Best Ever, Part I: The Nominees

6 comments so far June 8, 2006 by Steve Hanway

The slow days of summer give us time to look ahead with anticipation, but it’s also a good time to look back. With Nebraska’s rich history, there are plenty of great moments to relive and great players to remember. Over the next two days I’ll explore a question that’s hard to answer but fun to ponder. Who was the best Husker ever?

There are so many ways one can define “best ever”. Is it the first guy you’d take if you were putting together a team? A guy that was “most valuable” (which usually in sports means a great contributor to a great team)? Is it the best individual performer? Is it the guy that earned the most recognition? Does pro performance count for anything? There’s no easy answer, so let’s start with candidates.

To simplify this I’ll be sticking to the modern era of college football (1960’s onward). While there were instances of black players prior to the 60’s, the sport didn’t truly become integrated until the 60’s (and some would argue later). When such a large group of athletes are left out, then the level of competition is simply not the same. Would Bobby Reynolds have been Mr. Touchdown with the likes of the Selmon brothers or Roy Williams chasing him? We’ll never know but players in the modern era proved themselves against the best athletes of all races and thus get the nod ahead of those who played in an era when many of the best athletes were not allowed on the field.

Also, it goes without saying I wouldn’t even think of choosing a punter or place kicker.

Moving chronologically we start with Bob Brown (class of ’63). An offensive lineman in both the college and pro football halls of fame, Brown was a unanimous All-American guard at Nebraska and voted Lineman of the Year by the Washington D.C. Touchdown club. He was all-NFL seven times at tackle.

Jerry Tagge (class of ’71) lead Nebraska to two national championships as quarterback. He also was an All-American as a senior. Tagge is second all time in yards passing and has the highest completion percentage of any Nebraska QB with more than 100 passing attempts.

Rich Glover (class of ’72) was also a two-time All-American and still holds the single game record for tackles by a nose or defensive tackle (called middle guard at the time) when he had 22 tackles in the Game of the Century. A part of two national championship teams, he was named Big 8 defensive player of the year as a senior and captured the Outland and Lombardi trophies as the best lineman in the country.

Johnny Rodgers (class of ’72) was a two-time All-American and 3-time all conference performer as a wingback and return man. In addition to being a major contributor to two national championship teams, Rodgers captured the Heisman in 1972 as the nation’s outstanding player.

Dave Rimington (class of ’82) was a two-time All-American and three time all-conference player at center as he helped lead the Huskers to back-to-back Big 8 titles in 1981 and 1982. In 1981, he became the only offensive lineman named Big 8 offensive player of the year. He also is the only player to win two Outland trophy awards (‘81 & ’82) as the nation’s best interior lineman. He also captured the Lombardi award in 1982. Considered by many to be the best player ever at his position, the Rimington Award now goes to the nation’s best center.

Mike Rozier (class of ’83) was a two time All-American at running back and captured the Heisman as the nation’s most outstanding player. He still owns the Big 8 career rushing record and his 2,148 yards as a senior is still fifth best all-time nationally. His career average of 7.16 yards per carry are still tops for Nebraska and his 51 touchdowns are second only to Eric Crouch’s 59.

Turner Gill (class of ’83) a three-time All-conference quarterback lead Nebraska to three Big 8 titles and two national championship games. Only some home-cooking by the officials at Penn State in 1982 and a missed two-point conversion kept the Huskers from perfection over his final two seasons. His passer rating is the highest for NU quarterbacks with 400 or more passing attempts.

Broderick Thomas (class of ’88) was a two-time All-American at outside linebacker and still holds the career record for unassisted tackles by an outside linebacker (in the old 5-2 alignment) or defensive end. He lead a stout defense that delivered NU the Big 8 title in 1988.

Will Shields (class of ’92) was an All-American guard at Nebraska and won the Outland trophy as the nation’s top interior lineman as a senior. Possibly the most successful Husker in the NFL ever, Shields has been a pro-bowler 10 times.

Trev Alberts (class of ’93) was a unanimous All-American and won the Butkus award as the nation’s top linebacker his senior year. He was also named Big 8 Defensive MVP that year. Alberts owns the NU season and career record for sacks and the record for tackles by an outside linebacker (in the old 5-2 alignment) or defensive end.

Tommie Frazier (class of ’95) was an All-American quarterback as a senior and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award as the nation’s top senior QB. His 33-3 record as a starting QB is the best ever for a Big 8 quarterback which resulted in 3 national championship game appearances and 2 national championships. His 43 career passing touchdowns are the most ever for a Husker quarterback.

Ahman Green (class of ’97) is the second all-time leading rusher at Nebraska and no doubt would be the all-time leader had he remained for his senior season. Green was a major contributor to two national championship teams and has been a standout rusher in the NFL where he has been a four-time pro-bowler.

Grant Wistrom (class of ’97) was a two-time All-American at rush end and won the Lombardi trophy his senior year as the nation’s top lineman. Perhaps the greatest champion in Husker history, Wistrom only lost two games in four seasons and contributed to three national championships. His winning ways carried over to the pros as he has already appeared in three Super Bowls winning one.

Eric Crouch (class of ’01) was an All-American quarterback as a senior and also took home the Heisman and Walter Camp awards (both given to the nation’s outstanding player) and the Davey O’Brien national quarterback award. Crouch is NU’s all-time leading scorer (that’s not a kicker) and his 7,915 career yards of total offense and 88 total touchdowns are also NU records. His record as a starting quarterback was 35-7.

Why only fourteen (or why so many)? These are all guys who I felt had an argument. Others probably do to (like Roger Craig, who was the first NFL running back to have over 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same year and who was also the first player to score three touchdowns in a Super Bowl or Dave Humm who is NU’s career passing yardage leader and was an All-American his senior year).

Tomorrow, I’ll make my case for which of these is the best Husker ever.

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