DC Native Leftwich Joins 4 Players From Virginia At Super Bowl

TAMPA, FL — Four players who went to high school in Virginia will compete in Super Bowl LV — two playing for the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs and two for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Unlike 2020, when Justin Skule, who played for the 2013 Centreville High School team that won the state championship, participated in the Super Bowl as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, none of the four players competing in this year’s Super Bowl are from Northern Virginia.

On the coaching front, former NFL quarterback Byron Leftwich, who played at Woodson High School when he grew up in Washington, D.C., will serve as the offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl.

For the second straight year, Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi of Virginia Beach will be playing in the Super Bowl.

With Nnadi’s return to the big game, Hampton Roads has had an athlete play or be a part of a team in eight straight Super Bowls. The area has produced star athletes across professional sports leagues.

The most heralded football player to come from Hampton Roads was Bruce Smith, the defensive end who went to high school in Norfolk before attending Virginia Tech. Smith played in four consecutive Super Bowls during his Hall of Fame career with the Buffalo Bills.

Fellow Chief Juan Thornhill, who went to high school in Altavista — south of Lynchburg — and played football at the University of Virginia, is making his first appearance in the Super Bowl. Thornhill tore his left ACL in December 2019 and did not get a chance to suit up for the Chief’s victory in the 2020 Super Bowl.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Josh Wells, who went to Hanover High School northeast of Richmond and played college football at James Madison University, is making his first appearance in a Super Bowl. Wells, an offensive tackle, is in his seventh NFL season.

Another JMU player, Aaron Stinnie, also will be playing in his first Super Bowl — as right guard for the Buccaneers. Stinnie grew up in Charlottesville and attended St. Anne's-Belfield School before heading to Harrisonburg for college.

Stinnie’s father, Phil Stinnie, played college basketball at Virginia Commonwealth University and is seventh on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Leftwich, who has served as offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay since 2019, won a DCIAA championship in 1997 for Woodson. He was also named honorable mention on The Washington Post's All-Met football team as a senior that season.

Leftwich will be the first player to win a Turkey Bowl in D.C., a Super Bowl (as a backup quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009) and coach in a Super Bowl, WUSA sports anchor Darren M. Haynes tweeted.

The Chiefs will be making their fourth-ever Super Bowl appearance. Tampa Bay will be making its second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, and their first since they won in 2003. Tampa Bay will be the first Super Bowl team to play in a Super Bowl at its home stadium.

Super Bowl LV will be played on Sunday, with kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on CBS.