Ex-Cal star was Patriots’ best player in Super Bowl LX, and he’s just getting started

SANTA CLARA – Jaylinn Hawkins obviously felt disappointed after he and the New England Patriots were unable to finish their season with a win in Super Bowl 60.

Another emotion Hawkins felt, though, was immense pride, especially when talking about Patriots rookie safety Craig Woodson, his fellow Cal football alum.

Woodson was arguably the Patriots’ best player on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, flying around the field and finishing with a team-high 10 tackles, including seven solo tackles, three tackles for loss, and two pass deflections in the Patriots’ 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

“He’s been balling,” Hawkins said of Woodson, who led the NFL with 30 postseason tackles. “I’m so proud of him, especially to see his growth throughout the season and knowing him since he was a freshman in college.

“Coming into this league, starting off the jump as a rookie. I’m proud of him. I respect the hell out of him. He’s my brother.”

Woodson had a hand in eight tackles in the first half, and Hawkins, a Golden Bear from 2015 to 2019, had two and five for the game.

“It was a blessing, regardless of whether we lost,” said Woodson, who played at Cal from 2019 to 2024 before he was drafted in the fourth round by the Patriots in 2025. “It was a blessing just to be here and have the opportunity to be on that field and impact the game.

“I’m always going to be grateful just to have the opportunity to do that.”

Woodson had 20 tackles throughout the AFC playoffs, including a season-high 11 in the Patriots’ 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round on Jan. 11.

Sunday, Woodson and Hawkins were part of a stout defense that kept their team in the game while New England’s offense struggled to move the ball.

While the Seahawks’ defense was swarming and confusing Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, New England’s defense was also slowing down Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold, at least in third-down situations. The Seahawks gained 183 yards of offense in the first half but went 3-for-9 on third downs and were held to three Jason Myers field goals.

“We were getting stops, and we had good momentum,” Woodson said. “But the times that we could have gotten off the field on third down, the times that we missed a tackle that led to an explosive play, those are the things that we’ve got to eliminate to win a game like this.”

Still, the Patriots’ defense would have needed to be near-perfect to keep their team in the game.

The Seahawks tacked on one more field goal in the third quarter and had 17 points in the fourth. New England punted on eight straight possessions before two fourth-quarter turnovers led to 10 Seahawks points.

“We’ve got to play complementary football in a game like this,” Woodson said. “There’s a lot at stake, and we’ve just got to play together. Tonight, we didn’t make enough plays to get us a win.”

After three consecutive losing seasons, including two straight 4-13 years, the Patriots, thanks to Maye and a stellar defense, went 14-3 in the regular season and earned the No. 2 seed for the AFC playoffs.

After beating the Chargers, New England beat the Houston Texans 28-16 in the divisional round, and the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the conference championship to advance to the Super Bowl.

The best part for the Patriots is that their young players, like Woodson, got some valuable experience. Roughly 18% of the team’s snaps this season were played by rookies, the highest percentage for any Super Bowl team in 15 years.

While Woodson will, in all likelihood, be back as one of the Patriots’ leaders on defense, Hawkins, after six NFL seasons and two in New England, is set to become a free agent.

Sunday’s game might have been their last as teammates.

“There’ll be a lot of new faces next year,” Woodson said. “But regardless, we can build from this, we can come together, and I think we’ll be better.

“This is my first year, and just having this experience is a blessing, honestly. For me, I just want to take it all in. I think it’s going to feed me for next year, because I want to be the one that’s holding up that Lombardi.”

Both Woodson and Hawkins were happy to get a chance to be back in the Bay Area.

“Obviously, it was a special moment,” Hawkins said. “It was a blessing.”

“It meant everything, man,” Woodson said. “I had a lot of support out here, a lot of friends and family as well out here, and just to be able to play this game in the Bay, it was an experience that I’ll forever cherish.”