“I feel like I no longer fit in with these times.”- Calvin Coolidge 1932

Utah High School Football season is beginning tonight. It feels nothing like fall and everything like a Laird Hamilton sauna, but football is back, even if it’s only back in the smallest of ways.

Before football comes all the way back, I wanted to have some fun with some of my personal favorite college players. Compiling a pool of players was the fun part as I got to go back down memory lane. The less fun, but still fun part was selecting a list of starters at each position. I would take any of the players any day of the week, so narrowing it down was not easy.

This list is about what I’ve seen and who has personally impressed me in some way while at the college level. All are special at their position on the gridiron, some more special than others. The players that played high school ball in Utah will have their school listed in honor of the season kicking-off.

Because the defensive back position is the one I respect most, we will begin there and work down to QB.

For the Rosters, the offense will get two QB’s, four RB’s, five WR’s, two TE, three DL, four LB, two CB, and a strong and free safety. My lineups will be below, but feel free to jot down your own as you go along.

(4)Defensive Back:

• CB Darius Slay Miss St
  • A dog. An absolute relentless defender. A true Bulldog
• CB Johnthan Banks Miss St
  • Pick Six on Tebow at the very end of the first half was electric to witness.
• CB Charles Woodson Mich
• CB Carlos Rogers AUB
• CB Patrick Peterson LSU
  • #7 was in on every play
• CB Adoree Jackson USC
• CB Richard Sherman Stanford
• CB Joe Haden UF
• CB Jalen Ramsey FSU
  • Electric to watch
• SS Eric Berry TENN
• SS Tyrann Mathieu LSU
  • Honey Badger was his own must watch show in college.
• SS Roy Williams OKL
• SS Roman Harper BAMA
• SS Jordan Kovacs Mich
• FS Sean Taylor MIA
• FS Michael Griffin Tex
• FS Ed Reed MIA

(4)Linebacker:

• Mario Haggan Miss St
  • Leader of the first Bulldog team I fell in love with. MSU HOF
• AJ Hawk Ohio St
• James Laurenitis Ohio St
• Brian Cushing USC
• Luke Kuechly BC
• Jamar Chaney Miss St
• David Pollock UGA
  • Best High School football player to ever come out of Shiloh High School in Snellville, GA
  • Georgia Bulldog Legend
• Demario Davis AR St
  • Pick six against Iowa woke me up out of a nap. Beth Mowins was on the call, and it was her voice that snapped me awake. “And Demario Davis…”
• Lander Barton Utah (Brighton High)
  • Highest ranked High school recruit to remain in the state.
  • Senior Leader on this current Ute squad.
  • Davis (Kaysville) @ Brighton 8/14

Short, but elite list. Hawk and Cushing are two of the best college Linebackers ever.

(3)Defensive Line:

• Dontari Poe MEM
  • Big fella plugged some gaps for the Hometown Tigers
• Chase Young Ohio St
• Jadeveon Clowny S. Car
• Nick Bosa Ohio St
• Miles Garrett Tex A&M
• Fletcher Cox Miss St
• Ndamukong Suh NEB
• Halot Ngata ORE (Highland High)
  • Highest High School football recruit Utah has ever produced.
  • West Lake @ Highland 8/15
  • This is one player that I do not have a recollection of watching but with High School football kicking off, I wanted to highlight him.

There might be a name or two missing, but again, elite group.

(2)Tight End:

• Brock Bowers UGA
• Kyle Pitts UF
• Hunter Henry ARK
• Dalton Kincaid Utah
• Jake Butt Mich
• Dalton Schultz Stanford (Bingham High)
  • Bingham @ Corner Canyon 8/15

Brock Bowers. That’s the list. He had an unbelievable career at Georgia and explosive first season in the NFL. Week 3 of his sophomore season I journaled, ‘Brock Bowers TE1 in Fantasy Football.’ MUST DRAFT!’ He had just gone for over 100 yards and two scores vs South Carolina. So, this past season I drafted him. He went on to set the NFL rookie record for receptions and most receiving yards by a Tight End and claiming Offensive Rookie of the Year. TE1 indeed.

