Update: Paradis and fellow Eagle Scout Aaron Brewer became Super Bowl 50 champions in February 2016.
When Peyton Manning takes his snaps in Super Bowl 50, he’ll be taking the football from an Eagle Scout.
Matt Paradis, starting center for the AFC champion Denver Broncos, is an Eagle Scout, according to National Eagle Scout Association records.
Paradis joins a long list of Eagle Scouts with Super Bowl ties, including Chan Gailey, an assistant coach with the Broncos in the 1980s, and Jordan Devey, a former member of last year’s Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots.
Despite this being his first season, Paradis, the 6-foot-3, 300-pounder, has started every game on the Broncos’ offensive line.
But before he found success on the gridiron — first at Council High School in Idaho and then at Boise State University — Paradis found Scouting success.
He earned Scouting’s highest honor as a member of Troop 319 of the Boise-based Ore-Ida Council. For his Eagle Scout service project, he renovated and enlarged a long-jump pit and shotput area.
How we found Matt Paradis
This discovery wouldn’t have been possible without Jeff Laughlin, office manager for the National Eagle Scout Association. He scoured the Scouting backgrounds of all 162 players and coaches on the current rosters of the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.
He found one match: No. 61 for the Broncos, Matthew Brian Paradis.
By the way, I reached out to the Broncos last week to see if I could interview Paradis. The team, understandably busy these days, politely declined my request. I’ll try again in the offseason.
Photos courtesy of the Denver Broncos
Inspire Leadership, Foster Values: Donate to Scouting
When you give to Scouting, you are making it possible for young people to have extraordinary opportunities that will allow them to embrace their true potential and become the remarkable individuals they are destined to be.
Donate Today