Randy Gregory was just a little over seven minutes away from completing a strange odyssey.
The Cowboys’ second round pick of the 2015 Draft – 60th overall – was a promising young defensive lineman out of Nebraska.
That promise went up in smoke – literally. Dallas drafted him despite his positive test for marijuana at the combine.
He played in 12 of the Cowboys’ 16 games in his rookie season.
Gregory was suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy for the first 15 weeks of the 2016 season.
He played in the final two games of that year, collecting a sack and eight tackles. He was then suspended for the entire 2017 season.
Gregory saw action in 14 of 16 games and had six sacks and 19 tackles.
But he was suspended again for all of the 2019 season and the first six weeks of the 2020 campaign.
Gregory played in 10 games in 2020 and 12 of the 17 games in 2021.
The Cowboys thought they had agreed to a contract with Gregory prior to the 2022 campaign. An announcement was actually made to that effect.
But Gregory suddenly changed his mind and signed a similar deal with the Denver Broncos instead.
The change of scenery did not produce the desired result as Gregory only played in six games in 2022. He played just four games in Denver in 2023.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton had seen enough and Gregory was traded to 49ers on Oct. 6th.
In 10 games with the 49ers he had 2.5 sacks and 11 tackles. He added five tackles in the playoffs, including one in the Super Bowl.
For a few minutes it looked like he was going to cap his journey with a Super Bowl ring.
But Patrick Mahomes had other ideas. Still Gregory came a lot closer to capturing that elusive Lombardi this year than anyone on his former team did.
It Always Happens In Threes
The 49ers loss on Sunday was the third-straight loss in Super Bowl appearance for the franchise. San Francisco joins Cincinnati with three consecutive Super Bowl losses.
The 49ers did win their first five championship game appearances while the Bengals have never won a title.
The Broncos, Vikings and Bills all have four straight Super Bowl losses on their resume.
Denver at least has three Lombardi trophies in their eight Super Bowl games played. Minnesota went 0-4 from 1970 to 1977.
Buffalo of course lost four straight in consecutive Super Bowls from 1991-94, two at the hands of the Cowboys.
The Cowboys have never lost consecutive Super Bowls in their eight appearances.
The Leaderboard
The New England Patriots (6-5) and Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) remain alone at the top with the most Lombardi trophies.
The Cowboys (5-3) and 49ers (5-3) remain tied for third. Kansas City (4-2) moved up into a tie for fifth with the Giants (4-1), and Packers (4-1).
The Broncos (3-5), Raiders (3-2), and Commanders (3-2) are tied for eight and round up the Top 10 in Super Bowl wins.
Only four teams have won a Super Bowl without losing one. The Tampa Bay and the Ravens are both 2-0.
The Saints and Jets are both 1-0.
All Tied Up
Kansas City’s win leveled the Super Bowl record between the NFC and the AFC at 29 wins each.
The NFC’s dominating run of winning 15 of the 16 Super Bowls played between 1982 and 1997 had given the conference a sizable lead.
The Patriots run to kick off the 21st Century helped the AFC catch up. The Chiefs’ back-to-back Super Bowl run helped tie it up again.
The AFC is now 15-10 in the Super Bowls played in this century.