“You Could Be At This Level Too”
February 07, 2025 | Football, Joel Coleman
Chris Jones and Darius Slay continue to show Stark Vegas can send a football career skyrocketing.
STARKVILLE – You can accomplish absolutely anything at Mississippi State.
For proof, look no further than your television screen this Sunday when at Super Bowl LIX, two of the key competitors will be Bulldogs. Sure, defensive lineman Chris Jones will be wearing the red and gold of the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile Darius "Big Play" Slay will be donning the green of the Philadelphia Eagles.
But the common threads between the two are forever colored Maroon and White.
"Mississippi State is everything to me," Jones said at a press conference earlier this week. "They offered me when I was a junior [in high school and it was my] first year playing football. I have so much love for my Mississippi State family, the Bulldog family."
And what about Slay's thoughts?
"Hail State, man," Slay was quick to chime in as he chatted with reporters.
While at the podium for #SuperBowlLIX Opening Night, Chris Jones and Darius Slay spoke about what Mississippi State University means to them. #ChiefsKingdom #FlyEaglesFly #HailState pic.twitter.com/A0Rc4Ng1uc
— Jevan McCoskey (@JevanWXXV) February 4, 2025
They'll be foes on Sunday, but it's evident Jones and Slay are Dawg kin. They're united as walking examples of how MSU provides the path to go from State to Sundays to the Super Bowl.
That goes for aspiring athletes with backgrounds of all sorts. Jones was a high school recruit just down the road from State, over in Houston, Mississippi. Slay was recruited out of high school as well but ended up spending two years at Itawamba Community College before turning into a State superstar.
Two different roads led to the same result: the biggest stage in all of football. Or to be more accurate: the biggest stage in all of football AGAIN.
Sunday will be Slay's second Super Bowl appearance. He's still looking for his first ring though after his Eagles fell to Jones' Chiefs two years ago.
Meanwhile Jones is about to play in the big game for the fifth time, tying MSU great D.D. Lewis for the most-ever Super Bowl appearances by a Bulldog. Jones has already won more Super Bowls than any other former MSU player. He's aiming for his fourth career title this weekend.
So, which Dawgs will be following in the footsteps of Slay and Jones in the years to come? It could be any of them, because stardom starts in Starkville.
"I just tell those guys [at Mississippi State] to keep working," Slay said. "Y'all keep putting that work in [and] it's going to pay off and you could be at this level too."
Said Jones: "Hail State for life."
