Super Bowl LX will have no shortage of North Texas talent on the field Sunday night.
One of them sits at the top of the NFL at his position: Seattle Seahawks wide receiver and Rockwall High School alum Jaxon Smith‑Njigba.
Smith‑Njigba has been on a tear this NFL season. He led the league in receiving yards and was named Offensive Player of the Year.
A legend long before the NFL
Before he was winning awards for being one of the best at his position, the former Landry Award winner was a superstar at Rockwall High School.
Smith‑Njigba holds the school records for receiving yards, receptions, and receiving touchdowns.
Those numbers came against top‑tier Texas competition, so his NFL success comes as no surprise to his former coaches.
“I’ll never forget Trey and I making eye contact together when he’s out there in camp,” former Rockwall head coach and current Rockwall‑Heath head coach Rodney Webb said. “We’re watching him for the first time, and we’re looking across the field, looking at each other like, ‘do you see what I see?'”
Coaches recall early signs of greatness
“I’ve never felt anything like it… just knowing that every time you walk on the field, you have the best player on the field,” current Rockwall head coach and Smith‑Njigba’s former offensive coordinator Trey Brooks said. “Scheming up plays to get him the ball became harder and harder the more people knew about him, but it was fun.”
Smith‑Njigba is nothing short of a legend at Rockwall High School. One of his Seahawks jerseys hangs in the hallway outside the Yellowjackets’ weight room.
But the admiration extends beyond campus. Whether someone is a Rockwall Yellowjacket or a Rockwall‑Heath Hawk, the entire city sees him as a hometown hero.
A hometown hero for both campuses
“It’s really special for us to be able to talk about a guy like Jaxon and then talk to our kids and be able to tell them, ‘he did what you’re doing,'” Brooks said. “He had a locker in this locker room. He went through the workouts that you’re going through.”
“The cool thing for me has been to say to the kids that want to play at the next level, that want to achieve the highest possible level in football, ‘I can tell you what it takes because I’ve seen it,'” Webb said.
Community pride heading into Sunday
Six years after graduating from Rockwall High School, Smith‑Njigba will be playing for the Lombardi Trophy.
When he steps on that field, both Brooks and Webb admit they’ll be on edge.
“I’m super anxious about it already,” Brooks said. “I’ve never felt this way about an NFL game… for sure not a Super Bowl, but this one is just different. We’re going to be able to turn on the game and see that there’s a Yellowjacket out there. The whole community, and especially within our program, takes a lot of pride in it.”
“I’m not going to be able to be around people, honestly,” Webb said. “It’s just my wife, myself and my dog in our living room and we’re going to watch it. It’s not going to be like your average Super Bowl. It’s not going to be a social event for me. I’m not sure I’m going to sit down the whole time either.”
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