Pair of Notre Dame football stars to face off in Super Bowl

Now that the Super Bowl matchup is set, it turns out that two former Notre Dame football stars are going to be going head-to-head. In fact, while their current teams are going to be facing off, it’s more than likely that the two players will, at one time or another, actually square off against one another.

The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers each have one former Notre Dame football player on their roster, and it just so happens that the Chiefs have a defensive player while the Niners have an offensive one. 

Both players are starters, and it stands to reason that both players will have some impact on how the Super Bowl plays out in a few weeks. All of this means that Fighting Irish fans don’t necessarily have to pick one team or another to root for, if they don’t already have a dog in the hunt.

Notre Dame football players appearing in the Super Bowl

Drue Tranquill is in his first season with the Chiefs after spending the first years of his career with AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers. The linebacker seemingly took a bit of a step back in 2023 when it came to his numbers, but he’s still managed to make a positive impact on KC’s defense.

He certainly had an impact in the AFC Championship game as he racked up 8 tackles. That just happens to be the best performance of the playoffs so far for the ex-Notre Dame football star.

Aaron Banks is the other former Irish star getting ready for the Super Bowl. The offensive lineman hasn’t had the best season for the 49ers but he’s entrenched as a starter and will tasked with trying to protect Brock Purdy and make room to run for Christian McCaffrey.

In doing his duty on the offensive line, it seems likely that at some point, the two Notre Dame football players could go up against one another at least once in the big game.