A little more than a year after one of their greatest triumphs with the University of Minnesota football team, Antoine Winfield and Tyler Johnson were back on the same field celebrating the pinnacle of professional football.
Winfield made four tackles and intercepted a pass while Johnson got in for a couple of plays at wide receiver in Tampa Bay's convincing 31-9 win over Kansas City in Super Bowl LV.
Raymond James Stadium in Tampa was also the site of the 2020 Outback Bowl, where Winfield made five tackles and Johnson caught two touchdown passes in the Gophers' 31-24 win over Auburn.
"How 'bout that?" said Gopher coach PJ Fleck, appearing on the WCCO Morning News with Dave Lee.
"They're amazing team players, they made the Bucs better, they helped contribute probably more than anybody probably thought they would," Fleck said, noting that it was just a lot of fun seeing his former players do well on the big stage.
"They deserve a lot of credit," he said. "They're making the Minnesota Golden Gopher football program look really good."
Following his interception, Winfield and a host of his Tampa Bay teammates gathered in the end zone, and pantomimed a rowing team in celebration.
Row the boat. The mantra of a PJ Fleck-coached team.
"That's our little celebration that we down here," said Winfield. "It's amazing, to actually be able to row the boat down here, that was real cool."
"I caught that," said Fleck. "That's our program. That's our culture. It's pretty identifiable across the country. They've done a great job making the Minnesota brand really powerful across the country. It was fun to be able to see, that's for sure."