chris and Kyle Long, and Bob and Brian Griese. You know about most of the father-son duos that we’re about to present on our list. But we bet you weren’t aware that these dads had the honor of playing in the Super Bowl at least once…
So with that, let’s dive into 10 current NFL players whose dads you had no idea played in the Super Bowl.
Can you name the dads of these 10 NFL players who also had Super Bowl experience?
Christian McCaffrey: Ed McCaffrey
“Run CMC” has unquestionably emerged as the biggest name in the McCaffrey football family, with all due respect to younger brother Luke and father Ed. The San Francisco 49ers’ star running back is on his way to the Hall of Fame as perhaps the most explosive pass-catching RB ever.
Christian has had two close calls to Super Bowl glory, with his 49ers losing the 2022 NFC Championship Game to the Philadelphia Eagles before losing the big game to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime one year later.
Even if Christian never wings a ring, shed no tears for the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year and his family. There are already three Super Bowl rings in the family, courtesy of the old man.
A third-round pick out of Stanford by the New York Giants in 1991, Ed McCaffrey won his first Super Bowl ring with the 49ers in the 1994 season as a seldom-used receiver. Once he joined the John Elway led by the Denver Broncos, Ed took his game to another level.
McCaffrey won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Broncos in the 1997 and ‘98 seasons, Elway’s final two years in the NFL. McCaffrey also crossed the 1,000-yard mark in three consecutive seasons from 1998 to 2000.
In his three career Super Bowl games, the elder McCaffrey caught eight passes for 122 yards.
Michael Pittman Jr.: Michael Pittman Sr.
Long before Junior became a star wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, Michael Pittman Sr. was a standout running back for the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Though RB was his primary position, Pittman Sr. was among the league’s best pass-catching backs of his era. He put up over 1,000 yards of offense in five straight years from 2000 to ‘04, including in the Bucs’ Super Bowl 37 championship season.
Make no mistake; the ‘02 Bucs were led by a legendary defense featuring Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch, Simeon Rice, and Ronde Barber. But Pittman Sr. was a key contributor on the offense, especially in the postseason.
In three playoff games, Pittman had 182 rushing yards. In Super Bowl 37, he rushed for a game-high 124 yards as the Buccaneers crushed the Oakland Raiders 48-21 to win the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy.
The Colts have wasted Michael Jr.’s prime years thus far, and you get the feeling that he won’t taste Super Bowl glory like his father unless he changes teams. Hey, that’s what Sr. did before winning his only championship!
Joey Porter Jr.: Joey Porter
Porter Jr., like his father, has made his mark in Steel City.
Many were surprised when the big-bodied Penn State corner fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in round two at No. 32 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. But hey, the losses of those other teams were Pittsburgh’s gain.
Porter Jr. has quickly morphed into one of the league’s top shutdown corners, working on a star-studded defense led by TJ Watt, Cam Heyward, Alex Highsmith, and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Now…if the Steelers could just somehow make Jr. the second Porter family member to win a Super Bowl.
Joey Porter Sr. was a star linebacker for Bill Cowher’s Steelers from 1999 to 2006, earning four Pro Bowl nods and two First-team All-Pro selections. Porter was part of the Steelers’ lights-out defense that propelled Pittsburgh to a Super Bowl 40 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit.
Porter had three tackles in the game as the Pittsburgh D put the clamps on MVP Shaun Alexander and the Seattle offense, cruising to a 21-10 victory to secure the franchise’s fifth Lombardi Trophy.
Porter was named to the 2000s NFL All-Decade Team, too, putting a stamp on a marvelous run in Steel City. Not even two decades later, Jr. is now representing the family for this historic NFL organization.
Van Jefferson: Shawn Jefferson
Betcha didn’t know that Van Jefferson is a second-generation NFL player!
It had to feel extra sweet for Jefferson and the family when he won a Super Bowl 56 ring with the Los Angeles Rams in his 2021 sophomore season. Not just because he reached football’s grandest stage but also because it somewhat made up for the double trouble and heartbreak his old man went through in the Super Bowl.
Shawn Jefferson was a ninth-round draft pick by the Houston Oilers in 1991, but he wound up beginning his playing career with the San Diego Chargers. He was a key cog on the 1994 Bolts team that made a Cinderella run to Super Bowl 29, where they were crushed by the heavily-favored San Francisco 49ers.
Jefferson caught two passes for 15 yards in a miserable 49-26 loss to the Steve Young-led 49ers. Two years later, Jefferson was back in the big dance — with his New England Patriots taking on Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 31.
Jefferson had three catches for 34 yards in the big game, but the Pack easily handled the underdog Pats 35 to 31. Shawn would never play in a Super Bowl again, but at least his son Van finished the mission his father couldn’t some two decades later.
Jon Runyan Jr.: Jon Runyan Sr.
Folks born in the 90s or 2000s probably better know Jon Runyan Sr. as a politician. Runyan, part of the Republican party, was New Jersey’s representative for the 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2015.
But long before politics, and before his son Jon Jr. became a household NFL name, Sr. was a star offensive tackle in a career that spanned from 1996 to 2009.
Runyan earned second-team all-pro nods in 1999, helping the Tennessee Titans to the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance. There, they lost 23-16 to Kurt Warner’s St. Louis Rams.
Five years later, Sr. helped the Philadelphia Eagles reach Super Bowl 39 — but they fell 24-21 to the New England Patriots. As if losing to Tom Brady in the big game wasn’t bad enough, Runyan Jr. – also a standout offensive lineman — can relate.
