CSNbbs

Besides me, I mean. :D

Bo Jackson and Michael Vick (was he at VT the years they came here? I can't remember) would be around the top of my list.

Jim Kelley or Herschel Walker?(USFL)

Johnny Musso? (he went to my high school)

I offer the caveat that Rodriges Brooks, Roddy White and Darrell Hackney are definitely sentimental favorites. I'm curious to see how deep into your mental archives you can dig. All of these guys are in my lifetime.

Interested in different perspectives.

Michael Vick was at Virginia Tech the year that the Hokies came to Birmingham.

However, I don't believe he ever even took a snap in the three meetings between the two schools. As I recall, on two occasions, they were playing Miami the next week - and they always said he was banged up, slightly injured, etc.

Guess they were saving him for their Big East game.

As far as former UAB players, I would have to put Derrick Ingram, who was a receiver in the early years, right up there. He was a two-time All-American and set virtually all of UAB's receiving records (many of which he holds to this day - the overall records obviously, not just Division I-A).

1. Bo Jackson
2. Joe Namath

I don't think I ever saw an athlete to match Bo Jackson, both as a football player and as a pure athlete.

Jim Brown and Gale Sayers can be mentioned in the same breath, particularly Brown, but I don't know of anyone I'd pick over Bo in his prime.

UAB never played against Vick. He redshirted the first year of the series and was injured in the other two games.

How about Harry Gilmer

Woodlawn High School and University of Alabama



Harry Gilmer was Alabama’s left halfback four years 1944- 1947. As a freshman he played against Duke in the Sugar Bowl and was 8 for 8 in passing attempts. As a sophomore, he competed against Southern California in the Rose Bowl, rushing for 116 yards and passing for 59. Against Kentucky the same season he passed twice for 50 yards and rushed six times for 216 yards, with touchdown runs of 55 and 95. His best year was the sophomore season, 1945. He led the nation in touchdown passes, 13, and he ran for nine touchdowns. He had 79 rushing attempts with an average gain of 7.0 yards. His passing percentage .648 on 88 attempts. His total offense, 1,457 yards, was second in the nation. Gilmer also was Alabama’s punter and kick return man. In his junior year, 1946, he returned 37 punts and his average, 14.5 yards, led the nation. In his career Gilmer passed for 26 touchdowns and ran for 24. He passed for 2894 yards and rushed for 1673. His punting average was 36.4 yards. He averaged 28.7 yards on kickoff returns, 13.5 on punt returns. Alabama’s record in his time was 30-9-2; this included 10-0 in 1945. He had a spectacular style, jumping in the air when throwing a pass. Gilmer joined the pros as a quarterback with Washington and Detroit 1948-1956. He was head coach of the Detroit Lions 1965-1966.

Position: Halfback
School: Alabama
High School: Birmingham, AL (Woodlawn HS)
Years: 1944-1947
Inducted: 1993
Place of Birth: Birmingham, AL
Date of Birth: 4/14/1926
Jersey Number: 52
Height: 6-0
Weight: 160

How about that Auburn placekicker who missed the game winning field goal in the 1984 Iron Bowl? (or was it 1985...?)

BlazerSax Wrote:How about that Auburn placekicker who missed the game winning field goal in the 1984 Iron Bowl? (or was it 1985...?)

That would be Robert McGinty.

He actually kept Auburn out of the Sugar Bowl twice.

After he missed the FG against Bama, his life became so miserable that he transferred to Florida.

The following year, he hit the FG that beat Auburn.

Here's something on Bo. I remember my dad saying, "Anybody that big, going that fast, ought to be against the law."

Bear in mind when looking at his Auburn career numbers that he missed 7 games his junior year with a seperated shoulder.

Jackson, "Bo" (Vincent E.)
Baseball, Football
b. Nov. 30, 1962, Bessemer, AL

Career Batting Record

NFL Statistics

Other Resources

One of the few athletes ever to participate in two professional sports, Jackson may have been the best of all--certainly the best since the great Jim Thorpe.

