Superstars in the NFL That Have Never Played A Super Bowl

While Tom Brady, Joe Montana and the vast majority of the members of the famed Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the 1970s have all made multiple Super Bowl appearances, there is a multitude of NFL stars that have never had the pleasure of appearing in a Super Bowl showdown. Now, let’s take a look at my top 14 players to never appear in a Super Bowl.

NFL Superstars That Have Never Played A Super Bowl Game

Barry Sanders

Arguably the greatest running back in NFL history, Barry Sanders reached the postseason five times in his 10-year career with the Detroit Lions but never came close to reaching the Super Bowl, though it wasn’t for a lack of effort. The 10-time Pro Bowler and Co-MVP of the 1997 season was an absolute joy to watch and an absolute nightmare to tackle. Unfortunately, he played the entirety of his career with the pitiful Lions.

LaDainian Tomlinson

Tomlinson played for the San Diego Chargers for nine seasons before finishing up the final two years of his career with the New York Jets. In 11 seasons, Tomlinson won the 2006 MVP ward and rushed for 13,684 yards and a phenomenal 145 touchdowns, but he never played in a Super Bowl.

Eric Dickerson

The second pick in the 1983 draft, Eric Dickerson was a 6-time Pro Bowl selection, the NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1986) and three-time NFC Offensive Player of the Year, but he never reached a Super Bowl despite racking up 13,259 rushing yards and setting records for the most rushing yards by a rookie (1,808) and the most rushing yards in a single season (2,105)

O.J. Simpson

Sure, ‘The Juice’ is more known these days for his high-profile murder trial, but the fact of the matter is that Simpson was one of the greatest running backs in NFL history and stands today as the only player to ever rush for over 2,00 yards – in a 14-game season. Simpson earned five Pro Bowl selections and won the league MVP award in 1973 and finished his career with a stellar 11,236 rushing yards.

Earl Campbell

I remember watching Campbell win three straight league MVP awards from 1978-1980 while running over, around and mostly through, overmatched defenders for the old Houston Oilers. The five-time Pro Bowler played seven seasons in Houston and two with the New Orleans Saints while rushing for over 1,300 yards in each of the first four seasons of his career and five times overall.

Tony Gonzalez

Gonzalez is arguably the best tight end in NFL history (It’s still Kellen Winslow for me) and it’s easy to see why. Gonzalez was selected to a jaw-dropping 14 Pro Bowls while recording 15,127 receiving yards and an insane 11 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Gonzalez was never fortunate enough to play in a Super Bowl.

Warren Moon

Moon, who went undrafted after leaving the University of Washington in 1977, won an impressive five Grey Cup championships in the Canadian Football League while bagging two league MVP awards (1980, 1982) and one Most Outstanding Player ward (1983) but he never managed to reach a Super Bowl in the NFL despite being good enough to earn nine Pro Bowl honors, a league MVP and an NFL Offensive Player of the Year award in 1990.