Super Bowl Rooting Guide for Spoiled Patriots Fans

New England fans who don't know what to do with themselves now that the Super Bowl won't be featuring Tom Brady and the Patriots for only the second time since 2014 can rest easy, as the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers are both crawling with former Patriots on the roster and coaching staffs.

So how should Pats fans go about watching the big game with some sort of rooting interest? After all, they're rarely used to being here with nothing to do.

Former Patriots in Super Bowl LIV

The most obvious former Patriot to suit up in this game is 49ers starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who got plenty of seasoning in 3.5 years as Tom Brady's backup. Both the Chiefs and 49ers have players that New England brought in for camp tryouts. They include Chiefs defensive tackle Mike Pennel, 49ers wide receiver Jordan Matthews, and 49ers kicker Robbie Gould, who tried out way back in 2005.

The coaching staffs are both full of former Patriots, with former New England legend and slot wide receiver pioneer Wes Welker currently serving as the 49ers' wide receivers coach.

Brendan Daly picked up three rings as the Patriots defensive line coach over the last five years with the Patriots. He left New England to join Steve Spagnuolo's staff in Kansas City this year. Chiefs quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka was cut as a quarterback by New England in 2013.

New England might not have made it to Miami, but that doesn't mean the Super Bowl is totally devoid of the Patriots' presence. The Pats can pick and choose who they want to pull for individually, or determine how many former Patriots are on each team and then pick the side that has more.

Looks like the Super Bowl won't be fully devoid of Patriots influence after all.