Trojans appeared both on and off the field Sunday night at the 59th annual Super Bowl in New Orleans. Two former USC football alumni took the field for the Kansas City Chiefs. Fans at home spotted current Trojans like Juju Watkins during commercial breaks. Behind the scenes, Evan Sheldon, a USC music industry program alum, was a production coordinator for the halftime performance. Two Glorya Kaufman School of Dance alumni performed alongside stars Kendrick Lamar and SZA during the show. Here’s a list of some of the Trojan cameos last night.
USC Football Alumni JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chris Roland-Wallace
In Sunday night’s championship game, USC football alum and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster tallied 2 receptions with an average of 8 yards. Smith-Schuster made his way back to the Chiefs this past August after being released by the New England Patriots. Smith-Schuster was a critical player for the Chiefs in their 2024 regular season, recording two touchdowns and 18 receptions for 281 yards according to ESPN.
Chiefs cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace did not play in the game last night, but in the 2024 regular season he recorded 23 solo tackles, one interception and one forced fumble, according to ESPN. Rolland-Wallace joined the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent shortly after graduating from USC in 2023.
Syera Plitt and Jada Walker — Halftime Dancers
USC Kaufman Alumni Syera Plitt and Jada Walker, class of 2023, both danced alongside SZA and Lamar last night during the halftime show. Plitt performed as a backup dancer for Anita at last year’s VMAs and for Ludmilla at Coachella in 2024. Walker has performed as a backup dancer to notable stars like Olivia Rodrigo on her GUTS World Tour and for Tyla in live performances and the music video for Push 2 Start.
JuJu Watkins – Nike Commercial “So Win”
USC sophomore JuJu Watkins starred in this year’s Nike commercial featuring highlights of her celebrating during games. Watkins is seen alongside several legendary women in sports like track star Sha’Carri Richardson, Olympic gold medalist and UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles and the U.S. soccer team’s Sophia Wilson.
Watkins was accompanied by two other basketball stars; Caitlin Clark, current guard on the Indiana Fever and Sabrina Ionescu, current point guard for the New York Liberty and gold medalist in the 2024 Olympics. The commercial’s tagline was “You can’t win. So win,” focusing on empowerment for women in sports.
Evan Sheldon — Production coordinator with Production Club
Evan Sheldon, a 2023 Thornton School of Music Alum, worked at Super Bowl LVIII as a production assistant with Production Club.. Sheldon also worked alongside two other Thorton classmates, Ben Kronenberg and Sophia Barber, at the 2024 Super Bowl. This year, she returned as a Production Coordinator with Production Club handling logistics for performances once again.
Ryan Robinson and Zach Shenouda — Doritos commercial “The Barbershop”
The Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” ad competition was revived this year, having fans vote for which independent filmmakers should “crash” the Super Bowl commercials on gameday. Two seniors in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Zach Shenouda and Ryan Robinson, directed their own Doritos commercial called “The Barbershop” and made it through the semi-finalist stage, to the final three.
Even though their submission didn’t end up making an appearance during the game, the pair reflected on their takeaways from being the youngest in the competition, stating in an interview with Annenberg Media, “I think we did prove that as being a finalist, that we can make things that sell and age doesn’t matter. It’s just about your passion and your drive”