Who is on your Golden Gopher Defensive Back Mount Rushmore?

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Otis

Otis

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This should be pretty easy to start with:

Antoine Winfield Jr.
Tyrone Carter

And then it gets harder, There are the pros:

Marcus Sherels
Tony Dungy

And then there are the guys who may make first team All-B1G now:

Coney Durr
Ben St. Juste
Tyler Nubin

And there are the guys who have made the All-B1G teams in the past.

Right now I'll start it off with:

AW Jr.
Tyrone Carter
Marcus Sherels

And leave it to the rest of you to find the fourth.
 






Love Marcus Sherels but for me, his accomplishments while a Gopher were not enough to put him in top 4.

Tony Dungy was a quarterback with Gophers. Didn't play DB.

My top 3 are pretty cut and dry
Tyrone Carter
Antoine Winfield Jr
Willie Middlebrooks

My 4th is probably Eric Murray. All-Big honorable mention as a Sophomore. 2nd team as a Junior and 3rd team as a Senior.
 

I don't remember Sherels as being that big of a shut down corner in college. His NFL career has been based off being a kick returner.

I think "Some guy" has the list down pretty well. Winfield, Carter, Middlebrooks, Murray.
 

Word said:
I don't remember Sherels as being that big of a shut down corner in college. His NFL career has been based off being a kick returner.

I think "Some guy" has the list down pretty well. Winfield, Carter, Middlebrooks, Murray.
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Agree that there was little to nothing about Marcus Sherels in college that screamed future long term NFL player. His success at that level came out of nowhere.

I like the list of Winfield, Carter, Middlebrooks and Murray. Although maybe there is some old time DB missing as those are all fairly contemporary players.
 

What did Bernie Bierman play on defense?
 




FredCoxRocks said:
Jeff Wright.
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Jeff Wright was a very solid starter for the Vikings. Played with Paul Krause.

Middlebrooks
Tyrone Carter
AWJr
Dungy, Giel, Smith?


Eric Murray

I want to put Eric Murray in there but I feel these other guys are just a bit better. Dungy played QB for the Gophers of course but played D-back at Pittsburgh so he get's my vote. If Dungy, Giel, Smith are out I put Murray in there.

Did Paul Giel or Bruce Smith play d back at all?
 


GopherDog1 said:
Jeff Wright was a very solid starter for the Vikings. Played with Paul Krause.

Middlebrooks
Tyrone Carter
AWJr
Dungy, Giel, Smith?


Eric Murray

I want to put Eric Murray in there but I feel these other guys are just a bit better. Dungy played QB for the Gophers of course but played D-back at Pittsburgh so he get's my vote. If Dungy, Giel, Smith are out I put Murray in there.

Did Paul Giel or Bruce Smith play d back at all?
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Yup. He obviously impressed Bud. I have several, if not many, of his football cards. Does anyone know what he [former Gopher Jeff Wright] is up to these days? I ain't seen hide-nor-seek of him in years.
 






Some guy said:
Marcus sherels might have Been if he was ever healthy.

Winfield
T Carter
Middlebrooks
Eric Murray
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Agreed. I can't put Dungy in a list of DB Mount Rushmore at the U when he didn't play DB at the U. I get he did at the next level, but IMHO that really isn't relevant to this list.
 

Jeshurun said:
My Gopher DB Mt Rushmore:

Norwood Teague
Royce White
Kris Humphries
AJ Barker
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This made me laugh, although your definition of “DB” might be a bit different than the original intent.
 
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If we are talking about Jeshurun’s DB list, I think Lou Holtz and Mitch Lee would be top 4. As much as I was a fan while he was here, ol’ Jer may deserve a spot - though that would be after his U tenure so maybe just a plaque down below the Mt Rushmore.
 

corcorangopher said:
If we are talking about Jeshurun’s DB list, I think Lou Holtz and Mitch Lee would be top 4. As much as I was a fan while he was here, ol’ Jer may deserve a spot - though that would be after his U tenure so maybe just a plaque down below the Mt Rushmore.
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Mitch was a bit before my time.
 

Winfield Jr., Carter, Murray, and then a tossup for the last spot IMO.
 


Rodney Heath. Anyone remember him? Played in NFL for Bengals and Falcons. Also loved Larry Joyner and Jeff Rosga
 
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My irrational love for Micheal Carter deserves a mention. Plus he had the most dominant defensive series this side of Chase Young I've ever seen
 


Some guy said:
Winfield
T Carter
Middlebrooks
Eric Murray
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This is the right answer. If BBC would have been 100% healthy his SR season, I think you could make a good argument for him over Murray. BBC was better than Murray his JR year. He was All-Big Ten first team by the media, and second team by the coaches that season.
 


Jeff Wright
T. Carter
E. Murray
A. Winfield Jr.
 


As I'm sure with many, I'm enjoying these Mount Rushmore by positions, and defensive back has certainly seemed to be a feast or famine position for the Gophers. My curiosity was struck to dig into the All-Big Ten teams and I found Wikipedia as a quick source, so here we go. (All-American in bold) It appears that 1964 was the first year where defensive backs were included as a position:
'64 Kraig Lofquist, 1st team, Coaches
'64 Mike Reid, 2nd team, coaches
'65 Tom Sakal, 2nd team, writers
'67 Sakal, 1st team, both
'68 Doug Roalstad, 2nd, writers
'69 Jeff Wright, 2nd, writers
'69 Walter Bowser, 2nd
'70 Wright, 1st, writers
'70 Bowser, 2nd
'72 Tim Alderson, 2nd, coaches
'75 Doug Beaudoin, 2nd, coaches
'76 George Adzick, 1st coaches, 2nd writers
'78 Keith Brown, 1st coaches
'91 Sean Lumpkin, 1st, writers
'97 Tyrone Carter, 2nd team, both
'98 Carter, 1st team, both
'99 Carter, 1st team, both
'99 Willie Middlebrooks, 2nd team, coaches
'00 Middlebrooks, 1st team, coaches
'01 Jack Brewer, 1st, writers
'04 Ukee Dozier, 1st, writers
'08 Traye Simmons, 2nd, both
'13 Brock Vereen, 2nd, coaches
'14 BBC, 1st writers, 2nd coaches
'14 Eric Murray, 2nd, coaches
'19 Antoine Winfield, 1st, both

So, based on history, as judged by the Big 10? I'd go with Carter, Winfield, Wright, and Tom Sakal with Middlebrooks the nickel (and man, were the '80s a desert!)
 

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