Tennessee football: Unheralded Vols steal NFL headlines in final week of 2021 season

The San Francisco 49ers are in the playoffs, and it’s solely due to the efforts of two overlooked former Tennessee football players. Jauan Jennings scored two touchdowns, and Emmanuel Moseley secured an interception as they beat the Los Angeles Rams 27-24.

Sticking with the tradition this past decade of unheralded Vols stealing headlines, that was never truer than Sunday. Entering the final week of the NFL Season, Alvin Kamara made headlines with some comments about his teammate with the New Orleans Saints, Marquez Callaway.

Kamara fell to the third round of the NFL Draft in 2017 and has made the Pro Bowl every year since then. Callaway went undrafted in 2020 and became the Saints’ No. 1 receiver this year. Here’s what Kamara said about Callaway, as the two were teammates in 2016.

A day after Callaway made those comments, Trey Smith completed his first season with the Kansas City Chiefs, starting every game at guard. He did that despite being a sixth-round draft pick and paved the way for Patrick Mahomes, who was only sacked once in the game, along with helping the team rush for 4.7 yards a carry en route to a 28-24 win over the Denver Broncos.

It was Callaway’s and Kamara’s turn to show out the next day. With a potential playoff berth on the line, Kamara ran for 146 yards and had 16 receiving yards, helping New Orleans beat Atlanta 30-20. Callaway wasn’t able to live up to his hype, as he had no catches, but he commanded enough attention to allow Tre’Quan Smith have 76 yards and a touchdown.

Beyond Callaway and Kamara, though, another undrafted Vol helped carry the Saints to victory. Shy Tuttle had a key fumble recovery along with three tackles. Although they won the game, they weren’t able to get into the postseason, but Tuttle and Kamara did their part.

Then came that San Francisco game. Moseley was an undrafted free agent in 2018, and Jennings fell to the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft while not making the roster his rookie season. Both came up huge Sunday.

Jennings had six catches for 94 yards to go with his scores. The first was a 24-yard catch from Deebo Samuel, who threw it to him on a trick play. That tied the game up at 17 after Los Angeles had built a 17-0 lead in the first half.

On the next drive, Moseley intercepted a Matthew Stafford pass.  Late in the game, with San Francisco now trailing 24-17, Jennings caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo with 26 seconds left to send the game into overtime. Two catches by Jennings in overtime for 33 yards set up the 49ers’ go-ahead field goal, and they won after stopping LA.

Although New Orleans has become the haven for unheralded Tennessee football players becoming stars, San Francisco is starting to become just as tough competition. Jennings is finally starting to emerge, and he and Moseley were the players of the game Sunday. They are why the Niners are in the playoffs. It was a day to remember for overlooked former Vols.