Gophers Boye Mafe and Nick Kallerup Super Bowl Champions!

[GopherLady]

Press release via the U of MN:
Mafe, Kallerup Become Super Bowl Champions as Seattle Beats New England

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots, 29-13, in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif., making former Gophers Boye Mafe and Nick Kallerup Super Bowl champions.

Mafe played in 42 career games for Minnesota from 2017-21. He made 87 tackles (59 solo) and totaled 19.5 tackles for loss and 15 sacks. Mafe also forced three fumbles and broke up three passes. Seattle drafted Mafe with the No. 40 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Kallerup spent 2019-2024 playing for Minnesota where he appeared in 57 games, seeing action on offense and special teams. He ended his career with 14 receptions for 151 yards and one touchdown and provided tremendous blocking for Minnesota's offense.

Former Gopher linebacker Jack Gibbens represented New England in the Super Bowl.

Gibbens spent the 2021 season at Minnesota after transferring from Abilene Christian University. He started all 13 games he played in for Minnesota and led the team with 92 tackles and 56 solo tackles. Gibbens also notched 4.5 tackles for loss, broke up three passes and forced one fumble for the Maroon and Gold.

 

[Willwin40]

Kallerup was inactive. Will he still get a ring?

 

[MNVCGUY]

Kallerup was inactive. Will he still get a ring?

Yes.

Looking online the team gets like 150 rings to distribute as they see fit to players and staff. Typically means anyone on the active roster, IR, practice squad, etc....gets a ring so Kallerup will definitely get one.

Mafe didn't get much in the way of stats during the game but he played a key role on the D that played awesome for Seattle. I get why they gave the MVP to Kenneth Walker but the Defense was the true MVP of that game (but no individual player did enough to win the award).

Congrats to Boye and Nick on the Super Bowl win....their team definitely deserved it.

 

[Stan]

 

[PMWinSTP]

For a while, the kicker was the MVP.

 

[RememberMurray]

For a while, the kicker was the MVP.

No. Excellent defenses — by both teams.

As good as Kenneth Walker III was, it's a travesty that someone on defense didn't get MVP.

 

[50PoundHead]

Yes.

Looking online the team gets like 150 rings to distribute as they see fit to players and staff. Typically means anyone on the active roster, IR, practice squad, etc....gets a ring so Kallerup will definitely get one.

Mafe didn't get much in the way of stats during the game but he played a key role on the D that played awesome for Seattle. I get why they gave the MVP to Kenneth Walker but the Defense was the true MVP of that game (but no individual player did enough to win the award).

Congrats to Boye and Nick on the Super Bowl win....their team definitely deserved it.

Mafe almost got a sack. Maye unloaded the ball just as Mafe was getting into his bubble. I don't know what his status is vis-a-vis free agency, but he's the kind of guy who is going to stick around in the league because he's so athletic. Seattle uses a hybrid 4-3 that incorporates a lot of 3-4 schemes, so Mafe is the kind of guy who can move around a bit on a defense.

 

[MNVCGUY]

No. Excellent defenses — by both teams.

As good as Kenneth Walker III was, it's a travesty that someone on defense didn't get MVP.

Darnold made a classy move in the trophy presentation to specifically call out the defense.

Problem from the MVP standpoint was there was not one player on the D that truly stood out, it was a dominant effort but it was a team effort. Had someone really popped (the way Gonzalez did for NE) I think they would have gone that way with the award.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Mafe almost got a sack. Maye unloaded the ball just as Mafe was getting into his bubble. I don't know what his status is vis-a-vis free agency, but he's the kind of guy who is going to stick around in the league because he's so athletic. Seattle uses a hybrid 4-3 that incorporates a lot of 3-4 schemes, so Mafe is the kind of guy who can move around a bit on a defense.

There was another sack where Mafe initiated the contact but wasn't the guy who ultimately brought him down. Thought maybe he would get a 1/2 sack for that one but in the online box scores he wasn't credited with anything. At least he got the solo tackle so his name shows up in the final stats.

Mafe definitely seems like a guy who will be able to carve out a solid NFL career. He will be an unrestricted free agent so will be interesting to see if he ends up back in Seattle or somewhere else. Not sure if he would fit in Purple but would love to see it.

 

[PMWinSTP]

No. Excellent defenses — by both teams.

As good as Kenneth Walker III was, it's a travesty that someone on defense didn't get MVP.

It's not a group award, so the kicker was the leader a good part of the game. Agree Seahawks defense controlled the game. Could have given it to Nwosu for the INT I guess.