JACKSONVILLE, Fla \u2013 Long before the NFL spotlight, DeMario \u201cPop\u201d Douglas and Terrell Jennings were teammates chasing Friday night wins at Mandarin High School.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, their journeys converge on football\u2019s biggest stage \u2014 the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
Douglas and Jennings, both Mandarin graduates, are part of a rare Jacksonville connection reaching the pinnacle of professional football. For their former high school coach and their families, the moment is both surreal and deeply personal.<\/p>\n
Mandarin head coach Toby Bullock said the talent was evident early, but each player stood out in different ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cTerrell in high school was second to none,\u201d Bullock said. \u201cHe was huge, a really good athlete. Most kids that size end up playing linebacker or rushing the passer, so for him to be able to run the football like he did \u2014 that was pretty unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Douglas, Bullock said, led with consistency and character.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never had a bad day,\u201d Bullock said. \u201cHe was always in a good mood. He left everything in the parking lot. He never brought outside issues to the field, and that\u2019s what made him a charismatic leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Douglas\u2019 father, Samuel Walker, the Super Bowl appearance is the result of faith, perseverance and opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of emotions,\u201d Walker said. \u201cFirst, thanking God for the opportunity. A lot of kids don\u2019t even get the chance to make it this far. For him to be blessed to play in the Super Bowl \u2014 it\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker said Douglas was surrounded by family and community support growing up in Jacksonville, which helped keep him focused and grounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a lot of support behind him,\u201d Walker said. \u201cThat helped a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Terrell Jennings\u2019 mother, LaTonya Nelson, the moment still feels unreal \u2014 even if she sensed it coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still surreal and unbelievable that we\u2019re here,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cBut I kind of called it. This season reminded me of Pop and Terrell\u2019s junior and senior year at Mandarin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nelson said the road to the NFL was filled with adversity. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou would never know what he was battling,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it was hard work, dedication and trusting God that got us here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bullock said seeing two former players reach the Super Bowl serves as motivation for his current athletes \u2014 especially those who may not fit the traditional mold.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives hope,\u201d he said. \u201cI just hope they\u2019re treasuring the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Friday night lights in Jacksonville to the Super Bowl spotlight, Douglas and Jennings will appear in Super Bowl LX with the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla \u2013 Long before the NFL spotlight, DeMario \u201cPop\u201d Douglas and Terrell Jennings were teammates chasing Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[71620,116,118,117,23024,119,12769,71621],"class_list":["post-148175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-demario-douglas","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-mandarin","tag-nfl","tag-super-bowl","tag-terrell-jennings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}