Where Super Bowl LIII players went to high school

California leads the way with 17 players, while Texas is second with 16 followed by Florida's 14.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Aaron Williams
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Feb 1, 2019, 3:00pm
When Super Bowl LIII kicks off Sunday, fans around the world will be rooting for their favorite teams. In hometowns across America and beyond, fans will be rooting for one team or another, but some will be cheering for their hometown heroes. At MaxPreps, we've listed all the players and their prep alma maters.

Here are some fun facts heading into Sunday's Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams:

• New England Patriots defensive back Nate Ebner didn't play high school football at Hilliard Davidson (Hilliard, Ohio) as he was a standout rugby player. Ebner didn't even play football during his first two years at Ohio State, walking on his junior year.

• Brothers Devin and Jason McCourty have to be living the ultimate sibling fantasy, playing in the Super Bowl together after growing and playing together at St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.). And while Devin has played in multiple Super Bowls, it's the first for Jason, who eight years with Tennessee and one with Cleveland.

• Rams backup quarterback Brian Hoyer ruins the "All Bay Area" quarterback party as starters Tom Brady and Jared Goff, along with Rams' backup Sean Manion all hail from the San Francisco Bay Area. Hoyer played high school football in Cleveland.

• Two against one: New England has two players who played at Florida power St. Thomas Aquinas — Phillip Dorsett and James White — while Los Angeles' Lamarcus Joyner was a standout with the Raiders in high school.

• Lincoln (Stockton, Calif.), St. Joseph Regional and Plano (Texas) each have two players suited up for the Big Game.

• L.A. players Brandin Cooks and Justin Davis were on the same 2010 Lincoln team.

• New England teammates Stephon Gilmore and Cordarelle Patterson didn't go to high school together, but hail from the same hometown — Rock Hill, S.C. Gilmore went to South Pointe, while Patterson played at Northwestern.

• Brandin Cooks  is a go-to wide receiver for the Rams this season. Last year, he and the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl to the Eagles. 

• New England offensive lineman James Ferentz is the son of University of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

• California leads the way with 17 players in Sunday's game, while Texas is second with 16 followed by Florida (14). Ohio has six, Georgia has five, while New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maryland all have four. Iowa, Alabama, Oregon, South Carolina, Mississippi, Nebraska, Louisiana, Nevada, Washington state and Tennessee claim two each, while Massachusetts, Missouri, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Connecticut and Delaware have a lone representative.
Graphic by Ryan Escobar
New England Patriots
Dwayne Allen, 83, TE — Terry Sanford (Fayetteville, N.C.)
Ryan Allen, 6, P — West Salem (Salem, Ore.)
Stephen Anderson, 80, TE — Piedmont Hills (San Jose, Calif.)
David Andrews, 60, C — Wesleyan (Norcross, Ga.)
Tom Brady, 12, QB — Serra (San Mateo, Calif.)
Malcom Brown, 90, DL — Brenham (Texas)
Trent Brown, 77, OL — Westover (Albany, Ga.)
Rex Burkhead, 34, RB — Plano (Texas)
Adam Butler, 70, DL — Duncanville (Texas)
Marcus Cannon, 61, OL — Odessa (Texas)
Joe Cardona, 49, LS — Granite Hills (El Cajon, Calif.)
Patrick Chung, 23, S — Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.)
Adrian Clayborn, 94, DE — Webster Groves (Mo.)
Keion Crossen, 35, DB — Northampton County (Gaston, N.C.)
Keionta Davis, 58, DL — Red Bank (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Duke Dawson Jr., 29, DB — Dixie County (Cross City, Fla.)
James Develin, 46, FB — Boyertown (Pa.)
Phillip Dorsett, 13, WR — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Nate Ebner, 43, DB — Hilliard Davidson (Hilliard, Ohio)
Julian Edelman, 11, WR — Woodside (Calif.)
James Ferentz, 66, OL — Iowa City (Iowa)
Trey Flowers, 98, DL — Columbia (Huntsville, Ala.)
Stephon Gilmore, 24, CB — South Pointe (Rock Hill, S.C.)
Stephen Gostkowsi, 3, K — Madison Central (Madison, Miss.)
Rob Gronkowski, 87, TE — Woodland Hills (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Lawrence Guy, 93, DE — Western (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Duron Harmon, 21, DB — Caesar Rodney (Camden, Del.)
Dont'a Hightower, 54, LB — Marshall County (Lewisburg, Tenn.)
Chris Hogan, 15, WR — Ramapo (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
Brian Hoyer, 2, QB — St. Ignatius (Cleveland)
Ramon Humber, 50, LB — Champlin Park (Champlin, Minn.)
J.C. Jackson, 27, DB — Immokalee (Fla.)
Jonathan Jones, 31, DB — Carrollton (Ga.)
Ufomba Kamalu, 97, DL — Starr's Mill (Fayetteville, Ga.)
Ted Karras, 75, OL — Cathedral (Indianapolis)
Brandon King, 36, LB — Thompson (Alabaster, Ala.)
Shaq Mason, 69, OL — Columbia Central (Columbia, Tenn.)
Albert McClellan, 59, LB — Kathleen (Lakeland, Fla.)
Devin McCourty, 32, DB — St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.)
Jason McCourty, 30, CB — St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.)
Obi Melifonwu, 22, DB — Grafton Memorial (Grafton, Mass.)
Sony Michel, 26, RB — American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.)
Cordarelle Patterson, 84, WR — Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.)
Derek Rivers, 95, DE — Kinston (N.C.)
Elandon Roberts, 52, LB — Port Arthur Memorial (Port Arthur, Texas)
Danny Shelton, 71, DL — Auburn (Wash.)
John Simon, 55, DE — Cardinal Mooney (Youngstown, Ohio)
Matthew Slater, 18, WR — Servite (Anaheim, Calif.)
Joe Thuney, 62, OL — Archbishop Alter (Kettering, Ohio)
Kyle Van Noy, 53, LB — McQueen (Reno, Nev.)
LaAdrian Waddle, 68, OL — Columbus (Texas)
James White, 28, RB — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Deatrich Wise, 91, DL — Hebron (Carrollton, Texas)

