A rookie from South Alabama makes a crucial play during the Super Bowl.

Rookie cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. found himself in an unfortunate spotlight during Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday. Despite primarily contributing on special teams during the San Francisco 49ers’ journey to winning the NFC championship, Luter had a misstep against the Kansas City Chiefs when a punt struck his foot.

While engaging in special teams duties against the Chiefs, the punt hit Luter’s foot, leading to a challenging situation for San Francisco punt returner Ray Ray McCloud, who attempted to recover the ball on the bounce. Unfortunately, he couldn’t secure it, resulting in Kansas City cornerback Jaylen Watson recovering the muff at the 49ers’ 16-yard line.

On the very next play, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes capitalized on the turnover, throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. This sequence shifted the game’s momentum, with Kansas City taking a 13-10 lead with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter of the 2023 NFL championship game.

The turnover occurred during a 40-yard punt by Kansas City’s Tommy Townsend, with the football grazing Luter as he was blocking. Notably, Luter, a former South Alabama standout, had mainly been on special teams duty in the nine games leading up to the Super Bowl.

It’s worth mentioning that Luter is the second South Alabama alumnus to participate in the Super Bowl, following tight end Gerald Everett, who played in the Los Angeles Rams’ 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, 2019. Luter, drafted by the 49ers in the fifth round of the NFL Draft on April 29, faced a delay in his debut due to a knee issue that kept him on the physically-unable-to-perform list until Nov. 18.