Heading into this weekend’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers there have been 58 Most Valuable Player Awards handed-out. Of those, former California high school football players have won 14 of them. That’s the most of any state by a wide margin.
Serra (San Mateo) High School’s Tom Brady sits at the top of mountain with five MVP awards, four with the New England Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Brady isn’t the only former Padre to win the prestigious award, wide receiver Lynn Swann won it with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl X.
Related: Where Chiefs & 49ers rosters played HS football
Related: Where every Super Bowl starting QB played in high school
Lincoln High School in San Diego also has two different MVP winners. Former Hornets’ running back Marcus Allen was honored in the Los Angeles Raiders‘ Super Bowl XVIII win. Terrell Davis was honored for his performance when the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII.
Louisiana’s Isidore Newman also has two different winners, thanks to the Manning brothers. Peyton won the award after the Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI. Eli has two Pete Rozelle Awards. He won the MVP award with the New York Giants for Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.
This week, Patrick Mahomes, who played at Whitehouse High School in east Texas, will try to close the gap on Brady. If Mahomes wins the Rozelle Award Sunday, he would tie former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, who won the award for Super Bowls XVI, XIX and XXIV.
Mahomes is currently tied with Terry Bradshaw (Woodlawn HS, Shreveport, Louisiana), Eli Manning (Isidore Newman, Louisiana) and Bart Starr (Sidney Lanier HS, Alabama), who have won two MVP’s each.
If Mahomes wins another MVP award, it would give Texas seven overall. The Lone Star State is currently tied with Louisiana with six MVP awards. Florida and Pennsylvania each have five MVP awards.
Overall, 19 different states have former high school football players that have won MVP awards.
- California – 14
- Louisiana, Texas – 6
- Florida, Pennsylvania – 5
- Ohio – 4
- Georgia – 3
- Alabama, New Jersey, Washington – 2
- Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia – 1
Super Bowl MVP’s in High School
| Super Bowl | Name/Team | Position | High School/State |
| I | Bart Starr – Green Bay Packers | QB | Sidney Lanier (Alabama) |
| II | Bart Starr – Green Bay Packers | QB | Sidney Lanier (Alabama) |
| III | Joe Namath – New York Jets | QB | Beaver Falls (Pennsylvania) |
| IV | Len Dawson – Kansas City Chiefs | QB | Alliance (Ohio) |
| V | Chuck Howley – Dallas Cowboys | LB | Warwood (West Virginia) |
| VI | Roger Staubach – Dallas Cowboys | QB | Purcell (Ohio) |
| VII | Jake Scott – Miami Dolphins | S | Bullis School (Maryland) |
| VIII | Larry Csonka – Miami Dolphins | RB | Stow-Munroe Falls (Ohio) |
| IX | Franco Harris – Pittsburgh Steelers | RB | Rancocas Valley (New Jersey) |
| X | Lynn Swann – Pittsburgh Steelers | WR | Serra (San Mateo, California) |
| XI | Fred Biletnikoff – Oakland Raiders | WR | Technical Memorial (Erie, Pennsylvania) |
| XII | Harvey Martin – Dallas Cowboys* | DE | South Oak Cliff (Texas) |
| Randy White – Dallas Cowboys* | DT | McKean (Delaware) | |
| XIII | Terry Bradshaw – Pittsburgh Steelers | QB | Woodlawn (Shreveport, Louisiana) |
| XIV | Terry Bradshaw – Pittsburgh Steelers | QB | Woodlawn (Shreveport, Louisiana) |
| XV | Jim Plunkett – Oakland Raiders | QB | Overfelt (California) |
| XVI | Joe Montana – San Francisco 49ers | QB | Ringgold (Pennsylvania) |
| XVII | John Riggins – Washington Redskins | RB | Centralia (Kansas) |
| XVIII | Marcus Allen – Los Angeles Raiders | RB | Lincoln (San Diego, California) |
| XIX | Joe Montana – San Francisco 49ers | QB | Ringgold (Pennsylvania) |
| XX | Richard Dent – Chicago Bears | DE | J.C. Murphy (Atlanta, Georgia) |
| XXI | Phil Simms – New York Giants | QB | Southern (Kentucky) |
| XXII | Doug Williams – Washington Redskins | QB | Chaneyville (Louisiana) |
| XXIII | Jerry Rice – San Francisco 49ers | WR | B.L. Moor (Mississippi) |
| XXIV | Joe Montana – San Francisco 49ers | QB | Ringgold (Pennsylvania) |
| XXV | Otis Anderson – New York Giants | RB | Forest Hill (Florida) |
| XXVI | Mark Rypien – Washington Redskins | QB | Shadie Park (Washington) |
| XXVII | Troy Aikman – Dallas Cowboys | QB | Henryetta (Oklahoma) |
| XXVIII | Emmitt Smith – Dallas Cowboys | RB | Escambia (Florida) |
| XXIX | Steve Young – San Francisco 49ers | QB | Greenwich (Connecticut) |
| XXX | Larry Brown – Dallas Cowboys | CB | Los Angeles HS (California) |
| XXXI | Desmond Howard – Green Bay Packers | KR/PR | St. Joseph (Cleveland, Ohio) |
| XXXII | Terrell Davis – Denver Broncos | RB | Lincoln (San Diego, California) |
| XXXIII | John Elway – Denver Broncos | QB | Granada Hills (California) |
| XXXIV | Kurt Warner – St. Louis Rams | QB | Regis (Iowa) |
| XXXV | Ray Lewis – Baltimore Ravens | LB | Kathleen (Florida) |
| XXXVI | Tom Brady – New England Patriots | QB | Serra (San Mateo, California) |
| XXXVII | Dexter Jackson – Tampa Bay Buccaneers | S | Shanks (Quincy, Florida) |
| XXXVIII | Tom Brady – New England Patriots | QB | Serra (San Mateo, California) |
| XXXIX | Deion Branch – New England Patriots | WR | Monroe (Albany, Georgia) |
| XL | Hines Ward – Pittsburgh Steelers | WR | Forest Park (Georgia) |
| XLI | Peyton Manning – Indianapolis Colts | QB | Isidore Newman (Louisiana) |
| XLII | Eli Manning – New York Giants | QB | Isidore Newman (Louisiana) |
| XLIII | Santonio Holmes – Pittsburgh Steelers | WR | Glades Central (Florida) |
| XLIV | Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints | QB | Westlake (Austin, Texas) |
| XLV | Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers | QB | Pleasant Valley (California) |
| XLVI | Eli Manning – New York Giants | QB | Isidore Newman (Louisiana) |
| XLVII | Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens | QB | Audubon (New Jersey) |
| XLVIII | Malcolm Smith – Seattle Seahawks | LB | Taft (Woodland Hills, California) |
| XLIX | Tom Brady – New England Patriots | QB | Serra (San Mateo, California) |
| 50 | Von Miller – Denver Broncos | LB | DeSoto (Texas) |
| LI | Tom Brady – New England Patriots | QB | Serra (San Mateo, California) |
| LII | Nick Foles – Philadelphia Eagles | QB | Westlake (Austin, Texas) |
| LIII | Julian Edelman – New England Patriots | WR | Woodside (California) |
| LIV | Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs | QB | Whitehouse (Texas) |
| LV | Tom Brady – Tampa Bay Buccaneers | QB | Serra (San Mateo, California) |
| LVI | Cooper Kupp – Los Angeles Rams | WR | Davis (Washington) |
| LVII | Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs | QB | Whitehouse (Texas) |
*Co-MVPs
