Garbage College Football Player Rankings

I’ll start off by saying I have a ton a free time. In this free time I dedicate a fair amount to my study of sports and other random athletics. During my study and research of college football athletes I happened to stumble upon a list of college football athletes. (http://www.americasbestonline.com/cfootball100.htm). This was singlehanded one of the worst lists I’ve read in some time. As I was reading I was simply overwhelmed by sheer stupidity in some of the rankings. The problems start at the top of the list. Jim Thorpe is a college football legend, but he isn’t even close to being number one. He was Mr. Football at Carlisle University and for years after. His problem with his resume is that he didn’t set any insane records or have any games where people said, “WHAT THE F!@#”. The man who had these games was the “Galloping Ghost”. Red Grange, also known as “The Galloping Ghost”, was a legend. I’ve seen some ridiculous numbers in my life, in regards to football statistics. His career numbers were rather low in comparison to others in contention for the top spot on the list, but his collegiate football career only lasted 20 games. 20 games on today’s length of schedule are about a season and a half. In these 20 games he ran for 3362 yards and 31 touchdowns, while leading his team to a national championship. This averages out to a career average of 168 yards per game and a touchdown and a half a game. These numbers are not only scary if compared to modern day stats, but he has highlight games that I haven’t even discussed yet. Michigan University has one of the most prestigious college football programs of all time. You might be asking yourself why I even brought up this fact. The Galloping Ghost ran wild on them in 1924. When I say ran wild I mean HE WENT OFF! I’ve yet to see anything even close to the stats he put up. In the first half he scored, not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 touchdowns. 4 touchdowns in a half are very, very impressive, but he did this in the FIRST QUARTER. If any player did this in modern day they’d not only win player of the year but immediately be in contention for player of the year. He was pulled out of the game after the first quarter, ensuing sitting the second quarter. He later returned in the second half to run for another touchdown and throw for a score as well. Averaging 6 total touchdowns a game is enough to break the career scoring record in less than a season. Simply put, The Galloping Ghost dominated when he played, more so than any other player, and therefore he’s the greatest college football player of all time. Another player who is too low at spot 39 is Charles Woodson. He is the only player to ever win the Heisman Trophy without playing significant time on the offensive side of the ball. He contributed all his work on either special teams or defense. He led the nation in non-offensive touchdowns. Finally the last problem with this list is its lack of Virginia Tech alums, particularly a certain dogfighter, along with considerably the best defensive end to ever play the game. Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech class of 1985, was a defensive end. In his tenure at Virginia Tech he had 46 sacks and 22 in his junior year alone. He was awarded consensus first-team All-American status by the Associated Press. In 1984, Smith won the Outland Trophy; cementing his status as the best lineman of the year (offensive or defensive) at the time. He was also the first overall pick of the NFL draft in the following year, where he led a distinguished Hall of Fame career in the pros. The dogfighter previously referred to earlier in the rant was obviously Michael Vick. Vick is often called the BEST running quarterback of all-time. His ability with his feet would not only change a defensive coordinator’s schemes but it would rewrite the personnel that the defense would send out onto the field. They had to put the fastest players out on the field to not defend, but contain the RUNNING ability of a throwing proficient player. This intense planning would often be futile when assaulted with the sheer incredible athleticism of Michael Vick. In Michael’s freshman year at Virginia Tech, he was redshirted. A redshirt grants a player a year of academic eligibility, but restricts athletic ability. Michael sat on the sideline for his first year at Tech. However, his collegiate inexperience would not hinder his ability to dice defenses at his will. Mike Vick stormed into the National Spotlight as the “unstoppable quarterback”. In his first game he scored 3 rushing touchdowns in about a quarter and a half. He led Virginia Tech to an 11-0 record and into the national championship game against Florida State. Although Virginia Tech lost the game Vick’s numbers were impressive. Vick went on to place third in the Heisman Voting behind Ron Dayne, who is also on the list of the 100 top players. Vick was featured as the cover athlete on a Sports Illustrated magazine, won the ESPY award for the nation’s top college football player, and won the first ever Archie Griffin award (National College Football MVP). Vick only stayed another year at Virginia Tech before deciding to go pro. He was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons. By being drafted as the number one overall player, Vick became the first black quarterback to do so. His troubles with the law later ensued, but the list includes O.J. Simpson, and as we all know he had his own troubles as well. Vicks stats at Virginia Tech were not all that impressive, but Kirk Herbstreit, an ESPN college football analyst, stated he would elect to put Vick on his all-time team. His stats are not to be focused on, but rather his ability to change any game at any point in time. He reinvented the quarterback position, for players to come in the near future, for example Vince Young. He is a legend amongst college football quarterbacks in terms of leadership and athleticism and rightfully deserves to occupy a spot on the list of the Top 100 College Football Players of All-Time.