PUEBLO, Colo. – What does Colorado State University Pueblo have in common with the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, LSU, Texas Tech and Nebraska? All of those schools have at least one player that will be competing in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas, Nev.
CSU Pueblo will be represented in Super Bowl LVIII by Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Mike Pennel, who played one season of football with the Pack in 2013. Pennel will be playing in his second career Super Bowl as he was a member of the Chiefs' Super Bowl winning squad in Super Bowl LIV in 2020 that defeated the San Francisco 49ers. Ironically, Pennel and the Chiefs will play the 49ers in this year's Super Bowl.
Pennel, who is ninth season playing in the NFL and is in his second stint playing with the Chiefs, has played in a total of 121 regular season NFL games with five different teams, including two stints with the Chiefs. Along with playing 121 regular season games, he has also played 13 playoff games, including nine playoff games over three appearances with the Chiefs.
In his nine-year NFL career, which began in 2014 with the Green Bay Packers, Pennel has recorded 197 tackles, two sacks, four pass deflections and has forced two fumbles in the regular season, while recording 16 tackles in the postseason, including six tackles in three playoff games this season with Kansas City.
After being undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft, Pennel signed a free agent contract with Green Bay on May 12, 2014, and as a rookie in 2014 with the Packers, he played in 13 games and had eight tackles. In 2015, he played in all 16 games for Green Bay and made five starts and recorded 24 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble and then played in eight games in 2016 with Green Bay and finished with seven tackles and a pass defended.
After three seasons with Green Bay, Pennel was released by the Packers, but was then signed by the New York Jets on Feb. 6, 2017. He played in all 16 games with the Jets in 2017 as he recorded a career-high 35 tackles and then he played in 16 games in 2018 with the Jets and recorded 27 tackles and one pass defended. After the end of the 2018 season, Pennel's contract was not renewed and he became a free agent.
He signed a contract as a free agent with New England on March 14, 2019, but was released by the team before the start of the 2019 regular season and then was picked up and signed by Kansas City on Oct. 19, 2019. In 2019, he played in eight regular season games with the Chiefs and recorded 24 tackles, one sack and one pass defended. In Super Bowl LIV against San Francisco, Pennel recorded one tackle in the Chiefs 31-20 victory.
During the 2020 season, he played in 14 games with Kansas City and made one start, while recording 29 tackles. He was then released by the Chiefs at the end of 2020 season and signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears. He was placed on injured reserve with the Bears prior to the start of the 2021 season and was later released by Chicago. After his release from Chicago, Pennel signed to the Atlanta Falcons practice squad on Sept. 15, 2021 and was elevated to the Falcons' active roster on Oct. 5, 2021, where he played in 10 games and recorded 20 tackles.
At the end of the 2021 season, Pennel resigned with the Bears and then after being released by the Bears, he was resigned to their practice squad for the 2022 season. He was elevated to Chicago's active roster on Sept. 12, 2022 and appeared in all 17 games for the Bears as he recorded 26 tackles and one forced fumble.
Pennel was released by the Bears during the offseason and he was signed to the Chiefs practice squad on Oct. 24, 2023, and was added to Kansas City's active roster for the final three games of the regular season as he totaled four tackles in those three games and remained on the roster for the playoffs, including playing in Sunday's AFC Championship game win over the Baltimore Ravens.
In his one season with the Pack in 2013, Pennel played in and started 12 games on the defensive line for the Pack. In those 12 games, he totaled 36 tackles, including 15 solo stops and had three sacks, four tackles for loss, four pass break-ups and recovered two fumbles en route to earning First-Team All-Rocky Mountain Conference accolades. He was a part of a ThunderWolves team that finished with an 11-1 overall record and won a third straight RMAC title and earned an NCAA Division II Playoff appearance.
Pennel is one six NCAA Division II players listed on the rosters of this year's two Super Bowl teams as Kansas City features four former Division II players – defensive end Tershawn Wharton (Missouri S&T), cornerback Joshua Williams (Fayetteville State) and tight end Jody Forston (Valdosta State), while San Francisco has two former Division II players and two former Division III players on its roster. The Division II players are safety Erik Harris (PennWest California) and offensive tackle Sebastian Gutierrez (Minot State), while the Division III players are safety Taylor Hawkins (Birmingham Southern) and offensive guard Ben Bartch (Saint John's, Minn.).
Super Bowl LVIII is set for 4:30 p.m. MT kickoff from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., and will be televised live on CBS.
