‘My kid is playing in the Super Bowl!’ Charlotte-area high school stars set for Big Game
Andy Capone was at his parents’ house in Indian Trail, watching the NFC Championship game two weeks ago with his family, when the best player he’s ever coached at Weddington High School had the best game of his young NFL career.
Playing for Capone’s favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles, Will Shipley — a rookie from Clemson — forced a fumble on a kickoff and scored his first career touchdown in a 55-23 blowout of the Washington Commanders.
“It was surreal,” Capone said. “I was an Eagles fan before Will got there and for him to get drafted to my favorite team, I just had more love for them. And for him to contribute like in did in an NFC Championship game? Man, that was awesome to watch.”
The next day, Shipley was on “Good Morning America,” telling the nation the story about how he was going to his first Super Bowl to play the Kansas City Chiefs.
“So many emotions come with it,” Shipley said on ABC. “It’s been a dream of mine since I knew what football was. So to actually be here and to be going to New Orleans here in a couple weeks … is just unbelievable.”
Shipley, 22, is one of three former Charlotte-area high school stars who will play in Sunday’s game. The other two played at Mallard Creek High School.
D.J. Humphries, a former NFL Pro Bowler who played at Mallard Creek as a senior in 2011, will protect Patrick Mahomes’ blind side as the Chiefs’ reserve left tackle.
Humphries could lock up during Sunday’s game with another former Mallard Creek star: Former Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Davis, who will play in his second Super Bowl.
Davis was a rookie on the Eagles team that lost to the Chiefs, 38-35, two years ago in Super Bowl LVII.
“It’s great. It’s fantastic for both of them,” said former Mallard Creek coach Mike Palmieri. Palmieri coached Humphries and Davis before he left N.C. for a job at Denmark High, near Atlanta, five years ago.
“I’m just proud,” Palmieri said. “I’m not rooting for either side. D.J.’s been (in the NFL) for 11 years and Jordan for three. It’s just amazing how fast time goes. I remember them both sitting in my office at Mallard Creek and they’re telling me it’s their dream to go to the NFL, and now they’re in the Super Bowl.”
Humphries, 31, didn’t allow a sack in his final three years of high school ball. He was a five-star recruit ranked as the No. 1 offensive tackle in his class. After his college career at Florida, he was a first-round pick by the Cardinals in 2015.
Davis, 25, was a first-round pick by the Eagles in the 2022 draft, just months after the college All-American helped Georgia to a national championship.
Davis credits playing for Palmieri at Mallard Creek with shaping the foundation of his game.
“If there is one thing they did, (it) was establish a foundation in football, family and faith,” Davis said. “I wouldn’t be here without them. The love that Mallard Creek had, they essentially just pushed a kid into this position. I’m grateful for them, every single one of them, no matter where they are.”
All three players — Shipley, Davis and Humphries — are expected to have family in the Caesars Superdome to watch Sunday’s game.
James Shipley, Will Shipley’s father, is leaving Friday with his wife and their other son.
“It just feels unreal,” James Shipley said. “This has been a dream of (Will’s) all of his life, and to watch him live it, you can’t describe it. I was at the (NFC Championship) game and I got to talk to him after. That was just a cool family moment. He’s told me all year that he’s ready for the moment. But it really hasn’t hit me yet. He’s still my little baby, my youngest son. I don’t know if it’ll hit me until we’re watching the game Sunday and he’s a returning a kick.
“I don’t think it’ll hit me until then. Like, man, my kid is playing in the Super Bowl!”
More familiar faces to watch for Sunday
Besides the three Charlotte players in Sunday’s Super Bowl, here are some other people with N.C. high school ties:
▪ Eagles defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Jeremiah Washburn was a standout football player at N.C. power Shelby High in Cleveland County. Washburn — whose father, Jim, was an NFL coach for 18 years — played in college at Arkansas before beginning a coaching career at the school and later starting his NFL career as a player personnel assistant with the Ravens in 2003.
▪ Eagles guard Landon Dickerson played at Hickory High School and South Caldwell High School before playing in college at Florida State and Alabama. The Eagles picked him in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
▪ Nick Muse, on the Eagles’ practice squad, played at South Point High in Belmont. After playing in college at South Carolina, Muse was a seventh-round pick by the Vikings in 2022. He signed with the Eagles’ practice squad last month.
▪ Chiefs cornerback Joshua Wilson is from Fayetteville and played at Britt High School and later at Fayetteville State, a Division II historically black college. Wilson was drafted by the Chiefs in the fourth round in 2022.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
