13 Colleges To Produce Multiple Super Bowl Starting Quarterbacks

Super Bowl XL will feature starting QBs Sam Darnold and Drake Maye as the Seattle Seahawks battle the New England Patriots.

This will be each passer’s first appearance in the starting lineup with an NFL championship on the line. Their appearances will make history for their respected NCAA programs.

Neither USC nor UNC has had a signal caller make a Super Bowl start. Maye (North Carolina) and Darnold (Southern Cal) will become the schools’ first representatives at the position.

Which colleges have the most Super Bowl starting quarterbacks?

There are 13 universities that have had multiple former players start under center in the NFL’s final game.

This list accounts for each different player, not total number of appearances. Michigan, for example, does not make this list despite Tom Brady’s 10 Super Bowl outings.

We’ll start with the nine programs that have produced two Super Bowl starters and work our way to the top.

Boston College (2)

Boston College has had two former players start Super Bowls. Those include Matt Ryan and Matt Hasselbeck.

Prior to the NFL, Ryan led the ACC in passing as a junior and senior star. Hasselbeck, meanwhile, was with the Eagles a decade earlier when members of the Big East.

Each passer played in one professional football championship game, though neither won a ring.

Matt Ryan, the third pick of the Atlanta Falcons in the ’08 NFL Draft, led the franchise to Super Bowl LI against the Patriots. Ryan threw for 284 yards and two scores. Despite holding a 28-3 second half lead, the Falcons lost in overtime.

Hasselbeck’s appearance was a bit less exciting. Eight years after being picked in the sixth round of the draft by the Seahawks, he took Seattle to Super Bowl XL. The passer threw for 273 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a 21-10 loss.

BYU (2)

Steve Young was the No. 1 pick of Bucs in the 1984 Supplemental Draft. That followed an All-American final season with BYU in 1983.

The lefty became a part of three Super Bowl winning squads after joining the 49ers, though two came in a reserve role behind Joe Montana.

Young finally earned his first title start in 1994 and had one of the most impressive Super Bowl performances of all time. He threw six touchdowns in a 49-25 win over the Chargers.

The other Cougar to start a Super Bowl was Jim McMahon, who was at the school a few years earlier. After becoming a first-round pick of the Chicago Bears, he led the franchise to a 46-10 victory in Super Bowl XX against the Patriots.

McMahon threw for 256 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns. BYU passers are a perfect 2-0 as Super Bowl starters.

Delaware (2)

Delaware is a surprise school on this list, but deserving, nonetheless. While the Blue Hens don’t boast the recognition or popularity as some others, they have produced QBs at a high level.

Joe Flacco and Rich Gannon are two of the college’s best. Both enjoyed lengthy careers that approached two decades. Flacco is still active after completing his 18th season in the league.

Gannon’s lone NFL championship start came with the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII where he threw for 272 yards and two scores. Unfortunately, he also tossed five interceptions in a 48-21 loss.

Flacco’s only start came a decade later with the Ravens where he beat the 49ers by a field goal in Super Bowl XLVII. The gunslinger racked up 287 yards and three touchdowns.

Georgia (2)

Georgia has two Super Bowl starters in its history. They’re college stints were separated by nearly 50 years.

Matthew Stafford suited up for the Bulldogs from 2006-08. He became the No. 1 overall pick in the ’09 NFL Draft after his junior year.

Stafford played 12 strong seasons with the Detroit Lions, but he wouldn’t make a Super Bowl start until he joined the Rams. He led the franchise to a win in Super Bowl LVI against the Bengals, throwing for 283 yards and three scores.

Fran Tarkenton, on the other hand, saw his time in Athens end in 1960. He chose the NFL over the AFL after being drafted in both and went on to become a Hall of Famer.

The signal caller played in three Super Bowls between 1973-76. His team, the Vikings, lost all three as Tarkenton threw a combined one touchdown to six interceptions.

LSU (2)

Before becoming a top NFL Draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, Joe Burrow led arguably the greatest offense in college football history.

The 2019 LSU Tigers ripped through opponents on their way to a perfect 15-0 record and national championship. His 5,671 passing yards ranks fourth all time while his 60 touchdowns are second.

Burrow started Super Bowl LVI against the previously mentioned Matthew Stafford, falling 23-20 to the Rams. He threw for 263 yards and a touchdown.

Forty years before Burrow’s title start, fellow LSU quarterback David Woodley started for the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII. Unfortunately, he was benched in a 27-17 loss after completing just 28% of his passes.

Former Tigers are 0-2 in Super Bowl starts.

Maryland (2)

There are two former Terrapins to start Super Bowls in the NFL. Those passers combined to go 0-2 across two appearances.

Boomer Esiason was the first. After finishing 10th in the Heisman voting during his final season with Maryland, he was drafted by the Bengals. In 1988, he led Cincinnati to Super Bowl XXIII.

Esiason had his team positioned to pick up a win, only to watch Joe Montana lead an 11-play, 92-yard game-winning drive in the final moments.

A little less than a decade later, Neil O’Donnell started Super Bowl XXX for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His appearance wouldn’t be as dramatic, but the final result would be the same.

O’Donnell threw three interceptions in a 27-17 loss to the Cowboys.

Stanford (2)

Stanford has two former signal callers to make starts in the Super Bowl. Those include John Elway and Jim Plunkett, a duo that combined for seven title game appearances. That ties for the most of any school on this list.

Interestingly enough, both were former No. 1 overall picks that made huge impacts in the AFC West after storied careers with the Cardinal.

