Top 5: Texas Longhorns Football Players (all time)

Vince Young

Owing to this blog's sneaky new underground and "invitation only" status (it was already underground if by "underground" you mean no one read it, I've just turned the tables by cutting off the millions who weren't reading it anyway--its what you call "changing the conversation"), I suspect this Top 5 will induce the most yawns among the regular readership. I understand that some of you seven readers  watch about as many Texas football games as you do Halley's Comet earth fly-bys. The rest of you just don't care about who was great in 1976 as much as whether Texas, by far the richest college football program of all time, can manage to beat Kansas State this year (we've lost the last five in a row, which is much higher up the Bizarro World scale than the fact that people still pay Tom Cruise to star in movies).

But I only write these things for me, and I want to rank the Top 5 greatest Texas Longhorns football players. Ever.

I know, I know. Gee, how novel. Like 20,000 people haven't already done that. For example, Bleacher Report.

But, again, who cares? This is just our little club now, right?

The first Texas game I can remember watching, on television of course, is the Great Shootout. The 1969 Texas vs. Arkansas game, which some have called the greatest college football game of the 20th century. Texas was ranked number one, Arkansas number two. Fourth and three, 4:47 to go, James Street to Randy Peschel for the go-ahead score. I watched it with my dad and I can still remember him yelling when Peschel caught that ball. President Nixon was there that day, and awarded Darrell Royal a plaque as the National Champion that year. Even though the bowls hadn't been played yet and Penn State was also undefeated. Joe Paterno bitterly complained about that for years. But you know what Joe, in light of subsequent events, too bad for you Joe.

Since then, and especially after most Texas games began appearing on TV (for many years, a school could only appear on television twice during the regular season, one more brilliant NCAA rule, along with freshmen not being able to play and the ban on dunks in basketball), I've probably seen (or listened to on radio) about 90 % of the Texas ball games. I went to every game while I attended school here, and have watched nearly all the rest on TV. During that span, the Longhorns have treated their fans (and college football fans generally) to some incredible games: the 1970 Cotton Bowl (against Notre Dame), the 1973 Cotton Bowl (against Alabama), the 1977 OU game (3rd string QB Randy McEachern comes off the bench to lead Texas to a come from behind win), the 1996 Big 12 Championship game (beating number three ranked Nebraska), the 2005 Rose Bowl game (against Michigan), and the 2006 Rose Bowl game against USC for another National Championship. A real national championship. Not like the fake ones from the leather helmet era the Aggies decided to claim a couple years ago.  So I'm finally writing on a subject about which I actually know something.

As I suggested in the last post, their historical context makes sports worthy of following. Fans inherently enjoy comparing current players with former players, and current teams with older teams. Who wins between the 1969 Longhorns and the 1996 ones? Better quarterback, James Street or James Brown? I clerked for a state appellate court judge shortly after law school, who told me once that when women get together, they talk about shoes, but when men get together, they talk about sports. And some of the best sports conversations focus on "the best of all time."

So, here's my list of the Top 5 greatest Texas Longhorns. No, Rob Moerschell didn't make the list.

5.  Bobby Layne. This guy was incredible, but no one knows it today. Layne was just about the only Texas quarterback ever worth anything until James Street. He scored every one of Texas' 40 points in the 1946 Cotton Bowl, had over 3,000 yards career passing in an era when few teams ever threw the ball, and, like Colt McCoy, led the nation in 1946 in passing completion percentage. Unlike McCoy, he didn't rely on 5 yard passes to Jordan Shipley. His Texas passing records lasted well into the 1980s. He also threw two no-hitters as a pitcher for the Texas baseball team.

4. Ricky Williams. Heisman Trophy winner. Briefly, the NCAA career rushing yardage leader, career rushing touchdown leader, and career scoring leader. 300 yard rushing performances in several games, and had 12 200+ yard performances, also a record. He even racked up 150 yards against a Nebraska "Black Shirts" defense. He was a really good pass receiver too, murdering defenses on balls caught out in the flat where he could run in space. Ricky had that rare quality of being able to just take over a game, and lead the entire team to victory.

3. Tommy Nobis. His thankless and wasted performances for hapless Atlanta Falcons teams obscured his incredible college success as a complete defensive stopper. He averaged 20 tackles a game in college as a linebacker, where a more normal average would be about half that. He was on the 1963 National Championship team, and also led the defense that stopped Joe Namath's Alabama Crimson Tide at the very end of the 1965 Orange Bowl in one of the most dramatic goal line stands of all time. Nobis tackled Namath on 4th down to seal the win on the game's last play. Nobis started on both offense and defense his entire college career, one of the last "iron men" in college football. He played guard, so this wasn't like Deion "don't touch me" Sanders playing receiver and defensive back.  He won the Outland Trophy and, as a linebacker, finished seventh in the 1965 Heisman Trophy voting, all despite playing with a knee injury. Texas for many years reserved Nobis' number 60 for only the very finest players, before finally retiring it.

2. Earl Campbell. The Tyler Rose is the most exciting player I've ever seen, and my favorite football player of all time. He ran the football the same way Dick Butkus and Jack Tatum played defense--with no quarter. He won the 1977 Heisman Trophy. Scouts have said he could have played in the NFL...as a freshman. He weighed 244 pounds and could run a 4.5 40, which even today is astonishing. In college, he simply destroyed defenders, just like he did for the Oilers later in the decade. He ran for 173 yards against a good SMU team, even though he had 101 degree fever from the flu. He ran for over 200 yards against North Texas, with a torn hamstring. He nearly ran for 1,000 yards as a freshman. He played four seasons at Texas, and graduated too. And was one of the nicest, most honorable men ever to play at Texas. Earl was one of the true role models of sports.

1. VY. Leave aside his making a six on the Wonderlic. Leave aside his poor NFL work habits, shirtless partying, going broke, and all the other things that happened after he left Texas. When he was at Texas, he was nearly unstoppable. He had such unique talents that could so overwhelm defenses that the Texas coaches literally quit coaching him. Texas created the "spread" offense to take advantage of Vince's talents. During those years, the "offense" basically consisted of about six plays: Vince runs and finds open space, Vince throws to Limas Sweed or David Thomas or Quan Cosby, or hands off to Cedric Benson. Vince led them to victory over Ohio State in Columbus, one of few teams ever to accomplish that. They beat Michigan in their first ever Rose Bowl, and of course won the National Championship against a USC team that ESPN had been touting for months as the greatest college football team of all time. Vince could simply take over a game. When Texas was down by four in the USC game with two minutes left, I had absolutely no doubt what would happen: Vince would lead Texas down the field for a touchdown. That is exactly what happened. Vince and Earl could simply take over games the way Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson could take over a basketball game, a rare quality in football. He is the greatest Texas Longhorns football player of all time.

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