Former Virginia Tech football player Chamarri Conner gets pre-Super Bowl respect

It’s hard to believe, but it’s Super Bowl week in Las Vegas. Both the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs have arrived in Nevada and after Opening Night, they are going to shelter and prepare for Super Bowl 58.

Virginia Tech fans will have a rooting interest in the game as rookie safety Chamarri Conner will play in the game for the Chiefs. The former Hokie has had a good first NFL season after getting drafted in the fourth round and 119th overall by Kansas City.

Two NFL writers ranked the top 106 players in the Super Bowl and Conner cracked the list.

Chamarri Conner was ranked by NFL writers ahead of the Super Bowl

Gilberto Manzano and Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated ranked the top 106 players in this year's Super Bowl and Conner came in ranked 44th on the list. Conner had been good for Kansas City in the postseason. In three games, he has 14 tackles, 11 solo and a forced fumble. His best game was in the Divisional Round against the Buffalo Bills where he had 10 tackles and eight of those were solo and he was on the field for 76 snaps by Buffalo’s offense. In the regular season meeting with the Bills in December, Conner had his first career interception when he picked off a Josh Allen pass. That playoff performance did not go lost on his head coach, Andy Reid.

"He did a heck of a job," Reid said. "We've worked him in on nickel and dime situations, but to come in and have that extended time in there and make the plays he did — except for trying to scoop-and-score, he probably should have fallen on it when it's all said and done — he sure did a nice job in there."

Conner has gone from Blacksburg to making an impact on a Super Bowl team in the NFL and is now just one win from a championship in his rookie season. Here's hoping he gets!