Tracking the Conference Championships: Bama in the NFL

Five former Crimson Tide players still have a chance to win a Super Bowl ring this season, four on the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kristi F. Patrick | Jan 27, 2023

Tracking the Conference Championships: Bama in the NFL /

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Alabama Crimson Tide

We're down to five former Alabama Crimson Tide players:

The Bengals and Chiefs are playing in a conference championship for the second straight year, something rare in NFL history.

Since the 1970 merger, the same two teams have met in consecutive conference championships on only six occasions.

Dallas defeated San Francisco in both 1970 and ‘71, the Steelers took two of three from the Raiders (1974-76), the Steelers captured two straight over the Houston Oilers from 1978-79, the Broncos edged the Cleveland Browns in consecutive thrillers (1986-87), Dallas took two of three from San Francisco (1992-94) and the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots split two straight AFC title games from 2011-12.

Some of those games famously include some former Alabama players including quarterback Kenny Stabler with the Raiders. Cornerback Jeremiah Castille, while playing with the Broncos in the 1987 AFC Championship Game, stripped the ball from Brown running back Earnest Byner on the play subsequently called "the Fumble."

Two things stand out about this season's conference championships:

1) Its the first time that all four finalists have had at least 14 wins, including playoffs.

2) The young quarterbacks.

The four starters – Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and San Francisco’s Brock Purdy – represent the youngest group of conference championship quarterbacks since conference championship play began in 1970, averaging 25 years and 98 days old on Sunday.

Previously, the youngest quartet was the 1996 conference championships, when the four starters averaged 25 years and 231 days.

Georgia quarterback Brock Bennett was 25 when he helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back national titles earlier this month.

He was older than 11 starting NFL quarterbacks, including Hurts and Purdy. Also on that list are Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and even Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Bama in the NFL Database

Published Jan 27, 2023

KRISTI F. PATRICK

Kristi Patrick turned a lifetime passion into a popular blog called the LadyinRed, which for years followed Crimson Tide athletes in the pro ranks, especially the NFL. That devotion began with the likes of Tony Nathan with the Miami Dolphins, and Kenny Stabler on the Oakland Raiders, and continues today with the Bama in the NFL Database. She's been with BamaCentral since 2020, and is also a travel agent with TravelMation.