The first annual Roaring Riot Awards, which are voted on by the most loyal and rabid fans of the Carolina Panthers, honors the performances of those Panthers who have gone above and beyond both on and off the field.
Roaring Riot members, which number over 6,000 and are located in over a dozen countries around the world, voted in multiple categories and collectively decided on their favorite players and moments from the 2020 Panthers season.
Robby Anderson was voted the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year and rookie Jeremy Chinn was voted Defensive Player of the Year by the Roaring Riot. The rest of the awards, including the Most Valuable Panther and Thomas Davis Panther of the Year Award, will be announced over the course of the week.
When given a choice of the best plays of the 2020 Carolina Panthers season, the Roaring Riot responded with a whopping 69.8% of votes going to the back-to-back touchdowns scored by Jeremy Chinn against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12.
“It was fun,” Chinn said after his historic performance. “It was exciting. I haven’t scored a touchdown since high school so that was cool, getting back in the end zone.”
On the Vikings opening drive of the second half, rookie hybrid safety/linebacker Jeremy Chinn scooped up a fumble by Vikings QB Kirk Cousins that had been forced by DT Zach Kerr and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown, dunking the ball over the goalpost as an exclamation. And the next play from scrimmage, Chinn ripped the ball from Vikings RB Dalvin Cook and ran it back 28 yards for the score.
The Panthers second-round pick became just the third player in NFL history, and first since 1948, to record 2+ fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns in a game, the first player in franchise history to have two defensive scores in a single game and the first player in NFL history to have defensive touchdowns on back-to-back plays.
Photo Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn/USA TODAY Sports
In addition to that back-to-back insanity, Chinn led the team with a career-high 13 tackles on that day. Chinn finished with 117 tackles, five QB hits, one sack, five passes defensed, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception while playing 91% of the snaps and starting 15 games in his rookie campaign.
Sweet Chinn Music, indeed.
