Brighton High School received the honor of being named a Super Bowl High School in 2004.  The trophy that designates Brighton as a school that produced an athlete who competed in a Super Bowl, football’s highest level, sits snugly among the 125 state championship trophies in Brighton’s athletic building. 

The athlete that brought said honor to Brighton was Reno Mahe who played for the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. Bryan Kehl was the next Brighton Bengal to represent in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL draft and played from 2008 to 2012 for the New York Giants, St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.

But what are Brighton’s rooting interests in the current NFL? Brighton boasts four players and coaches currently active in the NFL. Two of them replicated Reno Mahe’s feat of playing and coaching in Super Bowls with championship rings as proof. 

Jackson Barton is a 6-foot-7, 310-pound offensive tackle who graduated from Brighton in 2013 before playing for the University of Utah. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 2019 before being acquired by the Kansas City Chiefs. It was there where he garnered a Super Bowl championship ring in 2020. Subsequently, he played for the New York Giants, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Arizona Cardinals and currently is in the Cleveland Browns organization.

Alongside Jackson Barton at Kansas City in that 2020 Super Bowl LIV was Alex Whittingham (BHS class of ’10) who also played college football at the University of Utah before signing on with Kansas City on the defensive coaching staff. He has been on the team for four Super Bowl appearances and has three Super Bowl rings to his credit. Whittingham continues to be active in the Kansas City Chiefs organization as the defensive line coach. 

Simi Fehoko was a standout wide receiver at Brighton in 2015. He set a state record for career receiving touchdowns at 41. He continued to set records in the PAC-12 playing for the Stanford Cardinal. His gateway to the NFL was in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. The Dallas Cowboys added Fehoko to their wide receiver cohort. He has played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Los Angeles Chargers and is currently playing for the Arizona Cardinals.

And the fourth Brighton alumnus currently active in the NFL is Cody Barton, team captain of the Tennessee Titans. Known for his solo tackles and pick-six interceptions, Barton was drafted out of the University of Utah by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round – the same draft that took his brother Jackson to Indianapolis. He played for the Washington Commanders and the Denver Broncos before coming to the Titans as a captain.  

In a recent interview with Jim Briscoe, who was Canyons School District superintendent when these athletes came through Brighton, Briscoe was quick to point out that “while Brighton has been a source for many NFL quality athletes, the school district as a whole has also prepared its elite athletes for the NFL. Corner Canyon has Zach Wilson with the Miami Dolphins, Jaxson Dart with the New York Giants and Jackson Powers-Johnson with the Las Vegas Raiders.”  Jordan High School alumnus Tyler Larsen is also currently playing for the Washington Commanders.  

Brighton is likely to add another Barton to the NFL ranks as Lander Barton (BHS class of ’21), the younger brother of Jackson and Cody, is now scoring touchdowns on defense and offense for the University of Utah as a standout junior. Of her three sons, Mikki Barton says, “Each level of football has been amazing – from little league at 8 to Brighton to Utah to the NFL. What impresses me most is how hard they work to make the most of their natural abilities. The consistent, everyday things they do to keep their minds and bodies prepared to be the best is something that a mother (and a school community) can be proud of.”