As Super Bowl LVIII takes place on, all eyes will be on Las Vegas.
When Super Bowl LVIII takes place at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, all eyes will be on Las Vegas. There will be a few Illinois-born athletes and coaches playing in the game.
When the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers play on Sunday with the Lombardi Trophy at stake, two natives of Illinois will probably see action on the field. A few more will act as coaches and wander the sidelines. A few former Bears are coaching and playing as well.
The following is a list of players and coaches that are playing in the Super Bowl and who were either born in Illinois and raised elsewhere, played or coached there, or were Bears players and coaches.
The participants
Chiefs offensive guard Nick Allegretti, No. 73
Joe Thuney, the starting guard for the Chiefs, was an All-Pro and Pro Bowl player in 2023. Then, in the playoff divisional round, he sustained a pectoral injury that prevented him from playing in the AFC championship game. As for the Chiefs, no issue. At left guard, backup Nick Allegretti entered the starting lineup and performed flawlessly.
On Sunday, the native of Frankfort will attempt to claim his third Super Bowl ring. Allegretti, who was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Illinois, was a part of the Chiefs’ three prior Super Bowl runs under quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
On Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast “New Heights,” he received a shoutout for his exploits in the AFC championship game.
Allegretti, 27, was a Lincoln-Way East high school basketball player who led the Griffins to the IHSA Class 7A runner-up title in 2012. In 2014, he placed third in the state wrestling finals. He later transferred to Illinois, where he captained the Illini football team.
With 13 starts, Allegretti has played in 74 regular-season games in his career. In addition, he has made 15 career postseason appearances, four of which were starts.
49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, No. 97
The standout pass rusher for San Francisco attended Ohio State and was raised in Florida. Although he doesn’t have any close family links to Illinois, his past does.
Bosa is the great-grandson of alleged Chicago crime boss Tony Accardo, along with his brother, Joey Bosa, who plays for the Chargers. Accardo was born in 1906, raised in Chicago, and is rumored to have started off as a lowly mob member before rising to prominence in the 1920s. Though Accardo has always denied any involvement, at some point in the 1940s, years after Al Capone was imprisoned for tax evasion, Accardo rose to become the leader of Capone’s “Chicago Outfit.”
On Thursday, February 1, 2024, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) works out at the team’s NFL football training facility in Santa Clara, California. In Super Bowl 58, the 49ers will take on the Kansas City Chiefs. (Photo by Tony Avelar/AP) AP
Marie, the daughter of Accardo, wed Palmer Pyle, an NFL player in the 1960s. Eric and Cheryl Kumerow, who adopted their mother’s second husband’s last name, are their two children. Afterwards, Joey and Nick Kumerow, two boys, were born to Cheryl Kumerow and Dolphins defensive end John Bosa. Jake Kumerow, a cousin of the Bosa brothers, is an NFL player as well as a South Elgin player.
Their great-grandfather Accardo never went to jail and consistently denied having any connection to organized crime—he even said as much while testifying beforea Senate subcommittee in the US in 1984. The justice department declined to press charges despite the senators’ attempts to charge him with perjury for his denial of involvement. He claimed to be a retired beer salesman in his later years. 1992 saw his 86th birthday.
Gipson, Tashaun, 49ers, safety, number 31
In 2020 and 21 Tashaun Gipson was a member of the Bears’ playing staff. Over two seasons, he started one playoff game and 28 regular-season games. After the 2021 season, Gipson was allowed to leave the Bears in free agency by Ryan Poles, the team’s new general manager. Gipson, a former Pro Bowl safety, signed with the 49ers in 2022 and finished his rookie campaign with five interceptions. In 16 starts during the regular season this year, he had one interception. Against Detroit in the NFC championship game, he also forced a fumble.
49ers long snapper Taybor Pepper, No. 46
On Friday, February 2, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri, prior to the team’s NFL football practice, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy speaks with the media. In Super Bowl 58, the Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers. (Charlie Riedel/AP Photo) AP
Urbana is where Taybor Pepper was born. In 1989 and 1990, his father, Cam, was an offensive lineman for Illinois. After moving to Michigan, Taybor attended Saline High School, which is close to Ann Arbor, for his high school football career. He continued on at Michigan State to play long snapper. Since then, his parents have returned to central Illinois. After going undrafted in 2016, Pepper spent time with a number of clubs before joining the 49ers in 2020. He and San Francisco agreed on a three-year contract extension.
