HARTFORD, Conn. — When the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night at the Super Bowl, there will be two offensive tackles taking the field that once called Connecticut home – and they will be playing against each other.
Lucas Niang, with the Chiefs, will try to stop Jack Driscoll and the Eagles from winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Here is everything we know about these two NFL standouts, who were drafted by their respective teams the same year.
LUCAS NIANG
Niang, 24, was born in New York City and grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he became a football star at New Canaan High School.
He began to play football with the Pop Warner league in the third grade before eventually helping the Rams to three straight state championships from 2013 to 2015. At New Canaan, he was a two-time All FCIAC selection as a junior and senior and during his senior season, he was an All-State First-Team Selection from both the Coaches Association and New Haven Register.
The 6-6 Niang was highly recruited coming out of high school and eventually committed to Texas Christian University (TCU) in 2016. In his first collegiate season, Niang played 12 of the Horned Frogs’ 13 games as a true freshman and went on to become started midway through his sophomore season.
In 2017, he helped lead the Frogs to the program’s first-ever berth in the Big 12 Championship Game and a win in the 2017 Alamo Bowl over Stanford.
During his junior year at TCU, Niang did not allow a sack his entire season and earned 2nd Team All-Big 12 honors before leading the team to a win over California in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl.
Niang was forced to end his senior season early after doctors recommended he get surgery to repair a torn hip labrum.
During the 2020 NFL Draft, Niang was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round with the 96th pick overall. He chose to opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has played 19 games with the Chiefs – including 7 this season.
JACK DRISCOLL
Driscoll is an offensive tackle with the Philadelphia Eagles. The 25-year-old was born in Madison and his father John played football at New Hampshire and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 12th round in 1988.
In Connecticut, Driscoll attended Daniel Hand High School where he was a three-star recruit and earned team MVP honors following his senior year.
He was recruited by UMass (and turned down an offer from Army), where he had some impressive numbers. He started eight games as a redshirt freshman before starting all 12 games in his sophomore year. That year, he was named to the All-ECAC Second Team.
After graduating from UMass in three years with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management, Driscoll still had two years of college football eligibility remaining. He transferred to Auburn where he played for two more years and earned his graduate degree.
In total, Driscoll saw action in 46 career games during college – starting each of his last 45.
The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Driscoll in the fourth round with the 145th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He has appeared in 37 games for the Eagles.
You can watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on FOX.
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