Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: That there Tom Brady is pretty darn good.
Despite turning an astounding 44 years old this August, the Super Bowl 55 odds today (as of January 26, 2021) have The Golden Boy listed at +200 behind only Patrick Mahomes’ +100.
Super Bowl 55 is jam-packed with not only first-ballot Hall of Fame studs like Brady but also up-and-coming stars that could find themselves in Canton someday as well.
Let’s spotlight the best players in Super Bowl 55, along with a few under-the-radar candidates you’ll want to keep an eye on during the big game.
Tom Brady
Brady’s career stats could fill up a Wikipedia entry, but here are a few eye-openers to impress your friends with on Super Bowl Sunday:
- He’s on the cusp of starting Super Bowl No. 10. The second closest? John Elway with five.
- Brady has reached the big game in more than half of his seasons as a starting QB in New England and now Tampa.
- With Super Bowl 55’s appearance, the Michigan alum will have played in 18 percent of all Super Bowls.
- While this is Brady’s tenth Super Bowl contest, the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans still seek their first appearance.
Patrick Mahomes
The Kansas City Chiefs are in the midst of a historic run that’s directly tied to the decision to trade incumbent quarterback Alex Smith in the winter of 2018. All Mahomes has done in three full years behind center since then is throw for 114 touchdowns against 24 interceptions for 14,152 yards and a passer rating of 108.7.
What about in the playoffs? How does 17 TD strikes against two picks for 2,054 yards and a 109.8 passer rating tickle ya?
Yeah, no wonder the Chiefs are early NFL betting favorites to bring home a second consecutive title.
Travis Kelce
If the Chiefs’ tight end doesn’t watch out, he’s going to mess around and find himself in Canton sooner rather than later.
Kelce already ranks tenth in all-time tight end receiving yards at 7,881 despite playing in just 111 games. To give you a bit of perspective, St. Louis Cardinals’ legend Jackie Smith is one spot ahead at 7,918 yards, and it took the Hall of Famer 210 games to do so.
Mike Evans
Before he was snagging touchdowns from Tampa Tom, Mike Evans was snagging touchdowns from Johnny Football at Texas A&M.
The 6-5, 225-pound beast ended his Aggies’ career with 2,499 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns during his time alongside Johnny Manziel.
He picked up in the NFL right where he left off in the SEC. In seven seasons with the Bucs, the wide receiver has an impressive 532 receptions for 8,266 yards and 61 TD grabs. All of this despite playing with former signal-callers like Jameis Winston, who fancied tossing the pigskin to the opposition as much as his teammates.
Ryan Succop
We’ve highlighted four of the biggest studs from each squad, but what about some of the best players in Super Bowl 55 that might be under the radar but could determine the game’s outcome.
Taken, ironically enough, by the Chiefs in the seventh round of the 2009 draft out of South Carolina, Succop has a chance to be a Super Bowl hero one year after his release from the Tennessee Titans. The placekicker has rewarded the Bucs by hitting on 90.3 percent of his field goals, good for second-best in his career.
Daniel Sorensen
You know that friend that insists they don’t need help moving because they can do it just fine themselves?
That’s KC safety Daniel Sorensen.
The unsung safety finished the 2020 regular season with 91 tackles, 68 of which were solo, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions. He tallied six postseason tackles against Cleveland and Buffalo and accounted for yet another forced fumble against the Browns in the divisional round.
Considering Brady threw a trio of INTs against Green Bay last week, the Buccaneers offense had better keep an eye on jersey number 49.
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Andy Coffaro is a sports journalist and managing editor with published work in USA Today, MSN, HERO Sports, The Mercury News, East Bay Times, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview magazine, and more. He graduated from San José State University with a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Kinesiology. Follow him on Twitter @andycoffaro.
