KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Three years after working at the Super Bowl as a student, former University of Tennessee standout Trey Smith will try to write his name onto a select list of former Vols who have won the biggest prize in football.
The second-year offensive lineman will be tasked with protecting star QB Patrick Mahomes from the Philadelphia Eagles pass rush as the Kansas City Chiefs aim to win their second Super Bowl in four years.
According to UTsports.com and data from Pro Football Reference, 39 Tennessee Volunteers have earned the right to call themselves a Super Bowl Champion.
Tight End Bill Anderson was the first to so in 1967 when he won the first Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers. Smith would be the first Vol to win the Super Bowl since punter Dustin Colquitt was a member of the Chiefs’ title team in 2020.
The Jackson, Tennessee native was a model student-athlete at Tennessee both on and off the field. As a freshman, he collected All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Freshman Team honors as the only Vols lineman to start all 12 games. He was named to the All-SEC First Team as a senior and a junior.
In 2018, he spearheaded a coat drive benefitting Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries that led the donation of over 1,000 coats during the 2018 season. He was named the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year in 2019 for his leadership on and off the field.
Smith was awarded the university’s highest student honor in 2021, the Torchbearer Award, becoming the first football player to receive the recognition since Josh Dobbs in 2017.
While considered an early-round talent in the 2021 NFL Draft, concerns about blood clots found in his lungs during the 2018 season led him to fall to the sixth round where the Chiefs picked him 226th overall.
He went on to play more snaps than any other rookie guard in 2021 and be named to the NFL All-Rookie Team.
Super Bowl LVII will begin at 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 12. It will be broadcast live on Fox.
