Monday, February 23, 2009

More Mt. Rushmore

I made my picks for the IU football Mt. Rushmore last week. Today the ESPN.com blogger made his.

They were similar: Anthony Thompson, Antwaan Randle El, Bill Mallory, but instead of Trent Green, ESPN picked George Taliaferro, who starred for the Hoosiers in the mid-40s. Taliaferro also became the first black player drafted into the NFL in 1948.

It's a valid pick. I suppose he may be a better pick than Green. Both were great players.

My friend T.J. agreed with Thompson, Taliafero and Mallory, but suggested John Pont, Terry Hoeppner, Lou Saban, Bo McMillin, and Lee Corso.

I don't think Hoeppner coached long enough. He also never really proved he could win. Corso is more known for his TV work than his tenure coaching IU, even if he did win a bowl game in 1979.

When I asked the question on facebook, my friend Drew said Thompson, Harry Gonso, Randle El and Pete Stoyanovich. Another friend said Ogunleye, Green, Thompson and Randle El.

It was an interesting debate, even though the choices were less than stellar.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I loved Antwaan Randle El, but I question whether he should be one of IU football's 4 biggest figures if he wasn't instrumental in getting them to a bowl game.

I sort of mocked the exercise earlier, but it is oddly enough fun to debate.

Derrick Gingery said...

You could make the same argument about Mallory, but really how could you leave either out?

Randle El was probably the best offensive talent in IU history, even if he never had a team that could play defense.