At Auburn University, Jackson won the 1985 Heisman Trophy as the nation's outstanding college player. A 6-foot-1, 228-pound running back with speed, he gained 4,303 yards in 650 attempts and scored 43 touchdowns during his four years as a starter.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made him the first choice overall in the 1986 NFL draft, but he chose to play professional baseball instead. After spending most of the 1986 season in the minor leagues, he joined the AL's Kansas City Royals.


Although he batted only .235, he demonstrated substantial power with 22 home runs in just 116 games in 1987. When the season was over, he joined the NFL's Los Angeles Raiders, who had chosen him in that year's draft, rushing for 554 yards in 81 carries, a 6.8 average, and scoring 4 touchdowns in 7 games.

Jackson continued playing both sports through 1990, but he suffered a series hip injury in a post-season game with the Raiders, ending his football career and threatening his baseball career. After surgery and a rehabilitation assignment to the minor leagues, he played in 23 games with the Chicago White Sox in 1991.

The following year, Jackson had an artificial hip implanted and he missed the entire 1992 season. However, he returned to the White Sox in 1993, batting .232 with 16 home runs in 85 games. Continuing problems with the hip forced him to retire during the 1994 season, after he hit 13 home runs in 75 games with the California Angels.

During his NFL career, Jackson carried the ball 515 times for 2,782 yards, a 5.4 average, and scored 16 rushing touchdowns. He caught 40 passes for 352 yards, an 8.8 average, and 2 touchdowns.

He collected 657 hits in 723 major league games, with 96 doubles, 17 triples, and 138 home runs.

College Football Hall of Fame

I went to a game in 1970 between the Jets and the Bills at Legion Field. If I remember right OJ didn't play due to an injury, but technically, I guess he stepped on Legion Field. Despite what happened later in life he was an unbelievable running back.

My vote for the best UAB player on Legion Field is a tie between Brooks and Hackney.

Bo Jackson and Corneilus Bennett were two of the best.


other greats were

Lee Roy Jordan
Emmit Smith
Hershel Walker
Reggie White

For UAB

Derrick Ingram
Bryan Thomas
D HACK

I think I would put Joe Namath on the list.
And even though he bombed in the pros, Heisman winner Charles White of USC was one heck of a college player.

Did Jim Brown or Red Grange ever play at Legion Field. I doubt it, but I was trying to think of players that from the early era that aren't Alabama or Auburn.

By the way, I believe Bo Jackson was the greatest football player to ever set foot on the baseball field at UAB. :D People forget that he played baseball at Auburn. That was a large crowd that came to see him when UAB and Auburn played baseball. Lionel "Little Train" James was on the team as well. I believe Auburn won, but Bo went 0-4 that game.

how about your very own offensive coordinator Pat Sullivan? he was a great qb at auburn and a heisman trophy winner, i wouldn't say he was the best player, but he's worth mentioning compared to some of the others that have been mentioned.

Yeah forgot about Coach Sullivan. He was a great college qb. Joe Namath, Archie Manning and Kenny Stabler also.

I think Steve Young may have been to LF as a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits, but wasnt great till he was at SF.

Blazer Engineer Wrote:I think Steve Young may have been to LF as a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits, but wasnt great till he was at SF.

Steve Young played for the LA Express (sorry, I'm a bit of a USFL geek)

Speaking of the USFL, how about:

Doug Williams (Oklahoma Outlaws)

Reggie White (Memphis Showboats)

Doug Flutie (Boston College and the New Jersey Generals)

You're right. He went to the TB Buck's after the USFL for a couple of years before SF.

I liked the USFL also.

Blazer Engineer Wrote:You're right. He went to the TB Buck's after the USFL for a couple of years before SF.

I liked to USFL also.

NFL players signing astronomical contracts can thank the USFL.

Didn't Herschel Walker also play in the USFL?

AlphaDog Wrote:Didn't Herschel Walker also play in the USFL?

He was one of the first of the million dollar babies.

He came out early from UGA and signed with the New Jersey Generals.

The USFL signed something like 3 straight Heisman winners, Walker, Fluite, and Mike Rozier out of Nebraska (Pittsburgh Maulers).

Everyone is dismissive of the USFL now, but at the time is was good football, and they scared the hell out of the NFL.

On the off-subject of Heisman busts, they don't get much worse than Mike Rozier.