Best Michigan State football players: Modern-era Mount Rushmore – From Lorenzo White to Charles Rogers

The best Michigan State football players of the last 40 years, including the late Charles Rogers, make up the Michigan State football Mount Rushmore.

Over the years, Michigan State has seen plenty of success on the gridiron, but most of it since the 1960s came during the Mark Dantonio era which stretched from 2007-2019.

Following the rich history of success for Michigan State in the 1960s, the program took a nosedive and then returned to relevance in the 1980s before experiencing a roller-coaster of success and failure until Nick Saban took over.

With Saban at the helm, the Spartans were trending in the right direction. Teams were starting to take note of Michigan State’s rise and it was never more obvious than during the 1999 season when it won nine regular-season games and made the Citrus Bowl against Florida but Saban decided to pack his bags and leave for LSU. Michigan State would go on to beat the Gators to improve to 10-2 on the year, but the program reached its peak.

Things took a turn for the worst under Bobby Williams and John L. Smith, but Michigan State returned to its glory days under Dantonio.

Throughout these coaches’ tenures, the Spartans never lacked talent. There were years where talent oozed out from every position group (2013) and others where it seemed like Michigan State was as deep as a kiddie pool.

Nevertheless, Michigan State had some impressive players come through the program but who makes up the Spartans’ Mount Rushmore in the modern era (since 1980)?