Best college football players of all time from every state

Vermont – Steve Wisniewski

Perhaps not best known as a large football-product producing state, Vermont’s selections for top collegiate football player are rather limited. A small state when brought to a comparative level, the Green Mountain State is home to only 626,000 people according to the 2018 census.

The homeplace of influencers like Calvin Coolidge, John Deere and Chester Arthur, however, produced an athlete who was a vital piece of a historic college football team: Steve Wisniewski.

Steve Wisniewski, a Rutland, Vermont native, was the go-to man in the trenches for the Penn State team that went undefeated in 1986 and won a national championship. Wisniewski was a three-year starter for the Nittany Lions and was selected as an All-American in 1987 and 1988, making him only the second offensive lineman in Nittany Lions’ history to earn the title in two separate seasons.

In that undefeated season in 1989, Wisniewski was a vital anchor on the offensive line, fueling a Joe Paterno-coached offense that would rush for almost 4.6 yards per carry, and averaged nearly 300 yards per game against their opposition.

Wisniewski, or “Wiz” to his college teammates, would go on to be a second round pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, would go on to be an eight-time Pro Bowler, and two-time First-team All-Pro, as well as being named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade team, and the 50-Year All-Raiders team.