Best South Carolina football players: Modern-era Mount Rushmore – From Rogers to Clowney
By Ethan Lee
The best South Carolina football players, including Jadeveon Clowney and Heisman winner George Rogers, make the Gamecocks Mount Rushmore.
When compared to other teams in the Southeastern Conference, the South Carolina Gamecocks have a relatively meek football program. Historically, South Carolina football isn’t all that spectacular, but that doesn’t mean the Gamecocks don’t have anything to boast about or be proud of.
There have been plenty of bright moments for the South Carolina football program and plenty of truly great players have played in Williams-Bryce Stadium.
It wasn’t that long ago that Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks were won 11 games in back-to-back-to-back seasons. On top of that, unlike some other SEC teams, South Carolina does have a Heisman winner.
Over the past 40 years, dating back to 1980, some spectacular stars have taken the field in Columbia, South Carolina. Gamecock fans have been lucky to witness some truly incredible South Carolina football players in the past four decades. That makes picking just four players for a modern-era South Carolina Mount Rushmore pretty difficult.
Alshon Jeffery, unfortunately, didn’t quite make it here. One of the most productive receivers in SEC history, Jeffery had a remarkable college career. From 2009-2011, Jeffery caught 183 passes for 3,042 yards and 23 touchdowns. Roughly half of those yards came in 2010 as he racked up 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns that season.
If there were five heads on Mount Rushmore, Jeffery would be there for South Carolina. But, as it is, there are only four players who can make this list.