Philadelphia Eagles QB Kenny Pickett will be at the top of a list of eight former Pittsburgh Steelers to play in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans in two weeks. The final two teams remaining are the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
On the Eagles side, four former Steelers will be on the road. Pickett will serve as the immediate backup to QB Jalen Hurts, a role he has held all year since being traded from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in March. Pickett appeared in five games during the regular season, including one start in relief of Hurts, who suffered a concussion. That day, the Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys, and Pickett completed 10 of 15 for 143 yards and one touchdown before being sidelined with a rib injury.
Pickett won Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Washington Commanders, replacing Hurts late in the game with the Eagles all but certain of victory. He did not throw a pass, instead giving it to running back Will Shipley, who scored Philadelphia’s seventh rushing touchdown of the day. That tied the NFL’s playoff record of seven games, when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL Championship, still the biggest loss in league history.
But Pickett isn’t the only former Steeler on the Eagles’ roster. We have offensive lineman Fred Johnson. He signed with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and was on the original 53-man roster, but did not appear in a single regular season game for the team. He then spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before signing with the Eagles in late 2022.
In 2024, he started the team’s first six games midway through the season. Entering Sunday, he had logged two playoff snaps while the Eagles were currently playing.
Punter Braden Mann will be making his first Super Bowl appearance. In the 2023 Steelers training camp roster, he was narrowly defeated by P. Pressley Harvin III after a close summer battle. Pittsburgh kept Mann past his cutback date, ostensibly to trade him. They couldn’t find a take and cut him to sign with the Eagles. He had two strong seasons, averaging 49.2 yards per punt in 2023 and 2024. There were only two punts in Sunday’s win, when the Eagles and Commanders combined for just three punts.
Finally, we have veteran OT Le’Raven Clark. He signed with Pittsburgh in the 2023 offseason, but quickly faltered during camp and failed to make the 53-man roster. Released in the final cutdown, he was signed to the Eagles’ practice squad to begin the 2023 season. Clark was signed to a reserve/future contract a year later. He was placed on injured reserve last May due to an unknown injury. But even if the Eagles win, he’ll still be eligible to step into the ring.
The Chiefs have their own group of former Steelers. The most notable name is WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, who signed with Kansas City in 2022 and earned his first ring with the team last season. He spent last year with the New England Patriots, having one season shortened to a substantial three-year contract before returning to the Chiefs in 2024. Despite injuries to wide receivers, Smith-Schuster had a quiet regular season, catching just 18 passes. But he did make plays Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, including a 31-yard grab on the Chiefs’ first possession that resulted in a touchdown.
He finished the game with two receptions for 60 yards on three targets.
The remaining three former Steelers are on the Chiefs’ practice squad. QB Chris Oladokun other Quarterback selected in the 7th round of the 2022 draft. He missed a preseason game and remained as a fourth-string quarterback who saw few reps, but Pittsburgh cut bait early to allow him a soft landing. Oladokun has two rings on the Chiefs’ practice squad and will be gunning for a third this year. He only appeared in one NFL game, on mop-up duty during the team’s Week 18 loss to the Denver Broncos. He was sacked and never officially attempted a pass.
Two corners, Steven Nelson and Darius Rush, capped it all off. Nelson still seems to hold a grudge against the team after spending 2019 and 2020 with the team and being unceremoniously released ahead of 2021. He is scheduled to retire in 2023, and although he came out of retirement in the second half of this season and re-signed with the Chiefs, he has not played in a game this year. Darius Rush spent part of 2023 and 2024 on the roster, recording 39 snaps on defense and an additional 39 snaps on special teams in five games. He was released by the Steelers in October and signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad three days later, where he spent the remainder of the year.
The Bills only have one quarterback, former Steeler quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky, the team’s first option following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, was signed to be Pittsburgh’s starter in 2022. It lasted 3.5 games, and he was benched at halftime of Week 4’s game against the New York Jets, replaced by Kenny Pickett.
Trubisky will be a spot starter for the remainder of the season through 2023, but struggled to protect the football with fewer than 300 pass attempts and 10 interceptions. Trubisky was benched in place of Mason Rudolph in late 2023, was waived at the end of that year, and signed with Buffalo for a second stint after regaining his image as Josh Allen’s backup in 2021. In his relief role this year, Trubisky attempted 26 passes and scored two touchdowns.
The Steelers have not played in the Super Bowl since the 2010 season, when they lost to the Green Bay Packers.
Super Bowl 59 will be held in New Orleans on February 9th.