When the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles square off at Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 in New Orleans, a Cornellian will emerge victorious - no matter which side wins.
Why? Because each team boasts a former Big Red player who has made it to the big game during his rookie season.
Engineering alum Hunter Nourzad '22 joined the Chiefs in 2024, selected in Round 5 of the NFL Draft as the 159th overall pick. The Eagles drafted Jalyx Hunt '23 (who played two seasons for the Big Red but transferred before earning a degree) in Round 3 that year, as the 94th overall pick.
Jalyx Hunt leaps to block a kick during a game against Brown.
Nourzad, a 6-foot-3, 317-pound offensive lineman, was a two-time All American during his college career - including during the 2021 season, when he was the lone Ivy player to receive the honor.
In his senior season on East Hill, he was an All-Ivy League first-teamer and was named the league's Offensive Lineman of the Year. After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, Nourzad - whose Cornell career was curtailed by the COVID pandemic - still had two years of eligibility. He used them at Penn State while earning an MBA, helping the Nittany Lions to a 21-5 overall record, including two appearances at New Year's Six bowl games.
In his first NFL season, Nourzad has primarily served as an offensive lineman on the Chiefs' special teams, playing in all 17 regular-season games.
The 6-foot-3, 252-pound Hunt studied in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and began his college football career with the Big Red in 2019 (the lone varsity season he and Nourzad shared). He started off as a safety, but transitioned to the defensive line after a growth spurt.
After the 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic, he suited up for the Big Red again in 2021 before transferring to Houston Christian University, where he was voted the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and earned an invitation to the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine.
In Hunt's rookie season, the Eagles utilized him as an outside linebacker; he played in 16 of 17 regular-season games, recording 21 tackles and forcing two fumbles. He has played in every game of the playoffs, contributing eight tackles.
When Hunt and Nourzad were tapped by the NFL in 2024, it marked the first time in nearly three decades that two players who'd worn the Big Red jersey were picked in the same draft class: In 1997, Seth Payne '97 and Chad Levitt '97 were both fourth-round picks.
Hunt and Nourzad are hardly the first Cornellians to play in the Super Bowl. Others who've made it:
- Ed Marinaro '72, B.S. '73 (with the Minnesota Vikings in 1974 and 1975);
- Derrick Harmon '84 (who became the first Big Red alum to earn the championship ring when the 49ers won in 1985);
- Kevin Boothe '05 (New York Giants, 2008 and 2012); and
- Bryan Walters '10 (Seattle Seahawks, 2014).
And as Big Red historian Corey Earle '07 noted prior to Super Bowl LVIII, Cornellians have contributed to the big game in numerous other ways over the decades, including playing a key role in its creation.
Melissa Newcomb is a writer for Cornellians.
