In this day and age of
instant media, it’s become a common
trend to anoint whatever is happening now
as “the best of all time”. Case
in point is the ESPN poll currently being
run on their Web site. They’re asking
fans to rank the Top 10 college teams of the
last fifty seasons. This seems to me to be
a little ridiculous, as it features exactly
two teams outside of the last twenty-five
years – and assumes that the current
model of USC’s gridders is the best
that it’s ever rolled out.
It got me thinking. Since the
media are labeling the whirling Reggie Bush
as the best of all time, how does he compare
to some of the best I have ever seen? And
who’s being forgotten completely from
the discussion?
My running back on my all-time
college team is Vincent “Bo” Jackson.
End of discussion. Not only was Bo as fast
as Reggie Bush, he was twenty pounds heavier.
If Bush is a Corvette, Bo is a souped-up Humvee.
Jackson was over 200 yards four times in his
senior season and amassed nearly 1,800 yards
in his Heisman season. Bo’s career was
cut short by injuries, but he is still talked
about as one of the best athletes of his time.
It’s hard not to have Bo on your list.
Another one who is forgotten
is Red Grange, the Galloping Ghost. Grange
scored five touchdowns and passed for another
against a Michigan team that had allowed just
32 points in its previous twenty games. Of
course, he played back in 1924, so all many
of us have seen of him is grainy footage of
one man streaking around eleven others. It’s
not quite as captivating as the bootleg video
of Bush’s high school days that is currently
circulating on the Internet.
The name Herschel Walker never
enters into the equation either, probably
because his pro career was spotty. But when
Walker played at Georgia, there was none better.
He was over 100 yards in 28 of his last 32
college contests (if you’re keeping
track, that’s 87.5% of the time). Not
too bad of a way to stay on scholarship.
Many Trojan fans would argue
that Reggie Bush isn’t even the best
ever at USC, although many Trojan fans would
also like to disown the guy who may have been
from the Trojan family. That running back
was O.J. Simpson, and he was the ultimate
junior college transfer of all time. Of course,
now what Simpson is remembered for is running
from the law instead of running from the Bruins,
but in his time, there was none better.
Absent from this discussion
are Ron Dayne and Ricky Williams. Sure, they
piled up the yards, but had the advantage
of being backs who seemingly ran the ball
on every down. Were I to be given an opportunity
to have one of them on my team, I wouldn’t
turn it down, but they’re not on top
of the list.
And the guy nobody talks about
is one who was exceptional for brief flashes
at North Carolina, Kelvin Bryant. Bryant was
over 1,000 yards for three straight seasons
and had three games in which he amassed a
sickening fifteen touchdowns. Until he was
injured in 1981, he was the Heisman frontrunner
– but then again, it’s hard to
argue with the eventual winner that season,
another San Diego product, Marcus Allen.
I can’t dispute that
Bush is the most exciting college player I’ve
seen. No one plays with more enthusiasm and
love for the game, and I can’t remember
another who has been more fun to watch. But
ending the discussion with a guy who’s
barely old enough to drink leaves a solid
stable of runners out in the rain.
