The best linebacker in OU history......
- Thread starter K2C Sooner
- Start date
They love ya Zer0
If you've never had your manhood crushed by the glutes of steel, you are missing out.
I would say we are off topic here, but I'm sure the Boz would agree.
Too bad OU was on probation in Shoate's junior and senior years (1973-74) as far as getting more exposure by the national media.
Bosworth was great, but I personally like the way Shoate represented OU football much better.
I wish freshmen had been eligible in Shoate's freshman year....the 1971 team could have used him, especially in late November of that year.
Bosworth was great, but I personally like the way Shoate represented OU football much better.
I wish freshmen had been eligible in Shoate's freshman year....the 1971 team could have used him, especially in late November of that year.
The Sooners were on tv Shoate's junior year. I couldn't watch the Nebraska game played the Friday after Thanksgiving for the first time. I had to work. I forget if the Texas game was local or national tv. But we just couldn't go to a bowl. The tv games were already under contract when the probation was announced.
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Correct, and they were on TV against Texas as well in 1973. I watched the Texas game in Houston so it may have been regional.
Shoate's national exposure did not include his final year in 1974....playing for the greatest team never seen.
The drug issue and the t-shirt most likely would have cost him a 3rd Butkus even if Barry hadn't dismissed him. But still, he was the best IMO.
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This article has Boz as the best OU linebacker ever and the 4th best college linebacker of all time behind Derrick Thomas (Alabama), Tommy Nobis (Texas), and Dick Butkus (Illinois).
I didn't realize he finished 4th in Heisman voting in 1986. That's absolutely incredible for a linebacker.
What's shocking to me is Ryan Broyles is ahead of Boz and Billy Simms and just behind Lee Roy Selmon! How many of you would put Ryan Broyles as the second greatest Sooner of all time regardless of position?
http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-foot...reatest-college-football-players-of-all-time/
I didn't realize he finished 4th in Heisman voting in 1986. That's absolutely incredible for a linebacker.
What's shocking to me is Ryan Broyles is ahead of Boz and Billy Simms and just behind Lee Roy Selmon! How many of you would put Ryan Broyles as the second greatest Sooner of all time regardless of position?
http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-foot...reatest-college-football-players-of-all-time/
Wow. Really interesting. I could make several arguments, but offer only one. There's no way Roger Staubach deserves to be ranked #3 all time AND Jack Mildren not even in the top 50. BTW, Mike Singletary is ranked ahead of Bosworth as well. Really?
You don't realize how tough it is to make a Top 50 list until you start to put names down. Those spots go fast. I'd argue that Michael Vick deserves to be in the Top 50. He was able to make every player in college look like children trying to tackle him.
There are 19 RBs on that list too. I know Adrian Peterson had a college career plagued by injuries, but he still put up some fascinating numbers and ranked pretty high in Heisman voting. He couldn't even make the Top 20?
There are 19 RBs on that list too. I know Adrian Peterson had a college career plagued by injuries, but he still put up some fascinating numbers and ranked pretty high in Heisman voting. He couldn't even make the Top 20?
My choice would be Curtis Lofton. Rocky, Teddy and Torrence had substantially greater running mates and overall team defenses around them then did Lofton.
Clint Ingram was a favorite of mine and my lab is named Rufus for a reason.
Clint Ingram was a favorite of mine and my lab is named Rufus for a reason.
Staubach doesn't deserve to be on any all time list of 50 at any position. He hardly played his senior year because of injuries. He won his Heisman as a junior.
I don't think Ryan Broyles would be in the top four, though he'd be pretty high on any list. Tommy McDonald would be higher. Billy Sims would likely be second. We've had a half dozen guys who either won Heisman's or were a national player of the year. Mildren was. Vessels-Bradford-White-Owens. No way Ryan is ahead of Joe Silvershoes.
At least they got Lee Roy right.
I don't think Ryan Broyles would be in the top four, though he'd be pretty high on any list. Tommy McDonald would be higher. Billy Sims would likely be second. We've had a half dozen guys who either won Heisman's or were a national player of the year. Mildren was. Vessels-Bradford-White-Owens. No way Ryan is ahead of Joe Silvershoes.
At least they got Lee Roy right.
I doubt Shoate would have been ready to play in '71. Coming from Spiro, he wasn't quite ready to be a college varsity football player. But a lot of people in that time frame thought Randy Hughes might have.
Maybe, maybe not.
