Oklahoma Football: Former Sooners in the NFL Playoffs
By Chip Rouse
While the Oklahoma football season is over, several former Sooners are on teams that are still alive in this year’s National Football League playoffs.
The rosters of seven of the eight playoff teams remaining include former Oklahoma players. Only the Seattle Seahawks do not have a former Oklahoma Sooner on the active roster.
The Kansas City Chiefs have four Oklahoma players on the roster, the most of any of the remaining playoff teams. Two former Sooners play for the Arizona Cardinals, who earned a bye during the wild-card round, but begin playoff action this weekend against the Green Bay Packers, who feature one former OU player.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots each include one former Sooner on the active roster.
Tony Jefferson (2010-12), a safety for the Arizona Cardinals, has seen more action this season than any of the former Oklahoma players who are on NFL playoff teams. Jefferson, who is in his third NFL season, has played in all 16 of the Cardinals’ games this season and has 74 tackles and is credited with two quarterback sacks and two interceptions.
Jermaine Gresham (2006-09), who was a first-round selection by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2010 NFL Draft, also is on the Arizona Cardinals’ roster. The former Sooner tight end saw action in all but one of the 16 regular-season games for the Cardinals this season. He was targeted 32 times and made 18 receptions for 223 yards and a touchdown. for
Donald Stephenson (2008-11), an offensive lineman for Kansas City, also saw quite a bit of action for the Kansas City Chiefs this season. He played in all 16 regular-season games and started in the Chiefs’ 30-0 playoff victory over the Houston Texans this past weekend. Stephenson is in his fourth NFL season. He has been used both as a starter and as a reserve.
The Chiefs also have defensive back Jamell Fleming (2008-11) on the roster. Fleming, in his third NFL season and on his second NFL team (his first stop was with Arizona), saw action in all 16 games for Kansas City in the regular season, accounting for 21 total tackles and five passes defended. The Chiefs also include long-snapper James Winchester (2010-11) and defensive end David King (2009-12) on this year’s roster.
Former OU quarterback Landry Jones 2009-12), has seen action in seven games this season for Pittsburgh backing up All-Pro QB Ben Roethlisberger. Jones has completed 58.2-percent of his passes this season (32 of 55) for 513 yards and three touchdowns along with four interceptions. Jones is in his third full season with the Steelers. When he was at Oklahoma, Jones set the Big 12 all-time record for passing yards (16,646).
Also on active NFL playoff rosters are offensive tackle Daryl Williams (2011-14) for the Carolina Panthers, defensive lineman Geneo Grissom (2011-14) of the New England Patriots, linebacker Corey Nelson (2010-13) of the Denver Broncos and fullback Aaron Ripkowski (2011-14) of the Green Bay Packers. Wiiliams, Grissom and Ripkowski are all NFL rookies this season.