Two Former Gamecocks Crowned Super Bowl Champions

Two former South Carolina Gamecock football standouts, Ernest Jones IV and Nick Emmanwori, earned Super Bowl rings as starters on the defensive side of the ball for the World Champion Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks defeated New England, 29-13, in Super Bowl LX, held Sunday night in Santa Clara, CA.

Jones IV recorded a game-high 11 tackles while Emmanwori logged five tackles for the winning Seahawks.

Jones IV spent three seasons (2018-2020) at South Carolina. He led the team in tackles in both 2019 (97) and 2020 (86). The Waycross, Ga., native was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker and was named a Rex Enright team captain following the 2020 season. His best game came at LSU when he notched a career-high 19 tackles, the most for a Gamecock since the 1987 season. A third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Jones also won a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 and is the first Gamecock to win Super Bowls with two different teams.

Emmanwori also spent three years (2022-2024) as a starting safety in the Carolina Football program. A local product from Irmo, S.C., he was a Freshman All-American in 2022 and an AP First-Team All-American in 2024. He led the team in tackles with 88 in his final season in the Garnet & Black. Emmanwori was a finalist for the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year this season after being the 35th player selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.