11. Best college football players before Twitter: Brian Bosworth, ILB, Oklahoma
Brian Bosworth has the highlight reel of a Hollywood montage, looks like the prototype for The Program and was the brash loudmouth we love on Twitter.
Let’s take a look at some of his memorable quotes:
"“In the middle of a play, I go crazy and don’t realize what I’m doing. I’ll snap back to reality and I realize, ‘Hey, I just ripped that boy’s helmet off,’ or, ‘I’m over here twisting this guy’s knee.’ ”"
And then there’s this from the same LA Times article:
"“I’d like to improve on running plays. I want to see if I can hurt some more people. To me, I don’t think I’m out there hurting enough people. I should hurt a lot more people than I do. I’d like to hurt someone on every play.”"
Most endearing, though, is his hatred of the NCAA which was a large part of his undoing at Oklahoma.
"“I’m starting to get a little fed up with the NCAA’s dicatatorship [sic] attitude. They’re putting themselves above the law and in a lot of cases they’re putting the athlete way below moral stndards [sic].”"
Sure, he might have been ‘roided out and his NFL career was cut short by shoulder issues. But that didn’t change what he did and said. He was so much fun.
A full database of defensive statistics is hard to find for stats before 2000, because NCAA, but the Boz logged more than 400 tackles in Oklahoma career, earning the Butkus Award twice. A National Title once. He logged 22 tackles against Miami in 1986, which would be a Twitter storm of vitriol on its own.
Bosworth was an absurdly talented, polarizing figure on a powerhouse team. He might have been too much for Twitter to handle.