University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Duo Among New England's Super Bowl Champions
2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
PITTSBURGH--As a result of the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, Dion Lewisand Jabaal Sheard of the New England Patriots became the 22nd and 23rd former Pitt football players to win a Super Bowl.
On Sunday night at NRG Stadium in Houston, Lewis and Sheard both played significant roles as the Patriots rallied from a 28-3 third-quarter deficit to triumph over the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28, in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.
Lewis, who starred at Pitt as a running back from 2009-10, was on the field as the returner for the game's opening kickoff and finished with 49 all-purpose yards on eight total touches via six rush attempts, one reception and one kick return. Lewis scored three touchdowns in New England's run to the franchise's fifth title while serving as the team's kick-return specialist and a situational running back. As a Panther, Lewis amassed 2,860 rushing yards, 405 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns in two years.
Sheard, a four-year standout defensive end for the Panthers from 2007-10, recorded a sack assist and aided a Patriots pass rush that sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan five times and helped swing the momentum in New England's favor in the second half. The sixth-year NFL veteran recorded 33 tackles and 5.5 sacks this season for the Patriots. During his four-year collegiate career at Pitt, Sheard tallied 35.5 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks.
Sheard and Lewis helped the Panthers win bowl games in 2009 and '10 before each were selected in the 2011 NFL Draft by teams other than the Patriots--Sheard by the Cleveland Browns in the second round and Lewis by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round. Coincidentally, the Pitt pair reunited as teammates when New England acquired both ahead of the 2015 campaign.
Now the former Panthers are champions of Super Bowl LI, joining other former Pitt greats such as Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Mark May, Darrelle Revis and a host of others as victors of the NFL's championship game. Revis' title with New England at the end of the 2014 season was the last time Pitt had a former player on the winning side in the Super Bowl.
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On Sunday night at NRG Stadium in Houston, Lewis and Sheard both played significant roles as the Patriots rallied from a 28-3 third-quarter deficit to triumph over the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28, in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.
Lewis, who starred at Pitt as a running back from 2009-10, was on the field as the returner for the game's opening kickoff and finished with 49 all-purpose yards on eight total touches via six rush attempts, one reception and one kick return. Lewis scored three touchdowns in New England's run to the franchise's fifth title while serving as the team's kick-return specialist and a situational running back. As a Panther, Lewis amassed 2,860 rushing yards, 405 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns in two years.
Sheard, a four-year standout defensive end for the Panthers from 2007-10, recorded a sack assist and aided a Patriots pass rush that sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan five times and helped swing the momentum in New England's favor in the second half. The sixth-year NFL veteran recorded 33 tackles and 5.5 sacks this season for the Patriots. During his four-year collegiate career at Pitt, Sheard tallied 35.5 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks.
Sheard and Lewis helped the Panthers win bowl games in 2009 and '10 before each were selected in the 2011 NFL Draft by teams other than the Patriots--Sheard by the Cleveland Browns in the second round and Lewis by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round. Coincidentally, the Pitt pair reunited as teammates when New England acquired both ahead of the 2015 campaign.
Now the former Panthers are champions of Super Bowl LI, joining other former Pitt greats such as Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Mark May, Darrelle Revis and a host of others as victors of the NFL's championship game. Revis' title with New England at the end of the 2014 season was the last time Pitt had a former player on the winning side in the Super Bowl.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
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