Tar Heel football will be well-represented in Super Bowl 50 Sunday in Santa Clara when defensive tackle Sly Williams (Carolina Letterman 2011-12) of the Denver Broncos makes his second Super Bowl appearance and safety Tre Boston (2010-13) makes his first with the Carolina Panthers. “It’s still a little surreal for a lot of us,” says Boston, a fourth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. “I even said today in practice, ‘Ya’ll know we’re preparing for the Super Bowl?’ This is the biggest stage of them all.” Boston has had a high profile in recent weeks as he nailed a sack against Seattle QB Russell Wilson in the NFC first-round playoff game and then had a fumble recovery and an interception in the end zone against the Arizona Cardinals of the NFC championship game. “This is a dream,” he says. “As a kid you play in the yard and dream about the Super Bowl. Now a dream’s coming true.” Williams, a third-year nose tackle for the Broncos, started 15 regular season games and two in the playoffs. He has three sacks, 25 tackles (18 of them solo). He’ll be part of a stout Broncos defense that will try to corral Carolina QB Cam Newton under a scheme devised by coordinator Wade Phillips. “The thing about Wade is he gives us the ability to just go play,” Williams says. “We played the 2-gap scheme last year, where as this year we’re more of a penetrating one-gap defense. And, I think that helps us a lot more because it gives us the ability to get up field and make plays.” Following is a list of Tar Heels who’ve played in the Super Bowl over its half century of existence:
No. Year Result Tar Heels I 1967 Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10 II 1968 Green Bay 33, Oakland 14 III 1969 New York Jets 16, Baltimore 7 IV 1970 Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7 V 1971 Baltimore 16, Dallas 13 VI 1972 Dallas 24, Miami 3 VII 1973 Miami 14, Washington 7 Chris Hanburger, Washington VIII 1974 Miami 24, Minnesota 7 Frank Gallagher, Minnesota IX 1975 Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6 X 1976 Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17 XI 1977 Oakland 32, Minnesota 14 XII 1978 Dallas 27, Denver 10 XIII 1979 Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31 XIV 1980 Pittsburgh 31, Los Angeles 19 XV 1981 Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10 John Bunting, Philadephia XVI 1982 San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21 Amos Lawrence, San Francisco XVII 1983 Washington 27, Miami 17 Jeff Hayes, Washington XVIII 1984 Los Angeles 38, Washington 9 Jeff Hayes, Ken Huff, Washington XIX 1985 San Francisco 38, Miami 16 XX 1986 Chicago 46, New England 10 Ron Wooten, New England XXI 1987 New York Giants 39, Denver 20 Lawrence Taylor, Brian Johnston, New York XXII 1988 Washington 42, Denver 10 Kelvin Bryant, Washington XXIII 1989 San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16 Harris Barton, San Francisco XXIV 1990 San Francisco 55, Denver 10 Harris Barton, San Francisco XXV 1991 New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19 Lawrence Taylor, New York Carlton Bailey, Buffalo XXVI 1992 Washington 37, Buffalo 24 Carlton Bailey, Buffalo XXVII 1993 Dallas 52, Buffalo 17 Carlton Bailey, Buffalo XXVIII 1994 Dallas 30, Buffalo 13 Thomas Smith, Buffalo Natrone Means, Deems May, SD XXX 1996 Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17 Corey Holliday, Pittsburgh XXXI 1997 Green Bay 35, New England 21 William Henderson, Bernardo Harris, GB Jimmy Hitchcock, New England XXXII 1998 Denver 31, Green Bay 24 William Henderson, Bernardo Harris, GB XXXIII 1999 Denver 34, Atlanta 19 XXXIV 2000 St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16 Dre Bly, Nate Hobgood-Chittick, Mike Morton St. Louis XXXV 2001 Baltimore 34, New York Giants 7 XXXVI 2002 New England 20, St. Louis 17 Dre Bly, St. Louis Riddick Parker, New England XXXVII 2003 Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21 Ronald Curry, Oakland XXXVIII 2004 New England 32, Carolina 29 Julius Peppers, Kevin Donnalley, Carolina XXXIX 2005 New England 24, Philadelphia 21 Dexter Reid, New England XL 2006 Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10 Willie Parker, Jeff Reed, Greg Warren, Pittsburgh XLI 2007 Indianapolis 29, Chicago 17 Jeff Saturday, Dexter Reid, Indianapolis XLII 2008 New York Giants 17, New England 14 Madison Hedgecock, New York XLIII 2009 Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23 Willie Parker, Jeff Reed, Greg Warren, Pittsburgh XLIV 2010 New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 17 Jeff Saturday, Indianapolis XLV 2011 Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 25 Jeff Reed, Greg Warren, Pittsburgh XLVI 2012 New York Giants 21, New England 17 Hakeem Nicks, New York XLVII 2013 Baltimore 34, San Francisco 31 XLVIII 2014 Seattle 43, Denver 8 Sylvester Williams, Denver XLIX 2015 New England 28, Seattle 24 50 2016 Carolina vs. Denver Tre Boston, Carolina; Sylvester Williams, Denver |