30 best HBCU football players of all time, ranked

Jerry Rice, Walter Payton and the 30 best HBCU football players of all time

By Dante Pryor | May 11, 2021

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 28: Jerry Rice #80 of the San Francisco 49ers runs with the ball against the Denver Broncos during Super Bowl XXIV on January 28, 1990 at the Super Dome in New Orleans, LA. The 49ers won the Super Bowl 55-10. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Brandon Wade/Getty Images for The Sports Network) /

26. Willie Totten, quarterback, Mississippi Valley State

Willie “Satellite” Totten is one of the many “what-ifs” in college football. Turn on the professional game, and quarterbacks from Patrick Mahomes to Tom Brady are playing no-huddle, shotgun-based offenses with 3 or 4 receivers in their base packages.

Down in tiny Itta Bina, Mississippi, Willie Totten was the trigger man for head coach Archie Cooley’s unique offense at Mississippi Valley State University. Cooley did not have a lot of size on his roster, but the Delta Devils had a lot of speed.

So Cooley decided to do something that has been a hallmark of the modern game, putting that speed in space to create one-on-one matchups.

In 1984, Cooley told Totten that he could call the plays t the line of scrimmage. That change made Totten and his primary receiver, Jerry Rice, record-setting players at the FCS (Division 1-AA) level.

In that 1984 season, the Delta Devils scored 59 points per game, and Totten threw for a single-season record of 58 touchdowns. The Delta Devils would make their only Division-1AA playoff appearance that season.

When Totten was done at Mississippi Valley State, he was second all-time in career passing yards (12,711) and single-season passing yards (4,557) and first all-time in touchdown passes (139). Totten threw for over 530 yards five times in his career, including a 599 yard game against Prairie View.

After Totten’s playing days were over, he would coach and currently coaches quarterbacks at MVSU.

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