We could build a few sets of Mt. Rushmores and still have more worthy mugs.
Purdue's Pro Football Hall of Famers include Bob Griese, Len Dawson, Hank Stram and Rod Woodson, with Gary native Stram there as Dawson's Super Bowl champion coach after starring on the field here. Griese was literally a perfect champ, and Woodson was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team, honoring the best ever at each position. All four added to their legacies as broadcast analysts.
Drew Brees will join them in Canton as soon as he retires. He'll need his own wall for passing records, like his four 5,000-yard seasons, while the rest of NFL history has yielded four others with one such season apiece going into this year.
Leroy Keyes led Purdue to the nation's No. 1 ranking in 1968 - on the cover of Sports Illustrated in preseason and by The Associated Press during the year. He starred on both sides of the ball and, like Brees, was a two-time Heisman finalist.
Lamar Lundy was a captain for both football and basketball before joining the Los Angeles Rams and emerging as a keystone of "The Fearsome Foursome," among the best defensive fronts in NFL history.
Jeff Zgonina and his "cankles" played 17 years as a DT in the NFL. Dave Butz played 16. Gary Danielson quarterbacked 12, prior to taking the national mic. Gregg Bingham anchored the Houston Oilers for a dozen. Mike Alstott was a Pro Bowl fixture and scored our first Super Bowl touchdown. Otis Armstrong was the AFC rushing leader in 1974. Keena Turner won four Super Bowl rings as a star linebacker with the 49ers. Jim Everett led the nation in total offense in 1985, threw for 34,000 yards as a Saint and Ram and made the cover of GQ.
Mike Phipps and Mark Herrmann were consensus All-Americans, as were Dave Young, Bernie Flowers, Duane Purvis, Alex Agase and Travis Dorsch, among many others. Tim Stratton won the first John Mackey Award.
John Standeford and Taylor Stubblefield took turns setting the NCAA career records for receptions, and Dorien Bryant wasn't far behind. Kory Sheets is our second-leading rusher in history. Rosevelt Colvin leads in sacks. Ryan Kerrigan led the nation in fumbles forced and tackles for loss as a consensus All-American.
We can go on and on. Leo Sugar. Abe Gibron. John McKay. Darryl Stingley. Tim Foley. Mel Gray. Mark Jackson. Cris Dishman. Matt Light. Shaun Phillips. Nick Hardwick. Bernard Pollard. Cliff Avril. Even Curtis Painter still stands No. 2 in Big Ten history for career passing yardage, behind Brees.
And then there's the coaches - Jack Mollenkopf, Joe Tiller, Jim Young, Nobel Kizer … an assistant named George Steinbrenner (1956 … yes, same guy).
Let's just put up a life-size mugshot of Matt Mitrione and call it a day.
This post was edited on 12/4 10:09 PM by Born Boiler
