Breaking down NFL, college careers for Clemson Tigers in Super Bowl
The Super Bowl between the Rams and Bengals kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in Inglewood, California.
Both Los Angeles and Cincinnati received help from former Clemson Tigers to reach this point.
The Rams have former Tigers offensive lineman Tremayne Anchrum on their roster. For the Bengals, Tee Higgins, D.J. Reader and Jackson Carman are former Tigers now playing on football’s biggest stage.
Here’s a look at what each player has done this season and how their careers at Clemson went:
Bengals WR Tee Higgins
The former Clemson star has had an incredible second season in the NFL. Higgins had 74 catches for 1,091 yards in the regular season, including six touchdowns.
He has continued to play well in the postseason, and in the AFC Championship win over the Chiefs, Higgins had 6 catches for 103 yards. In the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Titans, Higgins had 7 catches for 96 yards. Higgins is the No. 2 target for Joe Burrow, behind rookie star Ja’Marr Chase.
Prior to joining the Bengals, Higgins had an incredible career at Clemson. He came on strong at the end of his freshman season and carried that momentum into his sophomore and junior seasons.
As a sophomore, Higgins had 59 catches for 936 yards, helping the Tigers to a national title. As a junior, Higgins recorded 59 catches for 1,167 yards. He finished his career with 27 receiving touchdowns, which is tied with DeAndre Hopkins for the most career touchdown receptions in school history. Higgins is the only player in school history to record double-digit touchdown receptions in consecutive seasons.
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Bengals DL DJ Reader
Nose tackle DJ Reader is in his sixth season in the NFL. Reader had 43 tackles during the regular season, including a pair of sacks. He is one of the best defensive linemen in the league against the run. During the playoffs, Reader has 11 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss.
Before taking his talents to the NFL, Reader had 145 tackles, 9 tackles for loss and 5 sacks during his career with the Tigers. Reader also played baseball during his time at Clemson. Reader helped the Tigers reach the national title games as a senior in 2015.
Bengals OL Jackson Carman
Carman started six games this season and was a key backup in several other games. The rookie played 35 snaps during the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs, which was more than half of the Bengals’ offensive snaps.
During his time at Clemson, Carman appeared in 40 games, with 27 starts. He helped the Tigers to the 2018 national title and earned all-conference honors as a sophomore and junior.
Rams OL Tremayne Anchrum
Anchrum has not appeared in a game this season but is on the active roster. He appeared in 12 games last year.
At Clemson, Anchrum was a starter in 2018 and 2019. Clemson went 29-1 during his two seasons as a starter, including winning the 2018 national title. Anchrum was named second-team All-ACC in 2018 and first-team All-ACC in 2019.