But had he played he would have had 9 games under his belt going into the Nebraska game and given the state of the linebacking core, with Aycock, Baccus and Driscoll, he may have helped, even after playing both ways in high school.
That was my junior year and I was at practice every day. Shoate wasn't ready to play varsity football in 1971. And we were playing a 4-3 with Steve Aycock, a senior three years starter and captain at Mike. The other two linebackers were also seniors, Albert Qualls at Sam and Mark Driscoll at Will. Qualls was also a three year starter. We stopped Nebraska's horizontal game in the GOTC. But in the second half, they lined up and with Derland Moore's leg ding in the previous game, ran right at us. Shoate wouldn't have helped us with that. He wasn't likely over 200 pounds his freshman year.
Substitution wasn't like it is now. You could substitute all you wanted on first down. But otherwise, you could change one per play. Go look at Johnny Rodger's punt return. There were five offensive linemen covering that punt, because you couldn't substitute, like you could a couple of years later. And since.
After the spring, Shoate was a pretty good player with an otherwise veteran cast in the front seven around him. That was a pretty salty defense in 1972 his first year to start. Back to a 5-2. Shoate and Jon Milstead, a senior at inside linebackers. Gary Baccus was one stand up end, now called OLB. Vic Kearney, who was a converted safety was the other. The down three was special. Ray Hamilton, aka Sugar Bear, Derland and the oldest Selmon brother, Lucious. Sugar Bear and Moore combined to play 23 years in the NFL.
Substitution wasn't like it is now. You could substitute all you wanted on first down. But otherwise, you could change one per play. Go look at Johnny Rodger's punt return. There were five offensive linemen covering that punt, because you couldn't substitute, like you could a couple of years later. And since.
After the spring, Shoate was a pretty good player with an otherwise veteran cast in the front seven around him. That was a pretty salty defense in 1972 his first year to start. Back to a 5-2. Shoate and Jon Milstead, a senior at inside linebackers. Gary Baccus was one stand up end, now called OLB. Vic Kearney, who was a converted safety was the other. The down three was special. Ray Hamilton, aka Sugar Bear, Derland and the oldest Selmon brother, Lucious. Sugar Bear and Moore combined to play 23 years in the NFL.
Shoate cracked OU's starting lineup midway through spring practice in 1972, after dazzling the coaches during his freshman year and into spring drills.
OU was recruiting Wayne Hoffman at Spiro when Coach Blankenship informed OU's coaches of Shoate and gave the coaches a video. Shoate had super performances in the 1971 Oklahoma all-state game and the Oil Bowl contest, making plays all over the field.
My point is that while Shoate may not have started in 1971, by the 9th game he could have at least been a valuable reserve linebacker.....especially with veterans Aycock, Driscoll and Qualls playing their senior years in1971.
OU was recruiting Wayne Hoffman at Spiro when Coach Blankenship informed OU's coaches of Shoate and gave the coaches a video. Shoate had super performances in the 1971 Oklahoma all-state game and the Oil Bowl contest, making plays all over the field.
My point is that while Shoate may not have started in 1971, by the 9th game he could have at least been a valuable reserve linebacker.....especially with veterans Aycock, Driscoll and Qualls playing their senior years in1971.
Rufus was great. Calmus and The Boz were different level players.
As I remember, freshmen couldn't play. I first saw Shoate at a freshman game, having gone to the game primarily to watch another linebacker. I think it was Lorenz. I didn't know much about Shoate. He covered the field like no linebacker that I had ever seen. He wasn't big like some of the great ones. But, it was difficult to turn any corner on Shoate. He got a lot of people running laterally. He wasn't a weakling. He stood up people. I don't remember him as being a guy who killed people. He just imprisoned them, and the streets were free of crime when Shoate covered them. OU has had some outstanding linebackers. But, I have seen none that I want covering the field like Shoate.
Freshman were declared eligible in 1972, Shoate's sophomore season.
He will always be my favorite OU linebacker with Tubbs, Cumby and Hunt right behind him. Bosworth was among OU's best, but I like how the others better represented OU.
There's no such thing as bad publicity. Boz put OU on the map more than anyone else you can name prior to his legacy regardless of Heisman. Bad press is typically forgotten.
I was interested in other opinions on Rufus so I went to Google. A couple of publications didn't have Rufus in the top 5 linebackers during Stoops time at Oklahoma. At the same time, both of those lists also had Travis Lewis in the top 5 ( which I disagree).... It's all matter of opinion
Rufus was a good player, but he's not close to a top five linebacker at OU. Maybe top ten in this century. He wouldn't have started on the NC team, maybe at Sam.
