Big 33 Football Classic’s Super Bowl streak extended for another year

By: Chris Harlan
Sunday, January 24, 2021 | 6:46 PM

The Big 33 Football Classic was canceled last spring but the game’s Super Bowl streak continues.

All 55 Super Bowls have included at least one alumni from the high school football all-star game, a remarkable streak that was guaranteed to continue once the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs reached the AFC Championship.

Each team had at least one former Big 33 player on its roster.

Chiefs backup quarterback Chad Henne, a Wilson West Lawn graduate, took part in the Big 33 in 2004. Chiefs rookie lineman Yasir Durant represented Imhotep Charter in the 2016 game.

Bills defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson represented Woodland Hills in the Big 33 in 2011. This was Jefferson’s first season in Buffalo after playing the first four years of his NFL career in Seattle.

The Chiefs defeated the Bills, 38-24, on Sunday.

The NFC champion Tampa Bay Buccanneers also have a Big 33 alum. Moon graduate A.Q. Shipley started two games for the Bucs this season before landing on injured reserve. He was a Big 33 player in 2004.

The Chiefs also have a Big 33 connection in their front office. General manager Brett Veach, a Mount Carmel native, played for Team Pennsylvania in 1997.

According to Big 33 records, the streak started with Philadelphia native Herb Adderley, a member of the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I and II. Adderley played in the inaugural Big 33 in 1957.

The all-star game’s alumni list is star-studded with Joe Namath, Tony Dorsett, Joe Montana, Ben Roethlisberger and Darrelle Revis among its former players.

Last year’s Big 33 was canceled in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Woodland Hills