Best gophers football player ever

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Skiumah77

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Guys I'm 14 and I have only been watching the gophs for 4 years, in your opinion who is the best gophers player of all time mine is Maxx Williams (only watched 4 years)
 

Best ever, probably Bronko Nagurski, although Bruce Smith, Bobby Bell, and Paul Giel might be in the conversation too. Best/favorite in my lifetime, hmmm, in no particular order Tyrone Carter, Carl Eller, Marion Barber III, Ra'shede Hageman, Eric Decker, Greg Eslinger, Karon Riley, Darrell Thompson (the Rochester Rocket!), Rickey Foggie, Mark Setterstrom, Willie VanDeSteeg, Sean Lumpkin, Eric Murray, Ben Hamilton, Matt Spaeth, Laurence Maroney and uhmm...that's probably about enough for now.
 

Might be interesting to see best players position by position. Don't know if these are the best but ones I remember. To me Rickey Foggie was the most impactful QB I can remember. I don't think Darrel Thompson was near as effective once Foggie moved on. Defenses really had to be aware of Foggie and that helped Thompson a lot. Wide receiver - Rick Upchurch - Eric Decker TE - Spaeth/Utecht/Williams DBs - Tyrone Carter ... Brandon Owens might have been best if his career wouldn't have ended with a collision to Penn State's Michael Robinson. Carl Eller best defensive lineman - Bobby Bell best linebacker (might have been a hybrid type player) Too many good running backs to decide on. Not an expert on OL They get noticed when the qb gets sacked and the QBs and RBs get all the attention when O-linemen are doing their jobs. So maybe whoever was the top OL when we had real good running backs. So here are a few for your topic starter Skiumah77 nice to have a younger generation taking interest.
 

Some great choices above but I will through in a name I'm sure a lot of folks will agree with......Mike Hohensee.

Rick Foggie is a friend and I'm sure I will get some grief but we have had this conversation before. Mike could both run and pass and for me he was the real deal.
 



Best ever is Bronko Nugurski. One of the best all time during his era not just for the gophers.
 

Also have to consider Bruce Smith as number 2. Heisman Trophy winner. Won award a few days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He then spent the next four years in the war before starting his professional career with Green Bay.
 

Smith also played on back to back National Championship teams
 

Hard to argue against Bronco Nagurski (both as best player and best name). Tyrone Carter may have been the best as a collegiate in my lifetime, but Ricky Foggie made me fall in love with the Gophers as a kid. Good thread, kid!
 



MNSpaniel said:
Might be interesting to see best players position by position. Don't know if these are the best but ones I remember. To me Rickey Foggie was the most impactful QB I can remember. I don't think Darrel Thompson was near as effective once Foggie moved on. Defenses really had to be aware of Foggie and that helped Thompson a lot. Wide receiver - Rick Upchurch - Eric Decker TE - Spaeth/Utecht/Williams DBs - Tyrone Carter ... Brandon Owens might have been best if his career wouldn't have ended with a collision to Penn State's Michael Robinson. Carl Eller best defensive lineman - Bobby Bell best linebacker (might have been a hybrid type player) Too many good running backs to decide on. Not an expert on OL They get noticed when the qb gets sacked and the QBs and RBs get all the attention when O-linemen are doing their jobs. So maybe whoever was the top OL when we had real good running backs. So here are a few for your topic starter Skiumah77 nice to have a younger generation taking interest.
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Bobby Bell was a defensive tackle at the U of Minn. He played linebacker in the pros. He actually played QB in high school as well as other positions.
 

The best begins and ends with Bronko. Rick Upchurch was my first favorite as a Gopher fan. I always thought Chris Darkins was the most underrated Gopher of all-time.
 

The names that jump out for me off the top of my head are Decker, Carter, Thompson, Maroney.
 

Best...Bronko based on history books and grandfather stories. My favorite...MB3.
 



Bronko Nagurski was the best player. He also had the best name ever.
 

