ESPN: Ranking the Big Ten's top 5 all-time DTs (#1. Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota)

[BleedGopher]

per ESPN:

1. Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota, 1927-1929: He's widely regarded as one of the greatest college players of all-time, and there should be no debate he's the top guy here. Nagurski is the stuff of legends. On one play, during his NFL career, he knocked down two linebackers and hit two other defenders before crashing into the brick wall ahead of the end zone. "That last guy hit me awfully hard," he supposedly said as he ran back into the huddle. Sure, we're rating him on his college career and his work at tackle, not fullback -- but the point is that Nagurski was incredibly tough, be it in college or the NFL. He's on every imaginable college all-time team (as a defensive tackle), he's in both the Pro and College Football Hall of Fame, and his trophy namesake is awarded annually to the nation's best defensive player. That's quite the set of credentials.

Honorable mentions: Bobby Bell, Minnesota; Jim Stillwagon, Ohio State; Leo Nomellini, Minnesota; Bruce Clark, Penn State; Wayne Meylan, Nebraska; Calvin Jones, Iowa; Mark Messner, Michigan; Moe Gardner, Illinois

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/132928/ranking-the-big-tens-top-5-all-time-dts

Go Gophers!!

 

[Bryce Webster]

Shame I couldn't have been born 80 years sooner...

 

[GopherRock]

Toss the middle 3, they were not in the league at the time.

Where is Tom Brown on the honorable mention lost?

 

[Otis]

Why is Carl Eller not on the DE list?

 

[Spoofin]

Bronko Nagurski was so overrated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[corcoran1]

Bell was the greatest Goph in my lifetime, and it isn't close, and no disrespect is intended to other great Goph players. If he had played MLB, he would have been better than Butkus was at Illinois. If he had played DE he would have been the best DE in the country, better than Eller or Aaron Brown. He was the fastest guy on the team and he played DT.

 

[Nomellini]

Anyone else been up to the Nagurski Museum up in International Falls? Very interesting and the curator is quite knowledgeable. He's also pretty lonely so be ready for conversation. There was an enlarged photo showing 50-year old Bronko with his Alumni teammates after beating the Varsity in spring 1958 by a score of 26-2. Running behind Nomellini, Tonnemaker and Youso, Nagurski carried on nearly every play of a touchdown drive, finishing it off with a scoring plunge. Other notables on that Alumni team included Gino Cappelletti, Gordy and Jim Soltau, Bud Grant, Billy Bye, Bobby Cox and Vern Gagne. I wonder if this game was an annual tradition and when it was last played.