Super strange: Sometimes college success (or lack thereof) doesn't matter much in NFL

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Hey, did you know Chris Hogan played lacrosse at Penn State and not football?

Hahahaha! Of course you did, because that awesome little tidbit became a running joke as it was repeated seemingly zillions of times when Hogan was catching clutch passes from Tom Brady while winning a couple of Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

Hogan's story from college lacrosse player to reliable NFL wide receiver was then and still is incredible. As in, how the heck can somebody come out of nowhere to be a major NFL contributor?

Turns out, that sort of thing isn't terribly uncommon, and we've got some cool Penn State and Super Bowl related stories to back it up.

Such as, see that picture up above in the middle? Yeah, yeah, that's Taylor Swift, of course, cheering on her man, Travis Kelce, and the Chiefs during last weekend's AFC Championship Game. But who is that dude standing next to her in the black and yellow checkered shirt?

It's none other than former Penn State basketball player Ross Travis. Another guy who did not play football for the Nittany Lions, and yet still ended up playing in the NFL as a tight end for the Chiefs. Travis just so happens to be good friends with Kelce, so much so that he has a coveted spot in the stadium luxury box alongside the world's most famous singer.

We all know -- or at least we think we know -- that college football prepares players for the NFL. A guy had better enjoy a good college career, or else he's not gonna make it in the pros.

Right?

Well, no, actually. Not at all, in some cases.

With the Super Bowl coming up, here's a fun look at some examples of guys who did not have particularly great college careers, and yet still found their way to NFL success. And heck, this is just a sampling of Penn State connections, so surely many other college programs have their own cases of guys who help disprove the theory that college success matters a great deal.

KEVIN GIVENS

I'm gonna start with a guy from my hometown of Altoona, 45 minutes away from Penn State down I-99. He will be playing in the Super Bowl next weekend for the 49ers as a big part of their defensive line rotation.

Givens played running back and linebacker for Altoona Area High School, and initially committed to play at Pitt. He was only around 230 pounds back then, and had no idea what his future would hold.

Givens flipped his commitment to Penn State, and the coaching staff saw a guy with tremendous strength and a great work ethic. They decided early on to have Givens add weight -- a whole bunch of weight -- and turn him into a defensive tackle. Givens wound up gaining around 50 pounds during his college career from 2015-18.

Givens was never a star in college, far from it. But he was a guy that offenses had to game plan for, because he was a good run stuffer who often commanded double teams. He never put up many stats, though, and was overlooked on Big Ten all-conference teams.

Get this: Givens, a two-year starter, was never even named honorable mention all-Big Ten during his three years at Penn State. And now, half a dozen years later, he's getting ready to play in the Super Bowl.

Givens surprised everybody after the 2018 season by announcing he'd be turning pro a year early. There was zero draft buzz about him at the time, because again, he was never viewed as an impact college player.

I had gotten to know Givens a little bit -- he's a very quiet and unassuming guy -- having written numerous stories about him for the Altoona Mirror. And I remember writing and saying that he was making a huge mistake declaring early for the draft. I wasn't the only one, either. Most who covered Penn State felt he needed another year of college ball.

I was wrong. We all were wrong.

Givens did not get drafted, but he wound up with something even better. He signed with the 49ers as a free agent, landing in the absolute perfect spot for his skill set. He is a big, strong, workout warrior who can stuff the run, and the 49ers had a great defense where he could fit right in and learn, first as a member of the practice squad for most of the 2019 season, then as a reliable rotation guy ever since.

Years later, the guy who was never even honorable mention all-conference has made more than $4 million in his career and is set to play in the Super Bowl. He also was a member of the Niners' 2019 Super Bowl team but was not active on game day.

Givens is an unrestricted free agent after this season and is likely to get a multi-year contract worth at least a few million dollars. No, he's not a star, but there's no denying he's a success story. And a very surprising one at that.

DONOVAN SMITH

Now we get to a huge success story, but also another very surprising one.

Smith has earned $62 million in his NFL career as a left tackle. He won a Super Bowl protecting Tom Brady's blind side with the Buccaneers three years ago, and is set to appear in another Super Bowl with the Chiefs.

Check out Smith (79) clearing a path downfield during the Chiefs' win over the Bills in the AFC Championship Game.

Smith's story is amazing for a guy who, quite frankly, was one of the more disappointing Penn State players we've seen over the past 15 years.

If that sounds mean spirited and/or misinformed, then you weren't paying very close attention to Smith during the Lions' 2014 season.

Smith entered that year as a preseason first-team all-Big Ten selection by some publications. He didn't even make honorable mention all-conference at the end of the season, which is hard to believe given his experience, potential and expectations.

I found this outstanding description of Smith from Black Shoe Diaries after the 2015 NFL Draft.

"Smith was expected to be the bright spot on a miserable Penn State offensive line, but he struggled for long stretches of time throughout the year. Sure, most of that could be attributed to the fact that he was learning a new system with converted defensive tackles lining up next to him at guard, and he did play a bit better when Miles Dieffenbach -- who you should also draft! -- came back late in the season from a knee injury, but still, he had a largely disappointing 2014, to the point that some heads were scratched when he declared for the Draft."

