Sunday is Super Special for These Missouri and Kansas Athletes
There will be 106 players competing for the ultimate football prize. Six of them learned the game on the gridirons found next to Missouri and Kansas high schools. From local zip codes to Vegas.
The populations of Missouri and Kansas make up 2.8% of the United States. The six local players make up 5.7% of the combined Super Bowl rosters. You are doing well when you take up twice the space your population would indicate.
We don’t know which team will win, but we do know at least one local athlete will earn a Super Bowl ring.
I was able to ask a few coaches and administrators about their time with these athletes. I think you will find their insights interesting. If you coached, or competed against any of these football players, please enter a comment here!
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These are the local athletes who will compete on football’s biggest stage this Sunday.
Ronnie Bell - No. 10 - Wide Receiver - Park Hill High School - University of Michigan - San Francisco 49’ers
Ronnie led the Michigan Wolverines in receiving in 2022, his senior year. He caught 62 passes for 889 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ronnie caught a pass in 29 consecutive games, the seventh longest streak in school history. His 145 career receptions is the tenth most in Wolverine history. The yards amassed with those receptions tied him for the ninth most in program history.
The Park Hill graduate was drafted by San Francisco as the 221st overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He caught six passes for 68 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season.
Blake Bell - No. 81 - Tight End - Bishop Carroll Catholic High School - University of Oklahoma - Kansas City Chiefs
Blake has nine years experience in the NFL Ironically, he was chosen by San Francisco as the 117th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. From there he moved on to Minnesota, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Dallas, and back to the Chiefs where he has remained for three years. Known as the Belldozer, he has played in 117 NFL games while catching 65 balls for 667 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Here is some personal insight into Blake Bell:
“Blake was an awesome player/person to coach. He was a great teammate and was always about the team. His sophomore year Blake was a starting wide receiver for our state champion runner up team. In today’s world this would have never happened. He and his parents would have raised heck and he would have entered the high school transfer portal. We knew Blake was going to be a special player at QB but we also had a returning starter at QB who was very successful. Blake bought into “what can I do to make the team better”. He got his QB reps in practice and in a few games. It wasn’t fair to bring him in at QB off the bench. Blake said the experience at WR made him a much better QB. He understood the back end of passing concepts because he had played WR. Most QB’s only play QB. Little did we know we truly had him in the right position, with him playing nine years in the NFL receiving the football as a TE on his way to his 3rd super bowl. “
Alan Schuckman
Blake’s Head Football Coach at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School
More personal insights about Blake Bell:
“In high School, Blake was a regular teenager what did teenage things and that is the way Blake wanted it. He never wanted to be separated from his team, friends, and this community. Blake, being rated as one of the top 3 QB’s in the country in his class, obviously received a lot of attention his junior and senior years, from all over the country. Blake stayed very humble about it and took it in stride and tried to include his teammates and this community in that hype. Blake is a very competitive individual and put the commitment, hard work, and sacrifices into being the best he could be, and brought his teammates into that environment as well. He knew how to hold people accountable to that but also have fun. This made him a tremendous leader. Blake also understood the impact he would and could have on people, especially children, and would always strive to make sure that impact was positive and inspirational to the people around him. These are the qualities that are leading him to success now and that he shares with our community to this day, as he continues to come back, every year, and give back to this community.”
Dusty Trail
Current Bishop Carroll Football Head Coach.
Former OC and QB Coach when Blake was at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School
Felix Anudike-Uzomah - No. 97 - Defensive End - Lee’s Summit High School - Kansas State University - Kansas City Chiefs
Felix was a first round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft as he was the 31st overall pick. He played 17 games getting eight tackles and six assists. Half of his 14 total tackles were solos. He was credited with one forced fumble and a half of a sack.
Anudike-Uzomah left the college ranks a year early. While at Kansas State he was a repeat All-Big 12 Conference honoree and a repeat All-American. Among his many awards are:
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year
Ted Hendricks Award Finalist
Chuck Bednarik Award Semifinalist
Rotary Lombardi Award Semifinalist
Several National Defensive Player of the Week honors
Ekow Boye-Doe - No. 40 - Cornerback - Lawrence High - Kansas State University - Kansas City Chiefs
The former Chesty Lion arrived at Kansas City as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
At Kansas State, Ekow started every game of his junior and senior seasons. As a senior he was named All-Big 12 Conference Honorable Mention while as a sophomore Ekow was named First Team Academic All-Big 12 Conference.
Blaine Gabbert - No. 9 - Quarterback - Parkway West High School - University of Missouri - Kansas City Chiefs
Blaine entered the NFL as the 10th overall pick by Jacksonville in the 2011 NFL Draft. In his 12 years as a pro he has played for Jacksonville, San Francisco, Arizona, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, and now one season as a Chief.
Blaine’s 468 passing yards against Baylor is the third most in a single game in Missouri history. Three of the 13 games with the most passing yards by a quarterback in Tiger history were by Blaine. In his junior year, he threw for 3,593 yards, the fourth most in program history. His 40 career touchdown passes are the fifth most in Missouri history
Tershawn Wharton - No. 98 - Defensive Tackle - University City High - Missouri Science & Technology - Kansas City Chiefs
Tershawn joined the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and now has a four year pro career with Kansas City. In his second year as a pro he recorded one of the rare events where a defensive lineman gets an interception. That is one of two for the Chiefs in more than five years. This season Tershawn made five solo tackles, two of which were sacks.
During his career as a Miner he was named to numerous all star teams including all conference and All-American. As a sophomore, he ranked third in NCAA Division II in sacks, and seventh in tackles for loss. Tershawn holds the school record for sacks with 35.5. His 58 career tackles for loss is the most in Missouri S & T history.
I asked the University City Athletic Director what it meant for his school to have a former student competing in the Super Bowl. He replied:
“Having a former University City High School football player make it to the Super Bowl is astonishing. Tershawn’s hard work and dedication has paid off and we are proud of him and happy his dreams have come to fruition. The UNIVERSITY CITY community wishes Tershawn and his teammates continued success. You can do anything and go anywhere from UCITY!”
Lawndale Thomas
University City Athletic Director
I then asked a UCity football coach about Tershawn. This is what he had to say:
“His very presence at University City High School was a testament to keeping a dream alive. Tershawn came to U-City in his senior year and helped take that team to a district championship. There is nothing more special to any program than to have one of your young players find their way to the Super Bowl! In Tershawn's case..... back to the Super Bowl.”
Richard Matthews
University City Asst Football Coach
These six men will put their helmet on one last time for this season. At least one of the will walk away with a really cool ring.
Playing On Sports reports on every athlete from the 1,000 Missouri and Kansas high schools who compete in 11 sports at any of the 1,100 NCAA Division I, II, or III schools.
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