Some names are far more notable than others, but a total of seven former Detroit Lions are on Super Bowl LVII team rosters.
The Detroit Lions fell just short of the playoffs this year, which is a heck of an accomplishment coming of four straight pretty bad seasons. A notable former Lion, quarterback Matthew Stafford, got his Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams last year and there were other former Lions on the rosters of the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs punched their tickets to Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona on Feb. 12. We know of one notable former Lion on the Eagles side, cornerback Darius Slay, who recently wrote on The Player’s Tribune and made a comparison between this year’s Eagles and the 2014 Lions’ squad he played on.
I don’t like to compare teams, but you understand the feeling of a team. My 2014 team in Detroit, when we went 11–5, we had a lot of talent. We had a good mixture. Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, Ziggy Ansah, myself, Calvin Johnson, Glover Quin, DeAndre Levy, Tulloch. I had a lot of guys, professional guys, who were at the top of their game and who played for each other. Then I got to this Eagles team, and we have the same type of caliber players. We have Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Sweat, Reddick. And then you have BG, Kyzir, and T.J. Then you have myself at corner, and James Bradberry.
You start to think, “O.K., that team went 11–5…. Imagine what this team could do.”
7 former Detroit Lions on Super Bowl LVII rosters
Joining Slay on the Eagles is former Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who signed in November with a clear eye on getting another ring.
Arryn Siposs has been the primary punter for Philadelphia the last two seasons, and he averaged 45.6 yards per kick this season. But he suffered a leg injury trying to return a blocked punt in December, and the Eagles signed former Titan and three-time Pro Bowler Brett Kern to fill-in. Siposs is on IR and expressed optimism he would return before the season was over, but Kern isn’t going anywhere before Super Bowl Sunday. Siposs spent the 2020 season with the Lions going on and off the practice squad.
Cornerback Andre Chachere signed with the Lions late in 2018 and spent 2019 training camp with them. He has bounced around the league in recent years, spending the last two in a small role with the Eagles. He is on Philadelphia’s practice squad.
On the Kansas City side, there are three former Lions.
Fullback Michael Burton was a fifth-round pick by the Lions in 2015 out of Rutgers. He played two seasons in Detroit, two with the Chicago Bears, one with Washington and one with the New Orleans Saints before signing with the Chiefs in 2021. He has been a key special teamer for Kansas City, with 165 offensive snaps over two seasons.
Matthew Wright was an early part of the 2021 kicker carousel for the Lions, as he struggled so much in training camp that he was cut. He spent that season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he was surprisingly cut after a solid season there. He kicked in two October games for the Chiefs this year when Harrison Butker was injured, then he kicked in four games (Week 10-13) for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chiefs brought him back when Butker’s status was a question in Week 18, but Wright has yet to kick again for Kansas City.
Update, 4:40 p.m. ET Monday: The Chiefs released Wright from their practice squad, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Defensive tackle Danny Shelton signed a two-year deal with the Lions in 2020, but he only made it through one season of it before being cut. The former first-round pick played 13 games for the New York Giants in 2021, and he has spent this season on the Chiefs’ practice squad–with one game played.