Super Bowl Sooners: How Creed Humphrey Rose from Oklahoma to the NFL's Best

His whole career has been blessed with amazing quarterbacks, but other pros and former Sooners explain what makes the former OU center a star in this year's Super Bowl.

There’s no hyperbole when examining Creed Humphrey. His blocking grades and his efficiency speak for themselves.

In two seasons playing center for the Kansas City Chiefs, more than 2,300 regular-season snaps, the former Oklahoma Sooner has twice posted the highest grade among all NFL centers. This season, his second, he was voted to the Pro Bowl. He also landed on the NFLPA All-Pro team. According to Pro Football Focus, Humphrey has allowed just one quarterback sack and two QB hits in his 34 games.

But rather than poring over statistics and ratings, just take a listen to one of his offensive linemates — and another former Sooner who’s now a Pro Bowler.

“My favorite Creed Humphrey play? Man,” said Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown, giving it a little thought at this week’s Super Bowl media activities.

“We were playing the Raiders last year,” Brown said, “and he got in space on a screen, and he, like, dumped a linebacker and then hopped over a DB. It was like a 30-yard gain. He’s always flashing on film with plays like that. … That’s when I was like, ‘Whoa.’“

Humphrey’s humble beginnings stretch back to Shawnee, OK. He wrestled, played football and was generally bigger and stronger than just about everyone. When he got to Oklahoma as a 4-star prospect in 2017 — a U.S. All-American and the third-ranked center in the nation, according to 247 Sports — he was indeed a priority recruit.

But he spent that first year as a redshirt. While Brown was anchoring the offensive line for Baker Mayfield, Hollywood Brown, CeeDee Lamb, Rodney Anderson, and so many NFL-bound blockers on a supremely talented team that should have beaten Georgia in the Rose Bowl — Humphrey was sitting on the bench.

He broke into the lineup the following year and, blocking for Kyler Murray, helped lead the Sooners back to the College Football Playoff. He snapped the ball to Jalen Hurts — Sunday’s opponent with the Philadelphia Eagles — in 2019, and in 2020, he was the triggerman for Spencer Rattler.

Creed Humphrey / Michael Chow-USA TODAY Sports

Now he’s the first line of protection for Patrick Mahomes, a former NFL MVP (and possibly this year’s as well) and Super Bowl champion.

“Yeah, I’ve been extremely lucky with the quarterbacks I’ve had, definitely,” Humphrey said.

“Playing with Patrick has been a complete blessing. It’s not every day you get to say you’re blocking for a guy that’s won a Super Bowl, won MVP, things like that in his career, especially in such a short career. So just being with him, being around him, has made me a better football player, just picking his brain, seeing how he watches film, seeing his competitive edge, all that. It’s helped me out these past two years.

“The things I’ve learned the most being around him is how he mentally processes things on the field, what he’s seeing, things like that. So I’ve been able to really grow in that aspect of my game, and that’s been huge for me.”

The 6-foot-4, 302-pound Humphrey is the unquestioned expert on both Super Bowl QBs.

“Yeah, I guess I’m the only one that’s snapped to both of them. So yeah,” he said. “ … There’s reasons why they’re both great. Both of ‘em are super competitive. Both of ‘em have that processing ability on the field to be able to read things, read defenses, things like that. Both of ‘em do a great job throughout the week watching film, understanding the scheme they’re playing against, things like that. There’s always those certain traits that make quarterbacks good, and they both have that.

“They both have those traits. They both have that competitive edge. They both have that want to be better. They both have the motivation to become better, to be able to study throughout the week, things like that. They both have those traits, so it’s really cool to see.”

Only in his second season, Humphrey has already put together two years of elite center play. After earning a 91.8 grade as a rookie, Humphrey hovered around the same mark this season and, like Lindstrom, profiles well when looking at the stable metrics among centers. He placed in the 93rd percentile this season in pass-blocking grade, 95th in pass-blocking grade without play action and 98th in positively graded run plays. He also did not allow a sack.

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Pro Football Focus

They also both have elite centers. Philadelphia’s Jason Kelce — brother of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — is a 12-year NFL veteran who’s widely considered the league’s best center. Kelce is this year’s first-team All-Pro — his fourth time at the top of the heap.

But anyone who doesn’t think Kelce is the league’s best center likely leans toward Humphrey.

While Kelce is his best friend and Eagles o-line teammate and he’ll always cast a vote there, another former Sooner, right tackle Lane Johnson, counts himself as a believer in Humphrey.

“Creed, he made the Pro Bowl this year, he’ll be a Hall of Fame-type guy, that trajectory, if he stays healthy,” said Johnson, who’s widely regarded as the NFL’s best right tackle. “He’s just a great person. I got to know him last year when he was playing, and then obviously through the draft process, we have the same agent. Just a good guy.”

Creed Humphrey / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Both the Eagles and the Chiefs recently won a Super Bowl. But both casts have changed. Among former Sooners, Johnson was with the 2017-18 Eagles, and long snapper James Winchester and tight end Blake Bell were with the 2019-20 Chiefs.

So for Humphrey, who lost in last year’s AFC Championship Game, this process is still new — but not too new, thanks to his time at Oklahoma.

“Guys in the locker room, they’ve kind of described everything pretty well,” Humphrey said. “So I kind of knew what to expect. It’s been kind of similar going to the College Football Playoff, things like that. You have a big media night, media a lot, things like that, doing a bunch of activities. So it’s definitely been something that’s not too foreign to me because of that.”

Humphrey said his mom and dad are definitely the most “pumped about it. I’ve heard from a lot of people back home, and it’s been awesome to see the support from the people back home.

“For me, I’m just taking it day by day and making sure I’m focusing on the right things, and the right things are gonna be preparing for the game. So that’s been my focus, just taking it day by day and improving on the game plan and things like that.”

Creed Humphrey / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

That sounds like how Johnson characterized his last Super Bowl trip: hyper-focused on playing well and winning. Now a 10-year NFL veteran — his final year at OU was 2012, while Humphrey was still in junior high — Johnson seemed to expressed a tinge of regret this week that he didn’t spend more time with family and friends back then, and said he’s made more personal time this year to share his experiences and good fortune.

Maybe he’ll even reach out to Humphrey.

“I’ve gotten a chance to talk to Lane a lot, hang out with Lane, work out with him, things like that,” Humphrey said.

As of early this week, they hadn’t touched base.

“Not yet,” Humphrey said. “But I’m sure we’ll talk eventually this week.”

“I feel like he’s gonna be the heart and soul of that offensive line for years,” Johnson said. “And he doesn’t say a whole lot, but he’s an entertaining guy, too.”