College football programs send players to the NFL. BYU ends winners.
The all-time BYU NFL team includes 18 players who have appeared in Super Bowls. Eleven of those players have won a combined 22 rings. Eight of those players won multi-rings, including former San Francisco teammates Steve Young and Tom Holmoe with three apiece. Young was the MVP of the 1995 Super Bowl when he passed for 325 yards and six touchdowns in a victory over the San Diego Chargers.
Center Bart Oates owns five rings – three from Super Bowls plus two from USFL championships. He won his USFL rings with the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars and his Super Bowl rings with the New York Giants (two) and 49ers.
In addition to the 11 winners, guard Paul Howard played in two Super Bowls with the Broncos in 1978 and 1987 while punter Lee Johnson (Cincinnati, 1989), defensive tackle Jason Buck (Cincinnati, 1989) defensive tackle Travis Hall (Atlanta, 1999), offensive tackle John Tait (Chicago, 2007), wide receiver Austin Collie (Indianapolis, 2010) and linebacker Fred Warner (San Francisco, 2020) all played in one apiece. Also, cornerback Dick Felts played in an AFL title game during the pre-Super Bowl era.
The Super Bowl rings do not end with the 27 members of BYU’s all-time NFL team, though. Quarterback Jim McMahon won two such rings, one was a starter with the 1985 Chicago Bears and the other as a backup with the 1996 Green Bay Packers, and linebacker Kyle Van Noy also collected two with the New England Patriots. Linebacker Brady Poppinga (Green Bay, 2010) and tight end Dennis Pitta (Baltimore Ravens, 2012) own one Super Bowl ring apiece.
McMahon was a college teammate of Holmoe, Lee Johnson, Oates, Vai Sikahema, Young and Andy Reid, who won Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers and head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Here is the all-time BYU NFL team:
QB—Steve Young, Hall of Fame
*-HB—Jamaal Williams, 5 seasons, 2,586 rushing yards, 21 touchdowns
FB—Bill Ring, 6 seasons, 228 touches, 8 touchdowns, 2 Super Bowl rings
WR—Austin Collie, 5 seasons, 179 receptions, 16 touchdowns
WR—Golden Richards, 7 seasons, 122 receptions, 17 touchdowns, Super Bowl ring
TE—Todd Christensen, 5 Pro Bowls, 2-time NFL receiving champion, 2 Super Bowl rings
T—John Tait, 10 seasons, 139 starts
T—Gordon Gravelle, 8 seasons, 68 starts, 2 Super Bowl rings
G—Paul Howard, 13 seasons, 147 starts
G—Larry Moore, 8 seasons, 73 starts
C—Bart Oates, 5 Pro Bowls, 11 seasons, 165 starts, 3 Super Bowl rings
DE—Ezekiel Ansah, Pro Bowl, 8 seasons, 50 ½ sacks
DE—Brett Keisel, Pro Bowl, 12 seasons, 30 sacks, 2 Super Bowl rings
DT—Travis Hall, 11 seasons, 42 sacks
DT—Jason Buck, 7 seasons, 19 sacks
*-LB—Fred Warner, Pro Bowl, 4 seasons, 504 tackles
LB—Rob Morris, 8 seasons, 489 tackles, Super Bowl ring
LB—Kurt Gouveia, 13 seasons, 846 tackles, 2 Super Bowl rings
CB—Dick Felt, 2 Pro Bowls, 7 seasons, 18 interceptions
*-CB—Michael Davis, 5 seasons, 49 starts, 6 interceptions
S—Daniel Sorensen, 8 seasons, 12 interceptions, Super Bowl ring
S—Tom Holmoe, 6 seasons, 7 interceptions, 3 Super Bowl rings
K—Owen Pochman, 2 seasons, 8 field goals, 33 points
P—Lee Johnson, 18 seasons, his 1,226 punts 6th in NFL history
KR—Vai Sikahema, 2 Pro Bowls, 527 kickoff & punt returns, 5 touchdowns
*-ST—Taysom Hill, 5 seasons, QB who blocked a punt in 2019
LS—John Denney, 2 Pro Bowls, 14 seasons, 224 games
*-Still active