Tennessee football shut out of consecutive Super Bowls for first time since early 1990s
It’s rare when Tennessee football doesn’t have a player on either Super Bowl roster. What’s even more rare, though, is when the Vols go consecutive years without having a former player on either Super Bowl roster. That just happened, though.
In Sunday’s conference championship games, three former Vols were attempting to help their team reach the Super Bowl. Trey Smith was with the Kansas City Chiefs. Jauan Jennings and Emmanuel Moseley were with the San Francisco 49ers.
Both suffered heartbreaking losses, and with the Cincinnati Bengals set to face the Los Angeles Rams, Tennessee football has nobody in the big game. The same was true last year between the Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as Dustin Colquitt, who was with KC when they won it the year before, was no longer their punter.
This marks the first time in exactly 30 years the Vols were shut out of the Super Bowl two seasons in a row. They missed out in 1991 and 1992. Of course, around that time, they were beginning to load up the league with NFL talent, so it was a bit shocking.
The other times they were shut out went beyond two years. They missed it four years in a row from 1973 to 1976 and three years in a row from 1968 to 1970. Yes, this year will mark just the fourth time in history the Vols were shut out of consecutive Super Bowls.
However, being shut out doesn’t always come with bad signs. The last time they were shut out, Tennessee football went through a transition the following year from Johnny Majors to Phillip Fulmer and then entered their golden years of the modern era.
Heck, they were in their golden years of the post-Robert Neyland era the first time they were shut out, from 1968 to 1970. Sure, 1973 to 1976 was a dark time, but a year later, they brought in Johnny Majors to revitalize the program.
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Could this all be a sign of Josh Heupel now revitalizing the program after his first year on the job? Hey, omens have to count for something. From a point of pride, though, it’s likely Tennessee football fans wish they had a team in the title game.