USA250: 10 greatest college athletes from Alabama

So it should be no surprise that a list comprising the 10 greatest college athletes in the history of the state — as difficult as this exercise turned out to be — would include a vast majority of entrants who played on the gridiron: eight out of 10, to be precise.

The most pressing question for a list of this kind, especially in this state, is how those players are divided among the school’s two largest universities and bitter rivals: Alabama and Auburn. While the Crimson Tide does have a slight edge over the Tigers, 5-4, it is the latter program that produced this list’s only non-football players.

PROGRAM RANKINGS: Top 25 | Big Ten | SEC | ACC | Big 12

Before his “Bo Knows” campaign, Bo Jackson was a multi-sport legend at Auburn. He was most lauded as a consensus All-American running back in 1983 and unanimous All-American in 1985, the same season he won the Heisman Trophy.

Jackson also dabbled in track and field, getting timed at 10.4 seconds in the 100-meter dash (at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds). Of course, his preferred sport was baseball, where he played centerfield and batted .401 the same season he won the Heisman.

His college career was infamously cut short due to what was deemed an illegal visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jackson, furious at what he believed was sabotage by Tampa Bay, warned the Bucs not to draft him; they did so anyway, taking him No. 1 in the 1986 NFL Draft. He responded by simply playing baseball with the Kansas City Royals. He was that good.

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Even with his slight frame, DeVonta Smith stands out among Alabama’s circle of elite receivers.

Smith capped his freshman season with a walk-off, 41-yard touchdown reception vs. Georgia in the 2018 College Football Playoff championship game, a moment forever known in college football as “2nd-and-26.” He only got better from there, culminating with a senior season in which he was the best player on the best offense in the country (one that produced three of the top five players in Heisman voting).

He produced one of the most dominant seasons by a receiver ever in 2020, leading the country in receptions (117), receiving yards (1,856) and touchdowns (23), becoming only the fourth receiver to win a Heisman. He bookended his four-year career with two CFP championships, including the last of Nick Saban’s legendary career.

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How good was Cam Newton in 2010? The Heisman winner and future No. 1 draft pick dragged the Tigers to an undefeated BCS championship, despite them having no other offensive skill players drafted to the NFL.

Newton’s 6-foot-5, 245-pound frame, athletic prowess and accuracy produced one of the most dominant individual seasons ever, as he became the first player in SEC history to throw for 2,000 yards (2,589) and rush for 1,000 (1,409) in the same season. He had 28 passing touchdowns, 20 rushing and one receiving.

Auburn didn’t just beat nobodies, either, downing No. 12 South Carolina, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 6 LSU, No. 9 Alabama, No. 18 South Carolina again (in the SEC championship) and No. 2 Oregon.

Derrick Thomas was a defender ahead of his time at Alabama: a speedy pass-rushing specialist whose most dominant statistical achievement wasn’t an officially logged NCAA stat until 12 years after his collegiate career ended.

He finished his career with 52 sacks and 68 tackles for loss from 1985-88, the vast majority of which came in the 1988 season: That year, he registered 27 sacks and 39 tackles for loss, earning unanimous All-America honors, the Butkus Award and a 10th-place finish in the 1988 Heisman Trophy voting.

Ben Stevenson is considered one of the best players to come out of an HBCU, if not the best.

Due to rules of the time, Stevenson played eight seasons at Tuskegee, from 1923-30: four as a prep schooler and four as a collegian. After a 7-1-1 season in 1923, Stevenson led the Golden Tigers to four consecutive unbeaten seasons, a span that included a 48-game win streak and three ties.

The speedy halfback scored 42 touchdowns on runs of 50 yards or more, becoming a seven-time Black College All-American from 1924-30. He finished his career with two final undefeated championship seasons in 1929 and 1930, boasting a 70-2-9 record overall as a player.

Henry’s 6-foot-3, 242-pound frame and surprising speed forced fans and opponents alike to ask the same question for three years: “How can someone so big move so fast?”

Henry hit his stride in 2015 after flashes of greatness in 2013-14, becoming Alabama’s second Heisman winner as he led the Crimson Tide to its first College Football Playoff championship. That year, he broke Herschel Walker’s SEC regular-season rushing record with 1,986 yards and tied the conference mark with 23 rushing touchdowns. He became just the third running back in SEC history, after Walker and Jackson, with four games of 200 rushing yards.

He finished the season with a three-touchdown, 158-yard performance to lift the Crimson Tide past Clemson in the CFP championship game, capping his career with an unforgettable 2,219-yard, 28-touchdown season.

Barkley was a three-year star for Auburn from 1981-84, averaging 14.1 points and 9.6 rebounds. He excelled at rebounding, leading the SEC in the metric every season, despite being an undersized center at 6-foot-6. He was a crowd-pleaser who thrilled fans with dunks and blocked shots that seemed impossible for a player of his height and weight.

The 1984 SEC Player of the Year led the Tigers to their first NCAA tournament where, though they lost, he put on a performance to remember: 23 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Auburn’s career record-holder for field goal percentage (62.6%) had his No. 34 jersey retired in 2001. No one could fit into it quite like “Sir Charles,” after all.

Linebacker Lee Roy Jordan holds a special place in Alabama football lore not only for his outstanding play, but also for helping raise a Crimson Tide program mired in mediocrity back to the pinnacle of college football.

He arrived at Alabama in 1959, one year after famed coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. He helped Alabama to an 8-2-1 season as a sophomore in 1960, 11-0 championship season in 1961 and 10-1 mark in 1962, a season in which he capped a unanimous All-American season with a 31-tackle performance vs. Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.

No one described Jordan better than the Bear himself: “He was one of the finest football players the world has ever seen. If runners stayed between the sidelines, he tackled them.”

Not to be confused with the Alabama football coach of the same name, Frank Thomas’ surprising omission from the 1986 MLB Draft turned him into one of the most beloved baseball players in Tigers history.

Thomas had previously signed a football scholarship at Auburn, but was so good on the diamond that football coach Pat Dye exempted him from spring practice so he could play baseball under coach Hal Baird. Even when injuries forced Thomas to quit football, he was kept on scholarship.

He left Auburn with two straight batting titles and 14 school records, including season and career marks in home runs, extra-base hits, total bases, walks, and on-base percentage.

Considered by many to be among college football’s greatest offensive linemen, John Hannah was a two-time unanimous All-America selection in 1971-72 and won the Jacobs Award as the nation’s best blocker while helping Alabama to a 27-8-1 record from 1970-72. He’s part of Alabama’s all-century team and the SEC’s all-50-year team (1933-82).

Said Bryant of Hannah: “In over 30 years with the game, he’s the finest offensive lineman I’ve ever been around.”

He was more than a football player though, winning an individual SEC wrestling championship at heavyweight while setting SEC records in both the shot put and discus.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA250: 10 greatest college athletes from Alabama