Calmus, Lehman, Loftin, Marshall, Mitchell, Ingram, Striker, Nelson, Grisham played some linebacker, Box, Travis Lewis, Keenan Clayton was called a linebacker, maybe a couple others were better than Rufus, or at least his equal.
All time? That would seem to me to be quite a stretch.
Calmus, Lehman, Loftin, Marshall, Mitchell, Ingram, Striker, Nelson, Grisham played some linebacker, Box, Travis Lewis, Keenan Clayton was called a linebacker, maybe a couple others were better than Rufus, or at least his equal.
All time? That would seem to me to be quite a stretch.
History lesson: OU was "on the map" long before Bosworth's time....and it was Bosworth who expressed deep remorse for how he embarrassed Switzer and the OU legacy, many years after he played.
I applaud Bosworth for ultimately admitting the error of his youthful ways, but he never should have had to.
It's Grissom, not Grisham.....although Jim Grisham was a good linebacker from 1962-64 as well as an All American fullback.
You forgot the qualifier, "on the map more than."
Travel the country and talk to college football fans about the one thing they know about Oklahoma Football. The Boz will be Top 3, and most won't remember the "bad."
JCon, that's just not true.
And most people outside of Oklahoma remember Brian for not that great of things.
Pro fans remember him mostly for hype and trash talking Bo Jackson. And then not making the play.
The top three things college football fans remember or think of at OU these days would start with Bob Stoops. And if they're old enough to remember the 80s, it would be more about Switzer than "the Boz."
Brian played in a time when you weren't on tv every week. Being remember for self promotion isn't a wonderful thing.
And most people outside of Oklahoma remember Brian for not that great of things.
Pro fans remember him mostly for hype and trash talking Bo Jackson. And then not making the play.
The top three things college football fans remember or think of at OU these days would start with Bob Stoops. And if they're old enough to remember the 80s, it would be more about Switzer than "the Boz."
Brian played in a time when you weren't on tv every week. Being remember for self promotion isn't a wonderful thing.
It's been true in my experiences. When people hear that I'm a Sooner fan, the response is often, "The Boz?"
In fact during my interview presentation in Los Angeles, I put my education along with the classic headshot of The Boz, and it was met with a conference room full of laughter. Name one other Sooner besides Stoops or Peterson that I could have put on that slide that would summarize the school and I wouldn't have to explain. The answer isn't one, but it rhymes with it.
In fact during my interview presentation in Los Angeles, I put my education along with the classic headshot of The Boz, and it was met with a conference room full of laughter. Name one other Sooner besides Stoops or Peterson that I could have put on that slide that would summarize the school and I wouldn't have to explain. The answer isn't one, but it rhymes with it.
I agree, Bob Stoops is today's face of OU. If the eras were reversed and Switzer were having his run at this time, he certainly would be as well except that Barry had soooo many great national championship teams and fantastic players he would have to share the stage, and he did so well. 30 years after Bob is gone, he will be remembered as a great, great coach. He has earned it. We fans are very fortunate, especially those of us that go back to the Bud Wilkinson years. Wow. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. I bet it does for some of you too. Boomer!
There is no wrong answer. Every OU fan has plenty to choose from if they have followed the Sooners for just about any length of time. I couldn't argue with your example. I always think of the players first as in Tommy McDonald, Joe Washington and Boz.....in no certain order, but Barry Switzer is my favorite just a head of Bud. Bob has been great, and I also have a soft spot in my heart for Jim Mackenzie. A lot of that is what I heard from one of his best recruits and him bringing the red helmets and OU logo to Oklahoma. He jump started the Sooner program and brought a great group of coaches here with him.
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I'll be the bad guy...Boz was a great linebacker, but at least some of his "greatness" is and was linked to his persona. Theyre almost inextricably linked; you can't have one without thinking of the other.
Not to "Boz Bash", but I'm curious how many here remember the myth more than the man. OU's had a ton of great linebackers. A lot were before the advent of the Internet or expanded TV. If you didn't go to the games live, you saw only a handful of their games on TV. It's hard to pick just one.
Not to "Boz Bash", but I'm curious how many here remember the myth more than the man. OU's had a ton of great linebackers. A lot were before the advent of the Internet or expanded TV. If you didn't go to the games live, you saw only a handful of their games on TV. It's hard to pick just one.
