Roby, Heuerman Join Elite Group of Buckeyes Who Have Gone On to Win Super Bowl Titles

When the Denver Broncos completed their 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers Sunday evening, cornerback Bradley Roby walked off the field a Super Bowl champion.* The feat put him in the company of many former Buckeyes who have won pro football’s biggest prize.

*Tight end Jeff Heuerman — one of 12 Buckeyes to win both a college and professional championship — was also on Denver’s roster but was inactive due to a season-ending injury and wide receiver DeVier Posey is on Denver’s reserve/future squad.

Roby played a major role in the game, helping the Denver secondary shut down Carolina’s potent offense. His efforts helped keep four Carolina Buckeyes from winning the big game — guard Andrew Norwell, receiver Philly Brown, safety Kurt Coleman, and wideout Ted Ginn Jr., who lost his second Super Bowl. Ginn also lost in 2013 with San Francisco, another team that featured four Buckeyes.

Herein, we’ll take a look at more than 30 former Ohio State players who have experienced an NFL championship after leaving Columbus.

Tackle Jim Tyrer was the first former Buckeye to have a shot at a Super Bowl championship, playing with the Kansas City Chiefs in the first installment of the game. The 1960 OSU captain and All-Big Ten performer was a third-round pick of Kansas City in 1961. His Chiefs lost 35-10 to Green Bay, but Tyrer paved the way for those who would come after him by making it to Super Bowl I, played on Jan. 11, 1967.

No Buckeyes participated in Super Bowl II, but the following year there were three — two on the Baltimore Colts and one on Joe Namath’s New York Jets. Fullback Matt Snell was the first former OSU player to celebrate a Super Bowl win when Namath made good on his guarantee of a victory in 1969. That 16-7 win came at the expense of two former teammates — running back Tom Matte (Ohio State’s MVP in 1960) and tackle Bob Vogel.

Tyrer got a Super Bowl championship in 1970 when his Chiefs beat defensive end Jim Marshall’s Minnesota Vikings, 23-7. Like Tyrer, Marshall would return to the Super Bowl, but unlike the former Buckeye tackle, he would not capture a championship. Marshall fell again in the NFL’s biggest game in 1974, 1975, and 1977.

Like Tyrer before him, Vogel returned to the Super Bowl after losing it and got his ring. Vogel’s Colts won Super Bowl V, 16-13, over the Dallas Cowboys in Miami’s Orange Bowl.

Wide receiver Paul Warfield became the first Buckeye to play in three consecutive Super Bowls, appearing in games VI, VII, and VIII (in 1972, 1973, and 1974, respectively) with the Miami Dolphins. Warfield, like Tyrer and Vogel before him, lost in his first appearance, with a 24-3 pummeling to Dallas. However, he and his teammates bounced back to win the next two, making him the first former Ohio State player to win two Super Bowl rings. Warfield was on the perfect 1972 Dolphins team that beat the Redskins, 14-7, in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The next year, they victimized Marshall’s Vikings 24-7 in Rice Stadium in Houston.

Jim Marshall completed an 0-for-4 Super Bowl in career with a loss to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI. He was joined by former Buckeye wide receiver Len Willis in that defeat. However, three Ohio State alums tooks home the trophy that year. Safety Jack Tatum, wide receiver Morris Bradshaw, and defensive back Neal Colzie were on the winning side of a 32-14 score with the Black & Silver. Bradshaw, Oakland’s fourth-round pick in 1974 and a member of the Scarlet & Gray offense from 1971-1973, won it again in 1981, breaking a three-year drought where no Buckeye had been on a Super Bowl-winning side.

After three more NFL seasons without a Buckeye winning a Super Bowl ring (including, notably, Archie and Ray Griffin and Pete Johnson failing to win it with Cincinnati in 1982), San Francisco 49ers tight end John Frank claimed his ring with a 38-16 win over Miami in Super Bowl XIX. That came at the expense of linebacker Bob Brudzinski, who failed for the third time to win the big game — once with the Los Angeles Rams in 1980, and twice with the Dolphins. Frank won a second Super Bowl ring in 1989’s 20-16 victory over Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII.

