They’re headed home for Super Bowl LV.

Former James Madison offensive linemen Aaron Stinnie and Josh Wells, now members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will play for a championship at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 7 when they host the Kansas City Chiefs. The Buccaneers will be the first team to play in their home venue in the history of the Super Bowl.

This comes after the Bucs captured their third straight road playoff victory, a 31-26 triumph over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin on Sunday.

Stinnie started at right guard for the second consecutive week and played all 65 offensive snaps as well as five on special teams in the win. He held up well in pass protection when quarterback Tom Brady connected with wide receiver Mike Evans on a 15-yard touchdown pass to give the Bucs an opening lead in the first quarter. Then, Stinnie helped clear a path for running back Leonard Fournette on a 20-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to go up 14-7.

The 6-foot-3, 312-pound Stinnie, a third-year pro, thrived throughout the rest of the contest.

Wells was used on five special teams plays, too, all with the extra-point/field-goal unit. Wells and Stinnie are each part of that group. At JMU, Wells was a senior when Stinnie was a freshman.

The past Dukes and current Bucs were undrafted free agents out of college. Wells spent his first five NFL campaigns with the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of joining Tampa Bay last season. Stinnie initially signed with the Tennessee Titans only to depart for the Bucs in November of 2019.

Assuming Stinnie starts on offense for the Buccaneers against the Chiefs, he’ll be the first former Dukes star to start in the Super Bowl since NFL Hall of Famer Charles Haley did so in Super Bowl XXX for the Dallas Cowboys in their 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. Haley was a five-time Super Bowl champion.

On their way to the Super Bowl, the No. 5-seed Bucs won in Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game, won in New Orleans against the Saints in the NFC Divisional Round and beat the Washington Football Team at FedEx Field in the Wild Card Round.

They did something three times that the Buffalo Bills could not accomplish later on Sunday – winning away from home. Defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City beat Buffalo, 38-24, in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri.

JMU alum Dean Marlowe, a safety, played 11 special teams snaps for Buffalo as the franchise’s most successful effort in more than two decades came to a close. In 2020, Buffalo captured its first AFC East crown since 1995, which was the same year it had last won a playoff game up until this postseason. The second-seeded Bills knocked off the Indianapolis Colts during Wild Card Weekend and took down the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Divisional Round.

Marlowe finished the year with 17 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.