Three Touchdowns in Football Championship Games
In Alabama's 2021 National Championship Game victory over Ohio State in Miami,
Heisman winner and wide receiver DeVonta Smith and Bay Area native and running back Najee Harris each scored three touchdowns for Alabama. Later that
calendar year, Smith and Harris were each drafted in the first round by Pennsylvania NFL teams: Smith was drafted No. 10 by the Philadelphia Eagles and
Harris was drafted No. 24 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Eagles' only Super Bowl winning team included a wide receiver named Smith (Torrey Smith) and the
Steelers' first four Super Bowl winning teams included a running back named Harris (the late Franco Harris).
In football history (college or professional), there has been exactly one other championship game where two different players had three touchdowns
for the same team. That game also was played in Miami and it was Super Bowl XXIX,
the last Super Bowl victory for the San Francisco 49ers. Jerry Rice and Ricky Watters scored three
touchdowns apiece for the 49ers in that Super Bowl win. Like Smith, Watters
played for the Eagles following his three touchdown performance.
Aside from Super Bowl XXIX, there were only five other instances
where a player scored three touchdowns in a Super Bowl: Rice also had three touchdown receptions in Super Bowl XXIV, 49ers running back Roger Craig scored three
touchdowns in Super Bowl XIX, non-49ers running back Terrell Davis ran for three touchdowns in Super Bowl XXXII, non-49ers running back James White scored
three touchdowns in Super Bowl LI, and non-49ers quarterback Jalen Hurts ran for three touchdowns in Super Bowl LVII earlier this year. In their eight Super Bowl appearances, 49ers
players have combined for four three-touchdown performances. For the remaining 107 Super Bowl participants (2*58 - 8 = 108), only three players (Davis, White, and Hurts) have scored
three touchdowns.