Who are your all-time favorite Gophers?

Faves

Yeah he was a tough cut. I liked Marquel Fleetwood and Cory Sauter as well. Still can't believe Mason's first OC tried to make him an option QB. Talk about forcing a player in to a (wrong) system...

When in High School:
Tony Dungy
Kent Kitzman

College:
Darrell Thompson
Was at Nebraska Game in 83, so can't choose anyone else in this era

Post College:
Eric Decker
Adam Weber
Tyrone Carter
Eric Murray/BBC

Honorable mention to Jim Wacker. We had a coaches clinic at the U one year, and Wacker hung out with a bunch of us high school coaches and drank beer and told great stories. Never could hold a grudge against him after that, no matter how ugly things got. Ski U Mah!
 

Kent Kitzmann - for the Illinois game where he ran the ball 57 times for 266 yards. yeah, that's right - 57 rushing attempts in one game. A Gopher record that may (will) never be broken.

I remember listening to that game as a youngster. My dad told me it was a game that will be remembered for many years.

My favorites are all of the Barbers.
 

Marion Barber III
Karon Riley
Laurence Maroney
Rickey Foggie
Tyrone Carter
Damien Wilson
Rashod Bateman
 


Whoever it was that completely FLATTENED that fat Penn State punter/kicker a couple of years ago is my favorite.

Then it's Laurence Maroney.
 



Tony Dungy
Ricky Foggie
Laurence Maroney
Marion Barber III
Tyrone Carter
Greg Eslinger

Long time listener - first time poster!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 


I grew up in Massachusetts and caught the tail end of Gino Cappaletti's pro career, so he's on my list, along with Thomas Tapeh
 



I scanned the list and didn't find Tutu Atwell. Tiny but fearless and still #3 all-time in catches and receiving yards at Minnesota. Caught the winning touchdown pass with 4:00 left to secure a huge upset win in Madison as a freshman. As senior he helped Mason get his first win with scoring kickoff returns of 89 & 93 yards against Iowa State. Plus he ran a punt back 90 yards to the house that was scrubbed by a penalty!
 

No love for the Scarf. :p

I would say that I Rick Upchurch and Karl Mecklenburg from back in the day and Marcus Sherels for a more current player.
 

I don't think I've seen any love for Asad Abdul-Khaliq here. QB throughout my time at the U and his 2003 season was by far the best a Gopher QB has ever had, much better than anything Foggie, Cupito, Weber, Leidner, etc have ever put up.

AAK's career and legacy has looked better with the passing of time, no doubt. He was a tough omission from my list.
 




I scanned the list and didn't find Tutu Atwell. Tiny but fearless and still #3 all-time in catches and receiving yards at Minnesota. Caught the winning touchdown pass with 4:00 left to secure a huge upset win in Madison as a freshman. As senior he helped Mason get his first win with scoring kickoff returns of 89 & 93 yards against Iowa State. Plus he ran a punt back 90 yards to the house that was scrubbed by a penalty!

KJ Maye before KJ Maye...with way better stats. He was really fun to watch...can't believe I forget about him in these discussions. His son is built the same and seems to play the same too.
 

DT 39. This never gets old. Chills.

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Michael Carter


So in the Kill days Jerry and TC would have these CBs out there and they would just get roasted, but they stayed in. One was Michael Carter, he'd get run past, run over, he'd miss tackles. SO often that my grandfather would turn to me and ask "Was that... our friend?" I always remembered him, in not a good way.

Later though Michael grew into a great CB. I'll always remember this sequence:


I remember that series vividly. Purdue was so dumb for going back his way play after play. They deserved what they got.
 

Only memorable player from my time at school: Eric Decker
 



Bronko Nagurski
Bobby Bell
Tom Brown
Darrell Thompson
Rickie Foggie
Rick Upchurch
Paul Giel
Lawrence Maroney
Aaron Brown (played half a game with a broken jaw)
Jon Leverenz
Paul Giel
Billy Bye
Leo Nomellini
Bud Grant
Bob McNamara
Can't remember his name (Williams?) but a running back from Michigan in the Stoll years who had Guillain-Barré syndrome
Daniel Faalele
 

Funny he even made it that far hauling those giant shoulder pads.

True...maybe it added some forward momentum. He was faster than most people thought. Great vision, found the holes...or ran over the defender.

Remember it like it was yesterday. His little hesitation before the hand off froze the linebacker. As soon as he kind of turned the corner the Dome erupted..you could see he he had that one guy to beat and then off to the races.
 


Watching Mark Setterstrom and Greg Eslinger do work for Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney was art.
 

Watching Mark Setterstrom and Greg Eslinger do work for Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney was art.

Yes! Eslinger pulling from center and leading the charge around the corner. Usually got in a second level block as well. Incredible. He's also one of those guys who was able to take all that weight off pretty quickly after he stopped playing.
 

Mike Hohensee
Kent Kitzmann
Tim Shade
Willie VanDeSteeg
MBIII
Eric Decker
 

Ones I actually saw: Clayt Tonnemaker, Leo Nomellini, Paul Giel, Bob McNamara, Tom Brown, Sandy Stephens, Bobby Bell, Carl Eller, Ricky Foggie, Chris Darkins, Peter Najarian, Darell Thompson, Chip Lohmiller, Marion Barber & all the Barbers, Ron Johnson, Tyrone Carter, Ben Hamilton, Gregg Eslinger, Mark Setterstrom, Laurence Maroney, Matt Spaeth, Maxx Williams, Rodney Smith, Tyler Johnson, Blake Cashman.
 

Bronko Nagurski
Bobby Bell
Tom Brown
Darrell Thompson
Rickie Foggie
Rick Upchurch
Paul Giel
Lawrence Maroney
Aaron Brown (played half a game with a broken jaw)
Jon Leverenz
Paul Giel
Billy Bye
Leo Nomellini
Bud Grant
Bob McNamara
Can't remember his name (Williams?) but a running back from Michigan in the Stoll years who had Guillain-Barré syndrome
Daniel Faalele

Larry Powell from Ypsalanti, MI. I really liked him too. I remember that years ago Sid mentioned that Powell got a custodial job at the U. Not sure how long he worked there.
 

Tony Hunter
Alan Holt
George Washington
Greg Murphy
Matt Martinez
 

The Barbers
Maroney
Rickey Foggie
David Cobb
Damien Wilson
Willie Middlebrooks
Tyler Johnson
Zac Epping
 

My favorites all for different reasons:
Parc Williams and Craig Sauer
Marqueis Gray
Maroney
Hageman
Decker
BBC
Cedric Thompson
Shannon Brooks
Jack Lynn

The 3 WRs we currently have might make this list soon

I wish I would have been older to truly appreciate DT. I was about 5 years old and sadly my only real memories of him are listening to my dad and grandpa obsess over him, being bummed the packers drafted him (and telling my dad now I don’t like him because he is a packer), and the shrine to him in the Rochester McDonalds. Wonder if that is still up?!?
 




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