They each left the University of Missouri early for the NFL, both first-round draft picks a decade apart.
They've taken different career roads to Super Bowl, but it's safe to say Justin Smith and Aldon Smith both made the right decisions as the San Francisco 49ers teammates prepare for Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens.
"We just get along well," Justin Smith said Sunday night after San Francisco arrived in New Orleans. "We work well together. He's a cool, easy-going guy. He works hard, plays hard, and that's all you really have to have in a good teammate. He does all that."
The former Jefferson City Jay standout left Missouri after his junior season and was the fourth overall selection by the Cincinnati Bengals. He left Cincinnati as a free agent after the 2007 season and signed with San Francisco. Last season, he was third in the voting as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Aldon Smith decided to leave Missouri with two years of eligibility remaining and was the seventh overall selection by San Francisco in the 2011 draft.