Eight #PackPros on NFL Playoff Rosters

RALEIGH, N.C. – With the NFL playoffs getting underway this weekend, a total of eight former #PackPros find themselves, and their NFL squads, in contention for the Super Bowl on February 7 in Tampa Bay.

QB Philip Rivers played his first season with the Indianapolis Colts and led them to just their second playoff berth over the last six seasons. Rivers once again started all 16 games in 2020, running his consecutive starts streak in regular season games up to 240 games dating back to 2006. Rivers will be making his 12th playoff start.

In 2020, Rivers threw for 4,169 yards, his eighth straight season over 4,000 yards, and also 24 touchdowns as the Colts went 11-5.

'NC State Midwest' will also feature two more former Wolfpack players, RB Nyheim Hines and QB Jacoby Brissett. Hines led the Colts in receiving this season, catching 63 passes and scoring four touchdowns. He also rushed for career-best 380 yards and three more scores. In his three-year career, Hines has 893 rushing yards and 170 catches for 1,227 yards with 13 total TDs.

Brissett has played the Wildcat in recent games, seeing action in each of the last nine games. The Colts will travel to Buffalo on Saturday.

Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West and have now made the playoffs in eight of Wilson's nine NFL seasons. He will be starting his 16^th playoff game this weekend when Seattle hosts the LA Rams.

Wilson was a Pro Bowl selection for the seventh time in 2020, as he threw for 4,212 yards (the second-most of his career) and a career-high 40 touchdowns.

Jaylen Samuels was a member of the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Samuels has played in 42 career games in his three NFL seasons. The Steelers will host the Browns Sunday night.

A pair of #PackPro rookies each made the playoffs in their first NFL seasons.

Fifth round pick Larrell Murchison and the Tennessee Titans will face the Colts this weekend. The former Pack DT saw action in 10 games his rookie season, posting five tackles and one tackle for loss.

Another member of the Pack's defensive line from 2019 to get drafted was James Smith-Williams by the Washington Football Team in the seventh round. As a rookie, Smith-Williams has played in 14 games and has 10 tackles, three tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. Washington will host Tampa Bay.

WR Kelvin Harmon of the Washington Football Team missed his entire second pro season suffering a knee injury over the summer.

#PackPros Notebook:
• Former NC State great Torry Holt was recently named a finalist for the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, his second straight year as a finalist. Holt is one of 15 finalists, and The Hall of Fame selection committee will select four to eight finalists to make it to Canton

• NC State had a pair of former players earn a Pro Bowl bid. In addition to Wilson, Bradley Chubb earned a Pro Bowl berth for the first time in his three-year career. After being limited to four games last season, Chubb came back strong in 2020 and was second on the team with 7.5 sacks while also adding 42 tackles. Chubb started the first 14 games of the season after missing the final two. Thus far, he has 20.5 career sacks.

• In addition to Hines leading the Colts in receiving this season, a second former Pack player also led his AFC squad in catches. Former Pack WR Jakobi Meyers led the New England Patriots in receiving this season, his second year in the league. He finished the season with 59 catches for 729 yards, while starting nine games and playing in 14 overall.

• NC State lived up to the #QBU moniker, as four different former Pack QBs started a game this season, and a fifth played in 11 games off the bench. Rivers and Wilson each started all 16 regular season games, while Brissett was Rivers' back-up with the Colts – all three are in the playoffs. Mike Glennon started five of the final six games for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Ryan Finley had one start for the Cincinnati Bengals – a home win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Bradley Chubb

Ryan Finley

Kelvin Harmon

Nyheim Hines

Jakobi Meyers

Larrell Murchison

Jaylen Samuels

James Smith-Williams

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