For the ninth straight year, the University of Tennessee football program will have a former player in the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia defensive end Derek Barnett will become the 68th ex-Volunteer to play in a Super Bowl - and the ninth to do so in his rookie season - when the Eagles and New England Patriots clash Sunday night in Minneapolis.
"A lot of guys have been in the league eight to 10 years and haven't been to the Super Bowl," Barnett told reporters this week. "So they've been preaching that to us and just saying to take advantage of the opportunity because it doesn't come around a lot."
Barnett, the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, has tallied five sacks this season while earning playing time on a deep defensive line. While doing so, he has kept pace with five other defensive ends who were also selected in the first rounds of their respective drafts.
"Oh, man. Derek is really one of the greatest rookies I've been around," said Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, a Pro Bowl selection this year. "He's come to work every day. He listens. He takes coaching."
Barnett, a Nashville native, forced a fumble while making a sack as the Eagles romped over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game two weeks ago. It was a highlight-reel moment in a rookie season that could have been Barnett's senior year of college if he had remained with the Vols.
Instead, with three bowl victories and the school's all-time sacks record in hand, Barnett turned pro.
Asked about the best lesson he has learned as a rookie, Barnett said "you can't get too high, can't get too low."
"You've got to stay level-headed because it's a long season," Barnett said. "College - I've probably played a double college season by now - so you stay the course and keep it going, and when the season is over, then you can relax."
The player Barnett surpassed for Tennessee's all-time sacks record last year was Chattanooga native Reggie White. Like Barnett, White started his NFL career in Philadelphia. White was twice named NFC player of the year while with the Eagles from 1985 to 1992. He won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers later in his career, but White never played in one while with the Eagles, who lost in both of their previous Super Bowl appearances (1980, 2005).
Now Barnett gets the opportunity to be part of another Super Bowl chapter in franchise history.
"It would mean everything," Barnett said of a Philadelphia victory. "I feel like it was everybody's dream when they were younger to get here and win. We're playing in it, but we're not here just to play in it. We're here to go win it."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.