ST. CROIX — The Virgin Islands has seen multiple NBA championship rings — courtesy of the legendary Tim Duncan — but on Sunday night, the islands’ residents celebrated a different sporting championship: Super Bowl 50, as the Denver Broncos — with St. Croix native Juwan Thompson (who didn’t get to play tonight) and led by Peyton Mannging — beat the Caronlina Panthers 24-10 in a game that was billed as historic. Mr. Thompson is the second Virgin Islands football player to be part of a team that has won an NFL championship, the other being Linval Joseph, also from St. Croix, who was part of the New York Giants when that team won the Super Bowl on February 5, 2012.
As for the game, Mr. Manning cemented further his name in history tonight as he became the first quarterback in NFL history to start and win Super Bowls with two different teams. He already holds records by making it with four different head coaches, and taking two different teams to the Super Bowl twice.
Here are some Thompson info:
- A second-year running back who played 15 regular-season games as a rookie in 2014 and rushed for 272 yards on 54 carries (5.0 avg.) after making the Broncos’ 53-man roster as a college free agent.
- Became the first undrafted rookie since 2006 to record multiple rushing touchdowns in a game with his two-touchdown performance against San Diego on Oct. 23, 2014.
- Appeared in 49 career games (24 starts) for Duke University and totaled 274 rushes for 1,244 yards (4.5 avg.) with nine touchdowns.
- Played all 14 games (4 starts) as a senior for the Blue Devils in 2013 and recorded 355 rushing yards on 64 attempts (5.4 avg.) with one touchdown.
- Entered the NFL with Denver as a college free agent on May 12, 2014.
Tags: football, juwan thompson, super bowl, us virgin islands
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