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The Best AU Football Players of the Last 50 Years

OutPhillip's blog: Best of the best
Phillip Marshall
Who is the best football player in Auburn history? Is it Cam Newton? Bo Jackson? Pat Sullivan? Tucker Frederickson? Could it be Tracy Rocker? Nick Fairley?


Senior Editor Phillip MarshallOr could it be Travis Tidwell? Or Jimmy “Red” Phillips? Or Jackie Burkett? Or Zeke Smith? Or Monk Gafford? Or Jimmy Hitchcock? Or Walter Gilbert?

So many great players have worn Auburn colors. How do you decide who was the greatest ever? It’s a very subjective exercise. I really can’t offer an informed opinion on the ones who played before my time.

But here is my very subjective top 10 from the last 50 seasons (1961-2010):

RB Bo Jackson. He was so fast and so big and so talented that he dominated any field on which he played. He could do things a mortal man shouldn’t be able to do.

QB Cam Newton. If Newton had done for multiple years what he did for one, he’d be at the top. Like a shooting star, he was here and gone. But he had the single greatest season of any football player I’ve ever seen at any level.

RB/DB Tucker Frederickson. The Bo Jackson of his day, on both sides of the football.

DT Tracy Rocker. The most decorated defensive lineman in SEC history, Rocker could take over a game in ways defensive linemen aren’t supposed to be able to do. Nick Fairley came close for one season, but Rocker did it for four seasons.

QB Pat Sullivan. The strongest leader I’ve ever been around. A great athlete in his own right. He could have played professional baseball.

WR Terry Beasley. An incredible talent who would be as great today as he was 40 years ago.

RB Carnell Williams. Had he not missed parts of two seasons with fluke injuries, he would have challenged Jackson’s career rushing record.

[RB James Brooks. A threat to go the distance every time he touched it. At 180 pounds, looked up defenders to run over.

DT Nick Fairley. As dominant for one season as any defensive lineman in Auburn history.

CB Carlos Rogers. The epitome of a shutdown corner. Also terrific against the running game.

Beating Ole Miss

The Tigers ride a 3-run homer by Kevin Patterson and a strong relief pitching performace by Slade Smith to beat Ole Miss today 9 to 7 to win the weekend series. Patterson's homer came in the 7th and gave Auburn the lead for the first time at 8 to 7. Smith held solid in relief to solidify the win. The Tigers are 9 & 9 in conference play. At the moment it looks good for a trip to Hoover, but next week will be very tough with a trip to South Carolina looming.

Year Round Football Recruiting

I see today where we got a commitment from a 5-star QB named Zeke Pike. That's good. At the same time, I don't like this year round attention to recruiting. Let's give it a rest. But it looks like there's no rest from college football anymore.

Winning 2 of 3 Against LSU

The Tigers drop the finale today at LSU 3 to 2. Shutout until the 9th, the Tigers rally with 2 runs but leave 2 runners on base as Kevin Patterson srikes out for the final out. At least the pitching is strong. I think we are 7 & 8 at the halfway point of the conference season.

Baseball

The Tigers extend their SEC winning streak to 5 games by beating LSU 3 to 1 in a great pitching duel. Casey McElroy hits a dramatic 2-run homer in the top of the ninth to provide the difference. Starter Corey Luckie pitches into the 7th inning. Ethan Wallen finishes the game. He is a bit erratic but doesn't yield a run. The Tigers will go for the sweep tomorrow. This team, given up for dead after getting swept two straight weekends, is now on a roll. The strong pitching tonight on the road in the toughest play to work in the SEC is encouraging.

A-Day 2011

Unfortunately I can't watch the game. It's on CSS, and we don't get CSS. It's on ESPN3, and we don't get that either. So I'm listening on the radio.

The offense starts strong but the defense starts to dominate as the half proceeds.

Barrett Trotter seems to be having a better scrimmage than Clint Moseley.

Trovon Reed sounds better at punt runner than Quindarius Carr.

It sounds like McCalebb is getting some carries between the tackles.

Jonathan Mincy sounds good at cornerback. He seems to be able to get his head around!

I don't even try to understand the scoring system.

The defense definitely dominates the first half.

At the half Quentin Riggins says good things about Jake Holland, who will be the "QB" on the defense, replacing Bynes at middle linebacker. Also he likes what he sees of Harris Gaston at linebacker. Quentin hopes that Deangelo Benton comes on as a deep threat at wide receiver. He thinks this in an important factor for the offense. He says that Trovon Reed is very quick but not necessarily very fast. We've got Emory Blake and Q Carr etc. but it sounds like Benton needs to be the homerun guy. Phillip Lutzenkirchen is all over the field. This guy can do a lot of things including playing out wide.

In the second half not much changes. I would say that Anthony Morgan at running back sounds good and Moseley at QB seems to be doing better than in the first half. The defense continues to get the best of the offense oveall.

We have a walk-on running named Chandler Shakespeare. Interesting name! A walk-on named Logan Paul is the the third QB today.

I learned a long time ago that you can't tell anything by this game as to what kind of team we are going to have next fall. I just hope nobody got hurt today.

The defense wins the game in this complicated scoring system.

In closing Riggins says Lutzenkirchen is a key a factor and if Benton comes on what a weapon he will be. The secondary should be solid. Who will win the center position? We are loaded at defensive end but Carter and Whitaker need to come on at DT and there has to be some depth developed. It looks like the QB postion is still open. Riggins says maybe Trotter threw the ball a little bit better. We assume that Greene, Moseley, Sullens, and Cooper will start across the offensive line. The only question is center.

An Interesting Spring

It's been an interesting spring. I did not watch the HBO propaganda because I don't get HBO and I wouldn't watch it even if I did get it. It sounds like a witch hunt. Most likely nothing can be substantiated and nothing will come of it. Let's hope. You have 4 bitter and disgruntled former players making charges that they received money from "booster." These players were sought out by HBO. The whole thing stinks.

Spring training continues. The focus is always on QB when that position has to be filled. More important is the offensive line and defensive depth.

The baseball team seems to be a lost cause. The pitching just isn't there and run production is down from last year. I see no hope.