Former Tennessee football defensive end Derek Barnett joined legendary NFL Volunteers with a play to clinch the Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles.
In April of 2017, we said the Philadelphia Eagles got a steal by getting Derek Barnett. Less than 10 months later, the Tennessee football record-holder for career sacks recovered a Tom Brady fumble to clinch the first Super Bowl for the Eagles in history.
Barnett, like the rest of the Eagles, surprisingly had trouble getting to Brady all night. And, in Brady fashion, he had an amazing Super Bowl performance. The guy threw for three touchdowns and over 500 years.
Late in the game, the Eagles scored a go-ahead touchdown and gave him the ball with two timeouts and the two-minute warning. Down 38-33, everybody in the world assumed Brady would lead a game-winning touchdown again.
But after getting no sacks all night, the Eagles’ defense finally came through. Brandon Graham finally got to Brady and strip-sacked him. The ball rolled right to Barnett, and he recovered.
After that, the Eagles were able to run more clock and kick a field goal, taking an eight-point lead and giving the Pats less than a minute with no timeouts to go the length of the field at the end of the game. Make no mistake, this was one of the most important plays of the game, tied with Zach Ertz’s go-ahead touchdown for the most important.
And although he had no stats all night, Barnett made the key recovery on that play. This is indicative of Barnett’s career.
He always saved his best games with Tennessee football for the biggest moments, as everybody knows. And he did the same in the NFL, scoring five sacks as a rookie, all in games against either divisional teams or playoff teams.
Then he had a strip-sack in the NFC Championship to break the game open. He finished his rookie campaign with the fumble recovery that would clinch the Eagles’ Super Bowl win.
Barnett is now a Tennessee football legend not just in college but the NFL. He joins Peyton Manning, Willie Gault and Reggie White for former Vols making huge plays in the Super Bowl. That he did it against Manning’s long-time rival Brady is even sweeter for Tennessee football fans.
It’s unclear what’s in the future for Barnett. But he looks like he’s going to turn into an elite player. And to make such a huge play to win a Super Bowl as a rookie is one of the most remarkable things a former Vol has ever done.