C.J. Anderson, 35, RB — Bethel (Vallejo, Calif.)
Mark Barron, 26, ILB — St. Paul's Episcopal (Mobile, Ala.)
Austin Blythe, 66, C — Williamsburg (Iowa)
Michael Brockers, 90, DL — Chavez (Houston)
Marqui Christian, 41, S — Spring (Texas)
Brandin Cooks, 12, WR — Lincoln (Stockton, Calif.)
Blake Countess, 24, DB — Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.)
Justin Davis, 33, RB — Lincoln (Stockton, Calif.)
Jamil Demby, 64, G — Vineland (N.J.)
Aaron Donald, 99, DT — Penn Hills (Pittsburgh)
Samson Ebukam, 50, OLB — David Douglas (Portland, Ore.)
Gerald Everett, 81, TE — Columbia (Decatur, Ga.)
Dante Fowler Jr., 56, OLB — Lakewood (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
John Franklin-Myers, 94, DE — Greenville (Texas)
Jared Goff, 16, QB — Marin Catholic (Kentfield, Calif.)
Todd Gurley, 30, RB — Tarboro (N.C.)
Bryce Hager, 54, LB — Westlake (Austin, Texas)
Rob Havenstein, 79, T — Linganore (Frederick, Md.)
Johnny Hekker, 6, P — Bothell (Wash.)
Tyler Higbee, 89, TE — East Lake (Tarpon Springs, Fla.)
Troy Hill, 32, CB — St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.)
KhaDarel Hodge, 11, WR — Mendenhall (Miss.)
John Johnson III, 43, S — Northwestern (Hyattsville, Md.)
Sebastian Joseph-Day, 69, DT — Stroudsburg (Pa.)
Lamarcus Joyner, 20, S — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
John Kelly, 42, RB — Oak Park (Mich.)
Micah Kiser, 59, LB — Gilman (Baltimore)
Justin Lawler, 53, OLB — Pottsboro (Texas)
Cory Littleton, 58, ILB — Mount Miguel (Spring Valley, Calif.)
Matt Longacre, 96, OLB — Millard West (Omaha, Neb.)
Sean Mannion, 14, QB — Foothill (Pleasanton, Calif.)
Jake McQuaide, 44, LS — Elder (Cincinnati)
Johnny Mundt, 82, TE — Central Catholic (Modesto, Calif.)
JoJo Natson, 19, WR — Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.)
Joseph Noteboom, 70, T — Plano (Texas)
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, 45, LB — Alief Taylor (Houston)
Marcus Peters, 22, CB — McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.)
Josh Reynolds, 83, WR — Jay (San Antonio)
Nickell Robey-Coleman, 23, CB — Frostproof (Fla.)
Rodger Saffold, 76, G — Bedford (Ohio)
Sam Shields, 37, CB — Booker (Sarasota, Fla.)
Tanzel Smart, 92, DT — Scotlandville (Baton Rouge, La.)
Ndamukong Suh, 93, DT — Grant (Portland, Ore.)
John Sullivan, 65, C — Greenwich (Conn.)
Aqib Talib, 21, CB — Berkner (Richardson, Texas)
Ethan Westbrooks, 95, DE — Franklin (Elk Grove, Calif.)
Andrew Whitworth, 77, T — West Monroe (La.)
Darious Williams, 31, DB — Creekside (St. Johns, Fla.)
Ramik Wilson, 52, LB — Jefferson (Tampa, Fla.)
Robert Woods, 17, WR — Serra (Gardena, Calif.)
Trevon Young, 49, OLB — Lincoln (Des Moines, Iowa)
Greg Zuerlein, 4, K — Pius X (Lincoln, Neb.)

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