Mizzou Products Kony Ealy, Shane Ray Find Success in Super Bowl 50
Two former Mizzou defensive ends faced off against each other in Super Bowl 50, and each came away having accomplished something special.
Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos presented an intriguing battle for Missouri Tigers fans, as two of the team’s former defensive ends–Kony Ealy of the Panthers, and Shane Ray of the Broncos–faced off against each other. In the end, Ray’s Broncos ended up winning 24-10 in a game that was dominated by defense, but Ealy was perhaps the game’s most impressive performer.
The 24-year-old Ealy had what was unquestionably the best game of his NFL career to date, finishing with four tackles, three sacks, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a pass defended, a fumble recovery, and an interception. Ealy became one of just three players in NFL history who have had three sacks in a Super Bowl, joining Reggie White and Darnell Dockett. He also became the first player in Super Bowl history to have both multiple sacks and an interception in the same game. If Carolina had somehow come back to defeat the Broncos, it would have been difficult to think of a player more deserving of Super Bowl MVP honors than Ealy.
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Ray, the 23rd pick in this year’s draft, spelled the Broncos’ primary two pass rushers, Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, throughout the game. He finished the contest with two tackles and a quarterback hit. While he didn’t make nearly as big of a contribution as Ealy did during the game, Ray did earn the distinction of becoming the first former Tiger to win a Super Bowl since Chase Daniel was part of the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV championship team. Interestingly, that was Daniel’s rookie season, just like this year was for Ray.
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The fact that Ealy and Ray were able to face off against each other in a Super Bowl this early in their respective careers is a testament to how good of a coach Craig Kuligowski was during his prolific tenure at Mizzou. After Ealy declared for the draft following his junior season in 2013, Kuligowski was able to coach up Ray, and within a season he turned him into a first-round pick who also ended up declaring early. The player who Kuligowski coached up to follow in those two’s footsteps, Charles Harris, had a prolific redshirt sophomore season in 2015, but now it will be up to new defensive line coach Jackie Shipp to keep Harris on track heading into the 2016 season.