Plunkett led the PAC-8 in passing each of his three college seasons before winning the Heisman in 1970. Elway finished second in the voting in 1982 while pacing the PAC-10 in passing for three seasons of his own.

Together, the pair went 4-3 in Super Bowl starts. Both own two wins each, while Elway is responsible for all three of the Super Bowl losses.

UCLA (2)

Billy Kilmer finished fifth in the Heisman voting as a senior with the UCLA Bruins. He was then a first-round NFL Draft pick of the 49ers in the 1961 selection process.

A decade later, he would make his only title game start in Super Bowl VII with Washington. Kilmer threw for 104 yards and three interceptions in a loss to the Dolphins.

It would take two more decades for a second former UCLA passer to start the Big Game, coming in the form of Troy Aikman.

Aikman finished third in the 1988 Heisman voting before becoming a No. 1 overall pick of the Dallas Cowboys. He’d lead the franchise to three Super Bowl appearances across a four-year span, winning each while tossing a combined five touchdowns to one interception.

Washington State (2)

Washington State is the final school on this list with two former quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl. Those players are Drew Bledsoe and Mark Rypien.

Bledsoe was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft after three seasons with the Cougars. He’d go onto play 14 seasons in the league, one of which ended with a Super Bowl start.

The Patriots passer threw for 253 yards and two scores in Super Bowl XXXI against Green Bay. Four interceptions, however, hampered the offense in a 35-21 loss. He would later win a Super Bowl with New England but as a reserve behind Tom Brady.

Rypien also enjoyed an NFL career that spanned more than a decade, spending time with Washington, Cleveland, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis.

He started Super Bowl XXVI with Washington, throwing for 292 yards in a 37-24 victory.

Alabama (3)

The last Super Bowl start by a former Alabama quarterback came all the way back in 1976. That does not prevent them from ranking high on this list.

Between 1966-76, three Crimson Tide passers appeared in four title games. They combined to go a perfect 4-0.

Fun fact: An Alabama passer was responsible for the first three Super Bowl wins on record. Bart Starr started and won Super Bowls I and II with the Packers in ’66 and ’67.

A year later, Joe Namath won one of the most talked about title matchups in history. He led the Jets to a 16-7 win over the Colts in Super Bowl III as the AFL beat the NFL for the first time.

In Super Bowl XI, Ken Stabler led the Raiders to a 32-14 victory over the Vikings. An Alabama quarterback has not started a Super Bowl since.

Notre Dame (3)

The last Notre Dame passer to start a Super Bowl was Joe Montana in 1989. Super Bowl XXIV was his last of four title victories in a Hall of Fame career.

Considered one of the most clutch playoff quarterbacks of all time, he averaged 285 yards per Super Bowl start while combining to throw 11 touchdowns to no interceptions.

Montana’s first title game appearance came in 1981. A year later, fellow Fighting Irish signal caller Joe Theismann won Super Bowl XVII with Washington. He’d return to the Big Game in ’83 but would fall to the Raiders.

The first Notre Dame quarterback to appear in a Super Bowl was Daryle Lamonica in Super Bowl II. He lost to previously mentioned Bart Starr as a member of the Raiders.

These three passers boast a combined 5-2 record as Super Bowl starters, buoyed by Montana’s heroics.

Purdue (3)

Purdue is a bit of a shocker in following storied programs like Alabama and Notre Dame. It doesn’t take away from what these three current/future Hall of Famers were able to accomplish.

Similar to the Crimson Tide, the Boilermakers saw early success with Super Bowl quarterbacks. Len Dawson started Super Bowls I and IV, losing his debut before picking up a win in his second try.

A few years later, Bob Griese would play in three consecutive Super Bowls. Like Dawson, he dropped his first start in Super Bowl VI, but won his final two, including Super Bowl VII to complete the Dolphins’ undefeated ’72 season.

The most recent Boilermaker to start in the Super Bowl is Drew Brees, who led the Saints to Super Bowl XLIV. Brees broke the trend by winning his first title opportunity. Unfortunately, it would also be his last.

Combined, Purdue quarterbacks are 4-2 in Super Bowl starts.

Cal (4)

Cal is the college with the most former quarterbacks to make a start in the Super Bowl with four. The Bears have had representation both in the game’s early stages and in recent title contests.

The first player from the school to make a start was Joe Kapp, who became a first-round pick after finishing fifth in the Heisman voting in 1958.

With the Vikings, he started Super Bowl IV, which he lost to previously mentioned Len Dawson and the Chiefs. He threw for 183 yards and two interceptions in his only title appearance.

A year later, fellow first-round NFL Draft pick Craig Morton started Super Bowl V against the Cowboys. He’d lose 16-13 in his debut with Dallas, before later losing to his former team in Super Bowl XII with Denver.

Morton completed just 16 of his 41 career Super Bowl passes while throwing seven interceptions to one touchdown. He was benched in his final title game appearance.

A little more than three decades later, Aaron Rodgers became the third Cal Bear quarterback to start a Super Bowl. He owns the only win, too, a 31-25 Green Bay victory over Pittsburgh.

Rodgers threw for 304 yards and three scores in Super Bowl XLV. It easily tops the school’s three other performers.

The most recent Super Bowl starter was Jared Goff, who lost Super Bowl LIII with the Rams against the Patriots. The former first round draft pick was 19-of-38 in the loss with no touchdowns and one interception.

Cal quarterbacks have gone 1-4 in their five chances.