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Arizona connections littered throughout Super Bowl LVI matchup

Feb 13, 2022, 11:00 AM | Updated: 2:03 pm

BY ARIZONA SPORTS

Rams QB Bryce Perkins

Arizona native Perkins is a Chandler High School alum who started his collegiate career at Arizona State in 2015. After suffering a broken neck and sitting out of the 2016 season, Perkins transferred to Arizona Western College for a season before transferring to Virginia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Rams QB John Wolford

Wolford started for the now-defunct Alliance of American Football’s Arizona Hotshots where he threw for more than 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2019 before joining the Rams practice squad.

In 2020, the signal caller got the start against the Cardinals in the season's finale. Arizona would go on to lose the game and miss out on the playoffs. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Rams WR coach Eric Yarber

Yarber served as former ASU head coach Dennis Erickson's wide receivers coach from 2007-09. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Rams OL Coleman Shelton

Shelton was signed to the Cardinals practice squad in October 2018. He was eventually released at the end of training camp in 2019. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

Bengals DL Renell Wren

Wren played four seasons at Arizona State (2015-18), recording three sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble and five passes defensed over 29 games played. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Bengals. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Bengals OL coach Frank Pollack

Pollack went to Phoenix Greenway High School in the 1980s before attending NAU. After an eight-year NFL career, Pollack went back to NAU to coach the offensive line from 2005-06. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Bengals CB Jalen Davis

Davis was signed to Cardinals practice squad in September 2019. He was active for two regular season games. In 2020, he was released by the team but re-signed to the practice squad in September. He was released a month later. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Bengals DL Zach Kerr

Kerr originally signed with the Cardinals in 2019 before getting a second stint with the team's practice squad in 2021 after his release by the San Francisco 49ers. He recorded three tackles over three games played before the Bengals signed him off of the Cardinals practice squad for the postseason. He and teammate Damion Square can be the first players in NFL history to finish the playoffs on a Super Bowl team after beginning the postseason as a member of a different team. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Bengals C Lamont Gaillard

Gaillard was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He made his NFL debut in 2020 and was eventually waived July 2021 following Arizona's acquisition of C Rodney Hudson. The center started two of his 13 games played in
a Cardinals uniform. He was later claimed by the Bengals. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Rams CB Kareem Orr

Rams cornerback Kareem Orr played two years at Arizona State before transferring to Chattanooga. He had a pick six in the 2015 Territorial Cup. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

Bengals WR coach Troy Walters

The Arizona Cardinals may have made a quick turnaround trip for the playoffs, but there’ll still be some representation from the state when the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams go at it in Super Bowl LVI.

Whether it be a connection to the Cardinals, Arizona State Sun Devils, a few Arizona high schools or a now-defunct football league squad, there’ll be pieces of the Copper State on both sidelines of SoFi Stadium come Sunday.

The Super Bowl in Los Angeles kicks off at 4:30 p.m. MST and will be televised on NBC. The Bengals are looking to end the franchise’s Super Bowl drought, while the Rams are looking to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since 1999.

Swipe through the gallery above for a look at those with Arizona ties vying for the Super Bowl LVI title.

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