(5)Wide Receiver:

• Devonta Smith BAMA
• AJ Brown MISS
• Alshon Jefferey S. CAR
• Peerless Price TENN
  • One of those guys I wanted to be when playing backyard football
• Santana Moss MIA
• Calvin Johnson GT
  • Elite. At sports and as a human. In recent years, he’s been working alongside Harvard U and studying how cannabis can help former athletes with CTE and pain management in a safe manner.
• Michael Crabtree TTU
• Julio Jones BAMA
• Percy Harvin UF
• Amari Cooper Bama
• AJ Green UGA
• Mike Evans Tex A&M
• Mario Manningham MICH
• Henry Ruggs III BAMA

I mean you could take the four Crimson Tide receivers and be just fine, but any four of these would be an elite receiver group. A healthy mix of ‘go up and get it’ guys and possession receivers. Guys like Manningham, Crabtree, and Johnson paved the way for the new version of elite receivers. In their day, they stood out because very few were as big and athletic as they were, but in today’s game, there seems to be a big body athletic type on every other team. Young receivers today have guys like this to thank for keeping the sport fun and exciting, and for enticing them to develop their game in the first place.

(4)Running Back:

• Samaje Perine OKLA
• Ricky Williams TEX
• Deuce McAllister MISS
  • “Deuce for Heisman” bumper stickers were certainly seen in my neck of West TN while he was running all over defenses in Oxford.
• Travis Henry TENN
  • Over the pile goal line jumps at their finest
• Anthony Dixon Miss St
  • I was at a game one time where “Booby” ran for nearly 200 yards and scored a touchdown, but the Bulldogs lost by three scores (42-21)
  • Tough as nails
• Mike Hart MICH
  • #20 on Michigan was impossible not to root for
• Darren McFadden ARK
  • One of the greatest players to wear the Razorback jersey
• Dalvin Cook FSU
• Reggie Bush USC
• Deangelo Williams MEM
  • Hometown Tiger! The Greatest Tiger of them all.
• J.K. Dobbins Ohio St
  • Gus Johnson: “J, K, Dobbins”
  • Power up the gut, near impossible to tackle at the line of scrimmage.
• Carnell Williams AUB
  • “Cadillac” looked like a man playing against college kids at times. Like Kalel did last year.

(2)Quarterback:

• Dak Prescott Miss St
  • Best ever season in Bulldog history. #1 team in the first ever CFP rankings. Dak was certainly special while wearing the Maroon and White
• Deshaun Watson CLEM
• Lamar Jackson UL
  • Leading Rusher in Louisville history. Over 4,000 yards. Nearly 1,000 more than second on the list
• Michael Vick VA Tech
• Matt Ryan BC
• Andrew Luck Stanford
• Brock Purdy ISU
• Jake Plummer ASU
  • Jake “the Snake” Plummer. Someone very special to me loved this player when he was lighting it up in the 90’s and told me all about him. Can’t say I have much of a memory of watching him, but I do remember watching one game with my grandad and him hyping him up constantly. Real stuff right there.
• Kevin Kolb HOU
  • Houston vs South Carolina at the Liberty Bowl was a back and forth 44-36 game. Somehow, someway I was first row at the 50 yard line. Kevin was awesome in that game, but also made one of the whackiest plays I’ve still ever witnessed. I’ll lay it out for you–Houston was 3rd and goal and Kolb was in the shotgun with 4 wide from about the 7 when the ball snapped high over his head. Kevin turned to grab it but it took an unfortunate bounce and was rolling end over end the other direction and he was not able to grasp it. The ball rolled as far the 20-25 yard line and South Carolina was swarming and certainly going to beat him to the ball. This was a frantic moment and the stadium, which had been an outstanding environment was ready to erupt. Just as the defense was ready to snatch the ball up and run for an easy scoop and score, Kevin pulled his big right leg back and booted the ball up near the 30th row opposite of where I was sitting. There was an instant “whoa, whoa, he can’t do that!” coming from the Carolina fans I was sitting amongst. Sure enough, the white hat threw the yellow and hit Houston with a 15 yard penalty. This left Houston who had been 1st and goal from the one and half yard line, with a 4th and goal from about the 45 forcing them to punt. To this day, I’ve never seen a 1st and goal turn into a punt. Kevin was a gunslinger and that’s why he’s on the list.
• Brady Quinn ND
• Kenny Kelly MIA
  • I’ve written it here a year or so back about how this guy was influential on a young kid playing football in his backyard. He doesn’t have the numbers by any means, and he lost the job to Ken Dorsey eventually, but while he was the Hurricane starting QB, he could do no wrong in my young eyes.
• Baker Mayfield OKLA
  • One of my favorite teams ever to watch was the Baker led Oklahoma Sooners.

So, that’s the pool of players from which I will be selecting the starters which can be seen below.

STARTING OFFENSE

QB1: Michael Vick QB2:Dak

RB1: Darren McFadden RB2: Deangelo RB3: Ricky Williams RB4: Reggie Bush

WR1: Calvin Johnson WR2: Santana Moss WR3: Smith WR4: Crabtree WR5: Green

TE1: Brock Bowers UGA TE2: Pitts

The Best Oline in the world: I’ll take, Addison Lawrence, Elgton Jenkins, Laremy Tunsil, Cole Strange and Barrett Jones snapping the ball.

