Two TCU offensive tackles will be on Super Bowl LII rosters

Once again, TCU will have a former player start in the Super Bowl.

Last year, it was New England Patriots’ right tackle Marcus Cannon, who graduated from TCU in 2011. And while his team will play in its second straight Super Bowl, Cannon will not. Tom Brady’s strong-side protector only started seven games in 2017 before he was eventually placed on season-ending injured reserve as the result of an ankle injury.

Cannon had a career year in 2016, earning second-team All-Pro honors following his fifth season in the league. Even before his strongest campaign with the Patriots, the team handed him a five-year 32.5 million-dollar contract extension in November of 2016. In the 2011 NFL Draft, New England selected him in the fifth round with the 138th pick.

At TCU, Cannon had a highly distinguished career. In junior and senior seasons, his outstanding play earned first-team Mountain West honors.

While Cannon won’t be taking the field, another recent TCU graduate will be.

When the Eagles do get the ball on offense in Super Bowl LII, former Horned Frog Halapoulivaati Vaitai, a graduate of Haltom High School, will start at left tackle. When starter Jason Peters went out of the lineup with a torn ACL and MCL in Week 7, the third-year pro has served as the blind-side protector for quarterbacks Carson Wentz and now Nick Foles. Since Peters’ injury, Halapoulivaati has started 11 games, mostly at left tackle.

Before being selected by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft (16th overall), the 6-foot-6, 320-pounder was a two-time second-team All-Big 12 selection at right tackle by the league’s head coaches and the Assoicated Press.

Former TCU Football Players on Super Bowl Teams

Lyle Blackwood - Miami (Super Bowl XVII, XIX)

Josh Boyce - New England (Super Bowl XLIX)

Larry Brown - Dallas (Super Bowl XXVII, XXVIII, XXX)

Norm Bulaich - Baltimore (Super Bowl V)

Marcus Cannon - New England (Super Bowl XLVI, XLIX, LI, LII)

Tommy Joe Crutcher - Green Bay (Super Bowl I, II)

Charles Davis - Pittsburgh (Super Bowl IX)

Kenneth Davis - Buffalo (Super Bowl XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII)

Norm Evans - Miami (Super Bowl VI, VII, VIII)

Clint Gresham - Seattle (Super Bowl XLVIII, XLIX)

Sherrill Headrick - Kansas City (Super Bowl I)

Gaylon Hyder - St. Louis (Super Bowl XXXIV)

Cedric James - New England (Super Bowl XXXIX)

Colin Jones - Carolina (Super Bowl 50)

Bob Lilly - Dallas (Super Bowl V, VI)

James Maness - Chicago (Super Bowl XX)

Mickey McCarty - Kansas City (Super Bowl IV)

Guy Morriss - Philadelphia (Super Bowl XV), New England (Super Bowl XX)

Marshall Newhouse - Green Bay (Super Bowl XLV)

Bobby Pollard - Seattle (Super Bowl XL)

Jared Retkofsky - Pittsburgh (Super Bowl XLIII)

Barret Robbins - Oakland (Super Bowl XXXVII)

Bo Schobel - Indianapolis (Super Bowl XLI)

Michael Toudouze - Indianapolis (Super Bowl XLI, XLIV)

Greg Townsend - Los Angeles Raiders (Super Bowl XVIII)

Ryan Tucker - St. Louis (Super Bowl XXXIV)

Halapoulivaati Vaitai - Philadelphia (Super Bowl LII)

Malcolm Williams - New England (Super Bowl XLVI)

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Two TCU offensive tackles will be on Super Bowl LII rosters."