[Rivals.Com] Greatest NCAA Players

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=561863

July 17, 2006


David Fox
Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer

Greatest Players: Final Results
Greatest Players Photo Gallery
College Football Wire

After 591,211 total votes cast over three weeks to determine the Greatest Players in the history of 66 different schools, Rivals.com found there's little method to the madness of college football fans.

Fans picked players who finished their careers with losing records over Heisman Trophy winners (John Elway over Jim Plunkett), and Super Bowl champions took out some of college football's most decorated players (Emmitt Smith over Danny Wuerffel, Joe Namath over Derrick Thomas). But at the same time, national champions and runners-up in college beat out some of the NFL's greatest (Charlie Ward over Deion Sanders, Michael Vick over Bruce Smith).

Click here for the complete list of finals results by school.

Although voters overwhelmingly chose more recent players – 41 of 66 winners ended their careers after 1980 – four of the oldest players won the vote for their schools. Winners Paul Robeson of Rutgers, Bronko Nagurski of Minnesota, Jackie Robinson of UCLA, Nile Kinnick of Iowa and Otto Graham of Northwestern all played before the end of World War II, but each took the popular vote ahead of more recent opponents.


Vince Young received more votes than any player at any school.
Texas quarterback Vince Young sprinted into the hearts and minds of Longhorns fans as quickly as he ran past Southern California defenders in the Rose Bowl in one of the most intriguing races of the poll. Over the course of three weeks, more votes were cast for Young (11,557) than anyone else. (Nebraska's Tommie Frazier with 11,159 votes and Georgia's Herschel Walker with 10,444 rounded out the top three.)

Less than a year after Young's last college game in which he led the Longhorns to their first national championship in 35 years, fans anointed him the greatest player in the storied history of Texas football. Along the way, fans picked him over Tommy Nobis and Earl Campbell.

Young won the final with 55 percent of the vote but had an edge of more than 1,000 votes against Campbell. Geoff Ketchum, publisher of Orangebloods.com, wasn't surprised by Young's win in the final, but by the relatively close margin.

"You had kind of a new guard versus old guard feel to it," Ketchum said. "It's a credit to Earl's greatness and legacy that it was that close. I expected Vince to win by more of a one-sided margin."

Young took out the Pro Football Hall of Famer Campbell before taking a snap in the NFL, but that formula wasn't the same for Florida voters.

Wuerffel, who quarterbacked a national championship team and won the Heisman in 1996, fell to the NFL's all-time leading rusher in Smith, who won 20 games in three seasons with the Gators.

"Danny was the best college football player to play here," said Marty Cohen, publisher of GatorBait.net. "Some folks might have been swayed by who is the best overall player, when you take in the entire body of work."

Here are some more tidbits about the final round of voting in Rivals.com's Greatest Player poll:

Five Surprises
1. Notre Dame: Raghib Ismail over George Gipp:
Apparently having your name immortalized in a famous quote and being portrayed by a future President of the United States in the movies isn't enough to overtake the Rocket.
2. California: Tony Gonzalez over Chuck Muncie:
Muncie remains in California's top five in rushing and was a Heisman Trophy runner-up. Gonzalez has arguably done more for the Kansas City Chiefs than he did for Cal football.
3. Texas: Vince Young over Earl Campbell:
How much does one game mean? Ask yourself: If Texas had lost the Rose Bowl, does Vince Young run away with the voting over Tommy Nobis and Campbell?
4. Vanderbilt: Jay Cutler over Jamie Duncan:
Like Texas, Vanderbilt fans overwhelmingly voted with recent memory.
5. Illinois: Dick Butkus over Red Grange:
College football's first star player lost in a close one.


Five Landslides
1. Baylor: Mike Singletary over Lawrence Elkins:
Singletary received a combined 94.5 percent of the vote in the semifinals and finals.
2. Boston College: Doug Flutie over Pete Mitchell:
No dramatic finish for Flutie this time. He easily beat out Mike Ruth and Pete Mitchell.
3. Georgia: Herschel Walker over David Pollack:
Not even Auburn's Bo Jackson is more popular with his fan base than Walker.
4. Kansas: Gale Sayers over Nolan Cromwell:
A "close call" in the semifinals (89.9 percent of the vote against John Riggins) gives way to a 94-6 percent rout in the final.
5. Oklahoma State: Barry Sanders over Thurman Thomas:
Sanders led all nominees by winning by a combined 95.6 percent of the vote in the semifinals and finals.


Five Close Calls
1. Alabama: Joe Namath over Derrick Thomas:
The fourth-seeded player in Alabama's polling upset John Hannah in the semifinal and slipped past Derrick Thomas with 54 percent of the vote.
2. Colorado: Rashaan Salaam over Darian Hagan:
Fewer than 300 votes out of more than 2,400 separated Colorado's only Heisman Trophy winner from its national championship quarterback.
3. Miami: Michael Irvin over Ray Lewis:
How do you like your swagger at The U? The fans narrowly picked the flashy Irvin over the hard-hitting Lewis.
4. Virginia Tech: Michael Vick over Bruce Smith:
Vick's NFL career hasn't hit the heights of Smith's, but 55 percent of voters favored his two-year tenure as the Hokies' quarterback.
5. Cincinnati: Reggie Taylor over Greg Cook:
Out of 1,280 total votes, 24 separated Taylor and Cook in the final.


Five current players who could be Greatest Players nominees in 2016
Brady Quinn, Notre Dame:
Notre Dame's top four will be tough to crack, but if anyone can do it, Quinn can. Going into his senior season, Quinn is a Heisman favorite on a team that could challenge for a national championship. Re-writing the Irish record book and bringing Notre Dame back to the national spotlight could make him one of the school's all-time best.
Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma:
The runner-up for the Heisman as a freshman, Peterson has rushed for more than 3,000 yards in his first two seasons. If he returns to his freshman form this season as a junior, he's poised for a run at the Heisman and the Big 12 and national titles.
Brian Brohm, Louisville:
He probably wouldn't beat Johnny Unitas, but Brohm will have something Unitas didn't as a college player: Wins. After going 8-2 in his first year as the starter, Brohm could lead Louisville to its first Big East title and its first major bowl appearance since the Cardinals' trip to the Fiesta Bowl in 1991.
Sidney Rice, South Carolina:
In his first season, Rice topped Sterling Sharpe's single-season receiving marks with 1,143 yards and 13 touchdowns. He should easily eclipse Sharpe's career receiving mark of 2,497 career yards if he stays in Steve Spurrier's offense long enough.
Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech:
After two seasons, Johnson is sixth on Georgia Tech's career receiving list. Barring injury, he should reach No. 2 this season. With 1,182 yards this year, he would set the school's career mark.


Winners by Decade
1910-19: 1
1920-29: 1
1930-39: 1
1940-49: 2
1950-59: 5
1960-69: 8
1970-79: 7
1980-89: 16
1990-99: 18
2000-06: 7

Winners by Position
Quarterback: 26
Running back: 23
Wide receiver: 3
Tight end: 1

Offensive line: 0
Defensive line: 6
Linebacker: 5
Defensive back: 2

Winners by Seed
No. 1: 37
No. 2: 14
No. 3: 6
No. 4: 9