This offense would score on every possession. That is if they were playing normal defenses. If they were playing against the one listed below, it would be a fair fight.

So, let’s meet the defense.

STARTING DEFENSE

DL: Suh, Young, Clowney

LB: Hawk, Cushing, Keuchly, Haggan

CB: Ramsey, Peterson

SS: Tyrann Mattieu

FS: Ed Reed

Good luck to the “best O-line in the world.” I guess it’s a good thing that I’ve started the best scrambling QB of his era because this is a defense that is “mobile, agile, hostile” and will thrive on the chaos it creates. Thankfully, a guy like Vick can also thrive during chaos. Bowers and Honey Badger might be the “x-factors” for each side if these two hypothetical sides were to meet.

You know, it seems there are enough players to make another team. Why not? This is for fun and a simple dose of sports to curb the workday boredom.

OFFENSE #2

QB1: Lamar Jackson QB2: Baker

RB1: Dalvin Cook RB2: Carnell Williams RB3: Travis Henry RB4: Mike Hart

WR1: AJ Brown WR2: Mario Manningham WR3: Julio Jones WR4: Percy Harvin WR5: Peerless Price

TE1: Dalton Kincaid TE2: Jake Butt

DEFENSE #2

DL: Garrett, Cox, Nick Bosa

LB: Laurenitis, Chaney, Davis, Pollock

CB: Richard Sherman, Joe Haden

SS: Roy Williams

FS: Michael Griffin

Another excellent team. One thing is for sure, I love the sport of college football. The coaches, the players, the culture, the tradition, and the drama. This sport has had a grip on me since about the time I could talk. It’s strange to simply be an outsider to each one of these schools yet still find so much joy in watching the games. I truly have no ‘dog’ in the fight, but with a sport this good, I don’t need one.

There is no doubt about it, the sport has changed. For the better or worse, it has changed in a massive way since the likes of Kenny Kelly started at QB for Miami. But, I’m sure every fan has said the same thing at one point in their lifetime. “Tides rise and fall.” People come and go and the circle of life continues. College football and everything changes with the passing of time. It’s just the way it is.

So, in short, I’ll always find a way to get some enjoyment out of the college game. It runs too damn deep in my DNA. Players such as these are the reason why I’ll never forget the ‘good ol days’ because of the moments and memories these players provided.

The College Football Future

It’s exciting to think about who will be the next great ones in the future, but I believe their role will be to inspire more youngsters like I used to be. Who can be Ed Reed or Kenny Kelly to the next batch of ten year olds playing football in their backyard with the neighborhood kids? That’s what’ll keep the sport alive. If the athletes forget or fail to inspire that group year in and year out, the sport will crumble. The second that College Football is only about money, it will crumble. Dynasties always do and ‘Tides rise and fall.”

Football will still be played, but not in the traditional college way. It will give way to the “semi-pro” minor league style prep league for the NFL, and the days of college students playing sports on tv while receiving an education will get a lethal dose of water hemlock. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but I am saying, it won’t be college football anymore.

Along with providing the quote from 1932 that began this piece, Calvin Coolidge, former Director of New York Life Insurance as well as the 30th President of these United States, also stated “the business of America is business.” It always will be. Coolidge passed away 1/5/33 suddenly from pulmonary thrombosis at age 60.

Players, never forget the youngsters looking up to you.

ONE FINAL WORD

Ed Reed is one of the reasons I fell in love with the defensive back position. He is the reason this site is named what it is, and in my opinion, Ed Reed was the greatest Single High Safety to play the sport. The guts, instinct, and skill it takes the be that kind of ball hawk makes it my all time favorite position to watch. He would’ve won the McNelly Award for sure. He lost out on the Thorpe to bone-crunching Strong Safety Roy Williams.

Tell you what, I’ll make him an honorary winner right now.

Before we begin the first annual season of the McNelly Award, I would like to present an honorary McNelly Award to Miami Safety Ed Reed. His outstanding play on the field during his time at the University of Miami and his gritty on field demeanor, inspired at least one (this guy) to at least try to follow in his footsteps. After all, that’s what “Follow Me to Hell” and McNelly was all about. And so, it seems fitting to allow the first ever winner of the Single High Sports McNelly Award to be the absolute legend, Ed Reed. Greatest Single High Safety to ever live.

There–that settles it. It’s official.

Shit! I need kickers. I’ll take Michigan’s Zvada on FG and Miss St Blake McAdams on punts. The end.

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.