In his 2020 rookie year, Runyan and the Packers saw their Super Bowl dreams end with a loss to Brady’s Buccaneers at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship Game. Like father, like son?
Devin Bush Jr.: Devin Bush Sr.
Unfortunately, well-traveled linebacker Devin Bush Jr. hasn’t come close to living up to sky-high expectations since turning pro in 2019. Remember, the Steelers moved up from No. 20 to No. 10 in a trade with the Broncos to select the highly-touted Michigan linebacker.
Bush Jr. never got it in Pittsburgh, and subsequent stops with the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns did nothing to revive his career. So yeah, the odds of him bringing a second championship ring to the family are growing dimmer by the day.
Unless you’re a longtime Falcons or Rams fan, betcha didn’t know that Jr’s father, Devin Sr., had the dream of playing in two Super Bowls.
Bush Sr. played safety for the Falcons, Rams, and Browns over eight seasons. His Falcons lost to the Broncos in Super Bowl 33, but Bush Sr. redeemed himself by winning it all with the Rams over the Titans one year later in Super Bowl 34.
Bush had five tackles and one pass breakup in the Rams’ win over the Titans.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.: Jeremiah Trotter
Another case of “Like father, like son.”
Trotter Jr. turned pro when the Eagles drafted him in the fifth round — 155th overall — in 2024. You know, the same team that Jeremiah Trotter Sr. played for in three different stints — 1998 to 2001, 2004 to ‘06, and 2009.
Like his son, Trotter was a linebacker who earned four Pro Bowl nods and a First-team All-Pro selection in 2000. A member of the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame, Trotter Sr. helped the Eagles reach Super Bowl 39 in the 2004 season.
Trotter had eight total tackles in the game, but it wasn’t enough as the Patriots squeaked out a 24-21 victory to cement themselves as a dynasty.
Grady Jarrett: Jessie Tuggle
We won’t blame you for not knowing the relationship between Tuggle and Jarrett here. Not many father-son duos in sports have different last names, after all…
Tuggle signed with the Falcons in 1987 after going undrafted. Tuggle was largely overlooked because he played at a lesser-known school, Valdosta State, in Georgia. And at 5-foot-11, he was considered too small in those days to be a successful NFL linebacker.
Tuggle carved out quite the playing career for an undrafted product. He was a five-time Pro Bowler who led the NFL in combined tackles four times.
Tuggle, who spent his entire career with the Falcons, was a teammate of the aforementioned Devin Bush Jr. Tuggle was also on the 1998 Falcons squad that lost Super Bowl 33 to the heavily favored Broncos.
Unfortunately, Tuggle would never get back to the Super Bowl. His son, Grady, also lost out on a golden opportunity to bring home a championship to the family.
Jarrett has exceeded expectations as a fifth-round pick in 2015 out of Clemson. His Falcons reached Super Bowl 51, losing to the Patriots after inexplicably coughing up a 28-3 second-half lead.
If Atlanta had won that game, Jarrett would have probably been Super Bowl 51 MVP. He sacked Tom Brady three times, tied for the most by one player in a Super Bowl.
Jake Matthews: Bruce Matthews
Bruce and Jake Matthews are part of the legendary football family — one that includes former Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews Jr. and former Green Bay Packers superstar Clay Mathews III.
Bruce turned out to be the best of the bunch. A versatile offensive lineman who played guard, tackle, and center, he earned 14 Pro Bowl nods and seven First-team All-Pro selections. Matthews was also named to the 1990s All-Decade team as well as the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Bruce spent his entire 19-year career with the Houston Oilers/Tenessee Titans franchise that spanned from 1983 to 2001. After years of heartbreaking losses, Matthews and the Titans finally broke through by reaching Super Bowl 34 as a wild-card team. As previously mentioned, though, Tennessee fell short by a touchdown against the Rams.
Matthews was a key cog on a Titans offense led by superstar quarterback Steve McNair, running back Eddie George and tight end Frank Wychek. That team had too much talent to only reach one Super Bowl, but the bounces just never went their way.
Bruce’s son, Jake, was selected sixth overall by the Falcons in the star-studded 2014 NFL Draft. But like Grady Jarrett, Matthews was on that Falcons team that choked Super Bowl 51 away against the Patriots.
And unlike Jarrett, Matthews had a forgettable performance against New England’s vaunted defense. At this rate, it’s obvious that Jake will never get back to the Super Bowl unless he goes to a new team.
Marlon Humphrey: Bobby Humphrey
While the Baltimore Ravens’ All-Pro cornerback is making a strong push for Canton, his father, unfortunately, blew that opportunity with a costly holdout that marked the beginning of the end of his playing career.
Bobby Humphrey was taken third overall in the 1989 Supplemental Draft and quickly emerged as a weapon in the John Elway-led offense. Humphrey recorded back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, helping Denver to a Super Bowl 24 appearance in the 1990 season against the 49ers.
Humphrey was one of the few bright spots for Denver, recording 99 total yards of offense. That includes one costly fumble, though, and the Broncos never stood a chance in a humiliating 55-10 defeat by Joe Montana’s dynastic squad.
Humphrey missed most of the 1991 season because of a three-month holdout and lost the RB1 job to Gaston Green. Bobby played for the Miami Dolphins for two seasons but was out of the NFL for good soon after.
Bobby Humphrey never came close to another Super Bowl, but his son Marlon has been one of football’s premier defensive backs since entering the league as a rookie in 2017. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time until his Ravens finally break through.