In 1986, safety Shaun Gayle, a Buckeye from 1980-83, won Super Bowl XX with the near-perfect Chicago Bears. Quarterback Mike Tomczak also picked up a ring on Jan. 26, 1986, backing up Jim McMahon in a crushing 46-10 victory over New England.

Super Bowl XXI saw the first of two trophies for tackle William Roberts and linebacker Pepper Johnson with the New York Giants. In addition to their 39-20 win over the Broncos in 1987 in Pasadena, the duo grabbed another ring each in 1991’s Super Bowl XXV, with a 20-19 win over the Buffalo Bills. That was part of the Bills’ run of four straight Super Bowl appearances without a win, which cost offensive lineman Joe Staysniak a title in 1992. Tackle Jim Lachey was on the winning side in Super Bowl XXVI, with Washington, in a 37-24 final.

Mike Vrabel has three Super Bowl rings.

That would preface the longest Buckeye drought in Super Bowl history. No former Ohio State players made it to the big game from 1993 through 1995, and no Buckeye won the Super Bowl again until 2000, when Super Bowl XXXIV featured five ex-OSU players on the rosters of the Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams. Recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Orlando Pace, along with teammates Lorenzo Styles and Joe Germaine* bested former Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George and receiver Chris Sanders, 23-16 on Jan. 30, 2000 in the Georgia Dome. The Titans came up about a yard short of the winning touchdown on the final play of the game.

*Germaine was inactive for the game, but he still got his ring.

Two years later, Pace tasted defeat in the Louisiana Superdome against linebacker Mike Vrabel and New England, 20-17. Vrabel won two more titles in 2004 and 2005 with the Patriots, giving him the most NFL titles of any former Buckeye.

The champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers of Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 featured former OSU quarterback/punter Tom Tupa (in the latter role) and tight end Rickey Dudley. The Bucs thumped Oakland, 48-21.

Safety Mike Doss was inactive in 2007, when his Indianapolis Colts beat safety Tyler Everett and the Chicago Bears, 29-17, in Super Bowl XLI. Everett was also inactive for the game, as Peyton Manning won the first of his two career rings, with the other, of course, coming Sunday as Roby’s and Heuerman’s teammate.

Following Holmes’ nine-catch, 131-yard performance in Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 (including catching the winning touchdown with just 35 seconds remaining), defensive back Malcolm Jenkins and defensive tackle Will Smith each got their ring in 2010 when their New Orleans Saints beat Manning and the Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

Three Buckeyes got their Super Bowl rings in 2011, when the Green Bay Packers beat Pittsburgh 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV. Linebackers A.J. Hawk and Matt Wilhelm, and defensive lineman Ryan Pickett got to hoist the trophy. The next year, offensive lineman Jim Cordle and tight end Jake Ballard won it with the Giants in a narrow win over New England, 21-17, although Cordle was inactive. No Buckeye won it in 2013 and none reached the Super Bowl in 2014, but special teamer Nate Ebner captured his championship last year in Super Bowl XLIX, with the Patriots. The former OSU rugby player helped beat Seattle, 28-24. The Patriots needed a late stand to keep the Seahawks out from the 1-yard line in the game’s dying seconds.

There you have it — a complete history of Ohio State’s Super Bowl champions. Roby is in good company among those who have greatly contributed to their team’s win in the big game, while Heuerman joins guys like Doss, Germaine and Cordle in receiving a ring without playing in the game.

Ohio State has won a Super Bowl ring at just about every position — offensive line, tight end, wide receiver, running back, quarterback (though not as a starter), defensive line, linebacker, defensive back and punter. Just add a placekicker and you've got the whole set.

Which Buckeye will get his ring next?