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Doug Williams Ranked Ninth Best Super Bowl Player Ever

It's time to reflect again.

On Jan. 31, 1988, Redskins quarterback Doug Williams led the Redskins to their second Super Bowl title with a 42-10 clobbering of the Denver Broncos at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, Calif., and in doing so also became the first African-American quarterback to accomplish such a feat.

His efforts – passing 18-of-29 for 340 yards, four touchdowns and an interception – earned him MVP honors for the game, the exclamation to an incredible journey that brought him from Grambling State to the USFL, to Redskins backup to Jay Schroeder, to winning on the game's biggest stage.

Those achievements and their significance, specifically in Super Bowl XXII, were enough for George Willis of the New York Post, to rank Williams as the ninth-best Super Bowl player in history.

"Shattered stereotypes by passing for 340 yards overall and four TDs in the second quarter of XXII to beat the Broncos and become the first African-American quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl," he writes.

Of course, many other Redskins make the list, too. John Riggins (No. 21), Mark Rypien (No. 41) and then the other two heroes of the second Super Bowl victory: wide receiver Ricky Sanders (No. 39), who caught nine passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Timmy Smith (No. 48), who still holds a Super Bowl record 204 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns as well.

Watch the video above to hear about the importance in Doug Williams' Super Bowl victory and the legacy he created in the NFL for future black quarterbacks. 

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