The remainder
Chiefs security From 2016 to 2021, Deon Bush spent six seasons as a player for the Bears. He and Kansas City won the Super Bowl the previous season. Matt Bushman, a tight end on the Chiefs practice squad, claims Carbondale as his birthplace. When he was little, his family relocated to New Orleans, and during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, they later made their way to Arizona. Throughout the playoffs, Mike Pennel, a defensive tackle with the Chiefs, has been called up from the practice squad to the active roster. In 2022, Pennel made 17 appearances for the Bears.
49ers tight end Although George Kittle played at Iowa and was born in Wisconsin, he has frequently said that he was a lifelong Bears supporter. Cornerback on the San Francisco practice squadTight end Jake Tonges played for the Bears in 2022, and the remaining Terrance Mitchell was a member of the team in 2014 and 2015, primarily as a backup.
The instructors
Coach of the Chiefs’ linebackers, Brendan Daly
Before enrolling at Drake University in Iowa, Brendan Daly attended Sacred Heart-Griffin, where he was raised in Springfield. Before moving up the ranks, he started his coaching career in 1997 at a high school in Florida. In 2004, he had a brief stint as the tight ends coach at Illinois State. As an assistant for the Patriots and the Chiefs, he was a three-time Super Bowl winner. On Sunday, he will try to win his sixth Super Bowl ring. He will have coached in eight of the previous ten Super Bowls, with the Patriots or the Chiefs, including this one.
Coach of the 49ers’ quarterbacks, Brian Griese
In 2022, Brian Griese departed from ESPN to become the quarterbacks coach for Kyle Shanahan’s team. He was the Bears’ starting quarterback for six of the team’s 2007 games, making 13 appearances overall. In the 2006 season, Griese was starting quarterback Rex Grossman’s primary backup when the Bears made it to Super Bowl XLI. Griese worked as an analyst for ESPN for more than ten years after retiring from the game, most notably during the “Monday Night Football” broadcast.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy
After four years as the head coach of the Bears, Matt Nagy returned to the Chiefs coaching staff last season as the quarterbacks coach. In four seasons, Nagy guided the Bears to a 34-31 regular-season record and two postseason trips. The Bears promoted Nagy to offensive coordinator last season when Eric Bieniemy departed the Chiefs to take up the same position with the Washington Commanders.
Nagy was no stranger to the position. Prior to moving to Chicago, Nagy worked as the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs in 2016 and 2017. Prior to that, from 2013 to 2015, he served as the quarterbacks coach. He also spent a number of years working for Philadelphia under head coach Andy Reid.
Chiefs special teams coordinator and deputy head coach Dave Toub
Toub, who was born in New York, worked under Lovie Smith as the Bears’ special teams coach from 2004 until 2012. He coached Robbie Gould into the Pro Bowl and Devin Hester into one of the greatest return specialists in history. Since 2013, Toub has resided in Kansas City.
The remainder
Joe Cullen, the defensive line coach for the Chiefs, was a defensive assistant at Illinois for one season in 2005. Evanston is where Chiefs statistical analysis coordinator Mike Frazier was born. Andy Heck, the offensive line coach for the Chiefs, was a Bears player from 1994 to 1998. Ryan Reynolds is the director of sports science and assistant strength and conditioning coach. He was up in Fulton, Illinois, which is close to the Iowa border. Rod Wilson, the defensive assistant for the Chiefs, was a Bears player from 2005 to 2008 and again in 2010.
From 2006 to 2008, Bears defensive backs coach Steve Wilks was the defensive coordinator for San Francisco. Under Lovie Smith, Andrew Hayes-Stoker, an assistant defensive backs coach for the 49ers, coached wide receivers at Illinois from 2016 to 20. Just across the Indiana border in East Chicago, Indiana, is where 49ers running backs coach Robert Turner Jr. was raised.
Although his family moved to the San Diego region in 1972, 49ers general manager John Lynch was born in Hinsdale in 1971.