The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will compete in Super Bowl 60 on February 8 (5:30 p.m. CT, NBC), and a former Vanderbilt University football player will make his Super Bowl debut.
Patriots captain Julian Ashby, who played for the Commodores in 2024, is expected to play in the Super Bowl for New England.
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On January 25, the Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl. Also in the NFC Championship on January 25, the Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 to advance to the Super Bowl.
Ashby started all 17 games for the Patriots, including all three playoff wins. He had one tackle in the win over the Broncos and has three tackles this season. The long kicker is responsible for snapping the football on kicks and kicks, an underappreciated role, but an important one.
Ashby is Vanderbilt’s long snapper in 2024, recording two tackles in 13 games. He was subsequently drafted by New England in the seventh round (251st overall) and immediately became a starter for the Patriots.
Ashby served as a four-year tackle at Furman (2020-2023) before playing for Vanderbilt. He played 31 games for the Paladins before transferring to Vanderbilt ahead of the 2024 season.
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Ashby is from Atlanta, Georgia, and attended Parkview High School.
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Alex Daugherty is a writer on The Tennessean and Predators. Contact Alex: jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our exclusive Predators Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared at University of Tennessee in Nashville: Is Vanderbilt football connected to Super Bowl 60? There is only one.