In remembrance of the past decade, ESPN released an article compiling the 150 best college football players of all-time. Many of the names on the list are recognizable to avid football watchers, but most fans cannot remember how these players rose to stardom. Here’s how the high school careers of the top ten college football players went. Players ranked tenth through sixth will be covered this week, and the top five will be featured in next week’s article.
10. Gale Sayers (RB, Kansas): Sayers played high school football and ran track at Omaha Central High School in Nebraska. He set the state long jump record in 1961 and rushed for almost 170 yards per game his senior year. Sayers originally preferred the Iowa Hawkeyes over Kansas, but ultimately chose the Jayhawks after Iowa’s head coach was too busy to meet Gale on a campus visit.
9. Barry Sanders (RB, Oklahoma State): A prolific college and NFL rusher, Sanders got his start on the plains at Wichita North (KS). However, his high school career mainly involved him in a backup role behind his brother, Byron. After getting his first start in the fourth game of his senior year, Sanders rushed for 1,417 yards in the season’s remaining seven games. He was mostly overlooked and only received four scholarship offers in total, but his college career solidified him as one of the best college football players ever.
8. Dick Butkus (LB, Illinois): Butkus played in all three phases of the game at Chicago Vocational (IL), but he stood out as a linebacker, racking up several tackles his junior year. His team’s defense only allowed 6.9 points per game and Butkus was named Chicago’s Player of the Year. Despite a senior season riddled with injuries, Butkus gained heavy interest from college coaches, but ultimately chose to stay close to home to play for the Fighting Illini.
7. Earl Campbell (RB, Texas): Early in his football career, Campbell preferred playing linebacker, mainly due to the inspiration of Dick Butkus. However, the John Tyler (TX) star switched to running back and quickly blossomed into an eventual Mr. Football USA winner. “The Tyler Rose” chose to stay home and play football for Darrell K. Royal’s Texas Longhorns, which paid off as he was eventually picked first in the 1978 NFL Draft.
6. Red Grange (RB, Illinois): Grange starred at Wheaton (IL) in four sports, but his dominance in football and track stood out. He scored 75 touchdowns in his high school career and continued to dominate even after being knocked unconscious for two days following a game. His 100-yard dash time at the time was only 0.2 seconds behind the world record, and he won the state title in long jump that same year. Grange didn’t even plan to play football at Illinois but changed his mind after moving onto campus.
Next week, the top five best college football players’ high school careers will be revealed. Stay tuned!
