Best college football players of all time ranked by jersey number
By John Buhler
Greg Roberts
Guard, Oklahoma Sooners
The amount of offensive football talent that has played at Oklahoma is borderline ridiculous. They have had one of the best running based offenses in football for a very long time. One of the best offensive lineman to play for the Sooners was guard Greg Roberts.
He was a unanimous All-American in 1978, winning the Outland Trophy. Roberts was one of the players that helped made the Barry Switzer era of Oklahoma football a national powerhouse in the 1970s and 1980s. Roberts would go on to play four NFL seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
George Gipp
Running Back, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
“Win just one for the Gipper” is synonymous with the famous Knute Rockne speech in that Ronald Reagan movie, Knute Rockne, All American. Turns out George Gipp was an incredible football player that passed away during his senior season at Notre Dame in 1920.
Gipp was posthumously a Walter Camp All-American in 1920. He would have 369 career carries for 2,341 yards and 21 touchdowns. Gipp would also sling the pigskin for 1,769 passing yards. He kicked field goals and extra points for the Fighting Irish. Gipp was everything for Notre Dame in their early football years.
Russell Maryland
Defensive Tackle, Miami Hurricanes
Defensive tackle Russell Maryland went No. 1 overall to the Dallas Cowboys in 1991 not just because he was one of Jimmy Johnson’s guys, but Maryland was an absolute monster in the middle of the Miami Hurricanes defense.
Maryland was an All-American in 1990, won the 1990 Outland Trophy and played a prominent role on to national championship teams in Miami in 1987 and 1989. He would have a fine 10-year NFL career mostly with the Cowboys and the Raiders, but Maryland was the first blue-chipper to come out of The U’s front seven.
Tedy Bruschi
Defensive End, Arizona Wildcats
Tedy Bruschi might have been a three-time Super Bowl Champion with the New England Patriots, but he was simply an outstanding player in the Pac-10 for the Arizona Wildcats. Bruschi was a three-time All-Pac-10 first team member and a two-time All-American in 1994 and 1995.
He has since been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame as a member of the 2013 Class. While he will forever be associated with the first Patriots’ Super Bowls, Bruschi is undoubtedly the best college football player to have played in Tucson for the Wildcats.