It was surprising, indeed, that Smith declared early for the draft. But, as I've always said, some guys are just ready to be done with college and want to move on. Remember, 2014 was the end of the NCAA sanctions and James Franklin's first season as head coach. The guys on that team had been through an incredible amount of adversity.

My feeling on Smith has always been that he was simply fed up with everything that had gone on at Penn State and wasn't fully motivated for that 2014 season. We can criticize him for that, sure, but it's also completely understandable for any player back then to have felt that way.

What happened with Smith, though, turned out to be pretty incredible. Despite his lackluster performance and effort with the Lions in 2014, he was selected with the 34th overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Buccaneers. All it takes is for one team to really like you, and the Bucs really liked Smith and his massive size (6-6, 338).

Smith became an instant millionaire and instant starter at left tackle for the Bucs in 2015. He started all 16 games for his first four seasons, cementing himself as a reliable player and high-quality offensive lineman.

Everybody knew Smith had tremendous potential when he was at Penn State. No, we didn't see him come close to reaching that potential with the Lions, but again, with all the chaos going on in the program at the time, it makes sense that some guys probably checked out mentally.

If the Chiefs win next week, that would give Smith two Super Bowl titles, to go along with that $62 million he's earned. That is an amazing career for a guy who wasn't even good enough to be honorable mention all-Big Ten his final season at Penn State.

CHRIS HOGAN

What an amazing story this guy has.

He was a stellar high school lacrosse player in New Jersey, and also was first-team all-state in football his senior year. But when it came time for college, Hogan was all in on lacrosse at Penn State.

He played for the Lions for three seasons (2007-09) and scored 29 goals his final year in 2009. With one year of collegiate eligibility remaining, Hogan decided to give football a shot -- at Monmouth University back in his home state of New Jersey.

It's not like he was great at Monmouth, though. Hogan had 12 catches for 147 yards and three TDs in 11 games in 2010. He also played some quarterback and threw three TD passes.

One neat thing about Hogan, though, was that he played both ways. He also was a cornerback and had three interceptions, six passes defended and 22 tackles. All of that versatility undoubtedly paid off for him in the pros, but not immediately.

Hogan wasn't drafted in 2011, and he spent a couple of seasons on the practice squad with the 49ers, Giants and Dolphins. He finally got a shot with the Bills in 2013 and became a solid factor in 2014 with 41 catches.

Hogan signed with the Patriots in 2016, and his story became the stuff of legend. He was a good possession receiver for Tom Brady and often made clutch catches during key parts of games, leading TV announcers to frequently mention how he played lacrosse at Penn State and not football.

As mentioned earlier, that sort of became a running joke -- like a sort of drinking game, if you will -- every time Hogan's story was mentioned.

He wound up being a major factor in the 2016 playoffs for the Patriots, catching 17 passes and two TDs in three games as the team won the Super Bowl. Steelers fans may remember this TD grab on a flea-flicker in the AFC Championship Game.

Two years later, the Pats won another Super Bowl, with Hogan catching eight passes in three playoff games.

Hogan wound up playing nine seasons in the NFL and earning $16 million. Outside of Jim Brown, known as the greatest lacrosse player in history, there's never been another former lacrosse player who went on to enjoy more success in the NFL.

Hogan never forgot his roots, either, as every time he was announced as a starter during NFL TV broadcasts, he would introduce himself as, "Chris Hogan, Penn State lacrosse."

ROSS TRAVIS

He's retired and won't be playing in the Super Bowl, but there's a good chance he'll be in the suite with Taylor Swift rooting for his good friend, Travis Kelce.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a college that has produced two NFL players who never played football for the school. For all we know, Penn State holds the all-time record for that with Hogan and Travis.

Penn State basketball fans remember Travis as a terrific athlete and hard worker from 2011-15. He appeared in 131 games (96 starts) for the Lions, averaging 6.3 points and 6.2 rebounds.

The NBA was never going to be in his future, so the 6-foot-7, 235-pounder decided to try his luck with football as a tight end. He hadn't played the sport since his freshman year of high school in Minnesota, but given his athletic ability and good hands, some felt he could make an impact on the gridiron.

Travis wasn't selected in the 2015 draft, but the Chiefs liked him enough to sign him to their practice squad. As fate would have it, Kelce was in his fourth season with the Chiefs and was becoming one of the NFL's best tight ends. Travis got to work with him every day, and the two forged a friendship.

Travis had only eight catches over two seasons with the Chiefs, and just 14 receptions in five pro seasons, with his career hindered by a knee injury in 2018. Still, the guy made it to the NFL after being a college basketball player and earned $2.7 million, which is pretty amazing.

And now, amazingly enough, Travis finds himself in photos and videos alongside the world's most famous woman as she cheers on her football boyfriend each week. The fact that Travis and Kelce remain such good friends is pretty darn cool, and it's even cooler that he's right there with a ringside seat to the biggest show in all of sports/entertainment as Swift receives enormous attention during games.

You can see Travis partying with Swift and others in the suite during the AFC Championship Game in the video below.