SAN FRANCISCO — What transpired Thursday night at the Palace of Fine Arts would suggest dominance. At a celebration for the best of the best in the NFL, there was a common through line.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, a Highland Park alumnus, was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, a phenom at Arlington Martin, was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, a walking highlight reel at Rockwall, took home the league’s Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Welcome to Dallas-Fort Worth, where gas prices are low and future NFL stars grow on trees — at least that’s what this week might indicate.
Sunday’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks should further that reputation.
Cowboys
One of the most intriguing — and one of the most pivotal — matchups Sunday will be between two players from the Dallas area: the aforementioned Smith-Njigba and New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez of The Colony. They graduated from high schools on different sides of the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2020. Both left college early and were first-round picks in 2023. Now, they’re Pro Bowl players and key factors in their teams’ run to the Super Bowl.
Rockwall wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) catches a pass in the end zone for a touchdown ahead of Allen defensive back Zayteak McGhee (23) during the first quarter of a Class 6A Division I area-round high school football playoff game between Allen and Rockwall on Friday, November 22, 2019 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)
Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer
The Patriots’ increased use of man coverage over their playoff run would suggest that Gonzalez — a quick-footed, athletic eraser — and Smith-Njigba — a technician who makes the spectacular look common — face each other often in a matchup that could be a deciding factor in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“It’s awesome,” Smith-Njigba said when asked by The Dallas Morning News about potentially facing Gonzalez. “I preach that Dallas football, Texas football, is the best in the country. … A testament to how we’re raised, how we’re brought up. I give credit to a lot of coaching and development of the schools and weight rooms and all the stuff like that. I think it’s a special time for Dallas players.”
On paper, this matchup would seem like it was written in the stars.
“It’s pretty cool that we got to meet here,” Gonzalez told The News earlier this week.
But the truth is, even in an area where NFL stars grow on trees, they aren’t as bountiful or as identifiable as one would expect.
Rudy Rangel, the head coach at The Colony and a longtime Texas high school coach, has seen a lot of high school talent in D-FW. He remembered watching Stafford at Highland Park. He faced Jarrett Stidham, the starter for the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game, at Stephenville.
“[Frisco] Lone Star has them all,” he said, pointing to a close, local opponent.
“But it’s hard to comprehend if they’re ever going to actually make it.”
And when Rangel first met Gonzalez, he also struggled to comprehend something. Gonzalez transferred to The Colony after spending his first two years at Carrollton Creekview. After two years, many star players in Texas have already established themselves as the next big thing. Gonzalez didn’t even make it to varsity at Creekview — a team that went 0-10 that year — and instead played quarterback on the junior varsity team, Rangel remembered.
The Colony wide receiver Christian Gonzalez raced away from Lancaster defensive back Lorando Johnson Jr (4) for a fourth quarter touchdown in their Class 5A Division I
first-round playoff game at Tiger Stadium in Lancaster, Thursday, November 14, 2019. Lancaster won, 44-29. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
Which is why Rangel was so confused when Gonzalez arrived at The Colony and did everything, in Rangel’s words, perfectly. Rangel found himself at a rare juncture, caught at the intersection of two opposing feelings.
“I was a believer but an unbeliever at first,” Rangel said.
“Something’s up, but what? And nothing ever came up.”
Eventually, colleges started to believe in Gonzalez, too. He starred at wide receiver and corner for The Colony. He started at Colorado before transferring to Oregon, where he became one of the best defensive backs in the country. The Patriots selected him 17th overall.
Smith-Njigba was selected by the Seahawks three picks later — a life-changing moment that uniquely matched his football story to that point.
“The thing about Jaxon is that he’s always going to give you a little bit more than you think he’s capable of,” said Rodney Webb, his coach at Rockwall. “As high as his ceiling is, he’s always been undervalued when he’s gone somewhere.”
Because even though Smith-Njigba was a five-star recruit, a multiple representative on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays, and a top-three receiver — in terms of yards — in Texas high school history, he still wasn’t offered by some schools, including Texas. And even though he starred at Ohio State, he still had to wait until the 20th pick. When he arrived in Seattle, he did so as the team’s No. 3 wide receiver before he slid into the No. 1 receiver role this year.
The reason might be his lack of height at 6-foot, or his lack of explosive, straight-line speed. The first sentence on his NFL.com scouting report coming out of Ohio State, for example, read like this: “Smith-Njigba is a possession slot receiver who lacks the shake to separate underneath and the speed to run past defenses.”
Webb remembers some schools not recruiting Smith-Njigba for that reason. Instead of looking at that, Webb believes people who doubted Smith-Njigba should’ve looked at the things that made him special. Like his quickness, as evidenced by a 3.93 20-yard shuttle he ran at the combine in 2023. In the last decade, only Justin Simmons and Kevin King have run faster shuttles. Webb also points to his ability to track balls — as he’s shown in the one-handed catches he’s made look common from Rockwall, to Ohio State, now in the NFL — and his inherent knack for finding space.
Webb said his abilities mesh together like a 30-ingredient stew — a recipe that’s resulted in his immense success at every level.
“He really does it all,” Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane said about facing Smith-Njigba. “We’re going to have to put our best players on him and schematically make sure we account for where he’s at all times.”
Football, ultimately, is a combination of many games within the game. That’s what has Rangel so excited about Sunday when it comes to watching Gonzalez versus Smith-Njigba.
“I think Seattle’s gameplan is, ‘What do I do to keep [Smith-Njigba] off of Christian?’” Rangel said, citing the creative ways Seattle moves Smith-Njigba around. “And then on the other end, it’s New England saying, ‘What do I have to do to get him on Jaxon?’ What a game.
“It’s a football coach’s scheme [dream], and I can’t wait.”
D-FW ties in Super Bowl LXSeattle Seahawks
Elijah Arroyo, TE, Frisco Independence (injured)
Byron Murphy II, DT, DeSoto
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Rockwall
Riq Woolen, CB, Fort Worth Arlington Heights
New England Patriots
Christian Gonzalez, CB, The Colony, Carrollton Creekview
Kobee Minor, DB, Lake Dallas
Milton Williams, DT, Crowley
Charles Woods, DB, Kimball
Craig Woodson, S, South Grand Prairie
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