Word said:
The names that jump out for me off the top of my head are Decker, Carter, Thompson, Maroney.
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That would probably be the four I would pick as well if just picking guys that I have seen play in my lifetime.
 

Maybe Tom Brown (Outland Trophy winner, runner up for Heisman as a lineman, Big Ten MVP), Sandy Stephens (All American, Big Ten MVP, 2 Rose Bowls) get thrown in the mix.
 

Don't forget Tom Brown, defensive anchor of our last championship team.
 


Good question. Of the players I have seen, 5 really stand out: Tyrone Carter, Greg Eslinger, Eric Decker, Karon Riley & Laurence Maroney. Historically, you'd have to consider Bronco Nagurski, Bobby Bell, Bruce Smith and Paul Giel. If I had to pick just one, I'd go with Bronco Nagurski, he was so good they named a Trophy after him.
 

Good to have a youngster on the board.(whatever happened to Begget?).

Good idea to mention your age if you are a youngster. Makes it easier to understand the perspective at times.
 

station19 said:
Good to have a youngster on the board.(whatever happened to Begget?).

Good idea to mention your age if you are a youngster. Makes it easier to understand the perspective at times.
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Yep and I just hope they make the national title one year in my lifetime
 

Bobby Bell hands down. From his knees he could throw a football 60 yards. He was the fastest player on the Gopher football team. I remember talking ro Warmath in his golden years and he said Bell could've played any position on the team. I would then go with Bronco and Bruce Smith followed by Rick Upchurch .
 

I'm on the youngerish side of Gopher fandom, so I missed seeing some of the all-time greats. I can only comment on those I remember.

Decker was great. He's a couple of injuries away from probably skyrocketing up the all-time great charts. Dude just caught everything. I also had a PE volleyball course with him and played against him (yes, I was dominated).

Rhys Lloyd is a favorite. My first year at the U was 2003. First and last time I've ever seen the axe. Loved the kick and sprint across the field.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
The best begins and ends with Bronko. Rick Upchurch was my first favorite as a Gopher fan. I always thought Chris Darkins was the most underrated Gopher of all-time.
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Yeah, Darkins was very good and I would agree with him probably being underrated and/or overlooked far too often. I did that myself. :) Tellis Redmon is another tailback who could go right into that underrated/overlooked category, as he was outstanding. Other than Barber and Maroney, Redmon is the only Gopher RB in history to average 100+ rushing yards per game for his career. Forgot to mention him too, and I cannot BELIEVE I failed to mention David Cobb, one of my all-time faves. Slipping here, man.
 

pharmacygopher said:
I'm on the youngerish side of Gopher fandom, so I missed seeing some of the all-time greats. I can only comment on those I remember.

Decker was great. He's a couple of injuries away from probably skyrocketing up the all-time great charts. Dude just caught everything. I also had a PE volleyball course with him and played against him (yes, I was dominated).

Rhys Lloyd is a favorite. My first year at the U was 2003. First and last time I've ever seen the axe. Loved the kick and sprint across the field.
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Yeah, Rhys Lloyd was a blast. Another all-time great placekicker was Chip Lohmiller, about as automatic as it gets. People thought the Redskins were fools for drafting him in the second round, but that pick paid off handsomely for them and then some. He was about as clutch as it gets in the NFL. Dan Nystrom was a really great kicker for us too. Running backs and kickers, we've had some good ones here.
 



ruppertflywheel said:
Bobby Bell hands down. From his knees he could throw a football 60 yards. He was the fastest player on the Gopher football team. I remember talking ro Warmath in his golden years and he said Bell could've played any position on the team. I would then go with Bronco and Bruce Smith followed by Rick Upchurch .
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Second the motion. Bell was superhuman. I might substitute Eller for Upchurch, though.
 

Where is Dr. Don when we need him, he probably tweeted at Nagurski to get him to commit to Minnesota :cool02:
 

Upchurch has been mentioned a few times and of course only played a couple of years. Another guy with only a couple of years that carved out a very good pro career was Karl Mecklenburg.
 

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