Super Bowl 2019: Danny Shelton, Johnny Hekker among players with Washington ties on Patriots and Rams rosters

Super Bowl Sunday 2019 has arrived. There are six players with ties to the state of Washington either playing or on the sideline of Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta. Here's a look at all former Washington high school and college stars playing for the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. Did we miss anyone? Let us know in the comments.

Danny Shelton, New England Patriots (Auburn-2010)

Credit: Seattle Times

• Shelton went to Auburn HS where he was on the football, track, and wrestling teams. He garnered the most attention as a football player where he was four star recruit as a defensive tackle and ultimately ended up playing college ball for University of Washington
• As a Husky he finished his career with: 3× First-team Academic All-Pac-12 (2012, 2013, 2014) First-team All-Pac-12 (2014) First-team Academic All-American (2014) First-team AP All-American (2014)
• Was drafted number 12 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns and was the first UW D-Linemen selected in the first round since 1992
• In early 2018 he was traded to the New England Patriots

Johnny Hekker, L.A. Rams (Bothell-2008)

Credit: Seattle Times

• While playing starting QB for Bothell, he lead them to a State Title game, resulting in a loss
• Went on to punt at Oregon State and has two infamous punts in his career, one that went for 74 yards and one that he punted -4 yards.
• Undrafted out of College, but later signed with the Rams, where he continues to be one of the best punters in the league.
• 4x Pro-Bowl, 4x first team All-Pro, 2x second team All-Pro
• Owns the largest ever contract given to a punter
• In 2016 he set a record for most punts downed inside the 20 as well as breaking his own record for net punting yardage.
• Owns a career passer rating of 102.1 which would place him at 2nd all time in passer rating

Cooper Kupp, L.A. Rams (Davis-2012)

Credit: Krem2

• Born in Yakima, Washington
• Played football and basketball at Davis High School
• Unanimous first team All-Columbia Basin Big Nine League
• Set a school record with 22 total touchdowns his senior year
• First team All State as a defensive back
• All State honorable mention at wide receiver
• Named Seattle Times “White Chip” selection as one of the top 100 prospects in Washington
• Attended Eastern Washington University
• Finished his career at Eastern with... College football all-division career leader in receiving yards (6,464) NCAA FCS career leader in receiving touchdowns (73) and receptions (428) Walter Payton Award (2015) STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year (2015) Jerry Rice Award (2013) 2x Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year (2015–16) Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year (2013) 2x College Football Performance Awards FCS Wide Receiver Award (2013, 2015) 4x First-team FCS All-American (AFCA, AP, STATS) (2013–16) 3x First-team FCS All-American (WCFF) (2013, 15–16) 2x First-team Division I Academic All-American (CoSIDA) (2015–16) Second-team Division I Academic All-American (CoSIDA) (2014) 4x First-team All-Big Sky Conference Wide Receiver (2013–16) Second-team All-Big Sky Conference Punt Returner (2016) Third-team All-Big Sky Conference Punt Returner (2014)
• Selected in the third round (69th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams
• Cooper Kupp burst on the scene with 62 Rec, 869 yds, and 5 TD his rookie year
• His second year campaign was cut short after tearing his ACL against the Seattle Seahawks in week 10

Samson Ebukam, L.A. Rams (Eastern Washington University)

Credit: Spokesman Review

• Ebukam is a Nigeria native, but attended high school in the Portland area.
• Only had two Division 1 scholarship offers, Eastern Washington and Portland State. He ultimately chose Eastern, where he starred for the Eagles.
• He finished his career at Eastern with… First Team All-Big Sky Conference (2016) First Team FCS All-American (Coaches Selection) (2016) Third Team FCS All-American (AP Selection) (2016) Second Team All-Big Sky Conference (2014-15)
• Ebukam was selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams
• He helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl this year with 3 tackles and a big forced fumble in the NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints

Marcus Peters, L.A. Rams (University of Washington)

Credit: Seattle Times

• Peters attended high school in Oakland, California and came out of high school as a 3 star recruit when he chose to attend the University of Washington.
• He starred at UW for 3 years and was later drafted as the number 18 pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
• He burst onto the scene being named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 and was also named to second team All-Pro that year.
• Peters was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in early 2018 and has helped the Rams on their way to the Super Bowl
• His career accolades include… 2× Pro Bowl (2015, 2016) First-team All-Pro (2016) Second-team All-Pro (2015) NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (2015) PFWA All-Rookie Team (2015) NFL Interceptions co-leader (2015) Second-team All-Pac-12 (2013)

Cory Littleton, L.A. Rams (University of Washington)

Credit: Seattle Times

• Littleton was an under the radar recruit coming out high school before attending the University of Washington.
• Littleton was a good college player but didn’t attract much attention at the time of the NFL draft.
• He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 2016
• Since that time he has proven to be a productive NFL player and 2018 was his breakout year. He was selected as a Pro-Bowler and also a 2nd team All-Pro player.
• He has been an instrumental piece during the Rams Super Bowl run racking up 7 tackles against the Dallas Cowboys and then followed that up with a 12 tackle performance in the NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints.