Sports Illustrated ranked the 50 greatest players in the history of college football.
So naturally, Syracuse fans have one question:
Where’s Jim Brown?
How does No. 1 sound?
The greatest college football player ever. (When the Fizz ranked the greatest 100 players in school history, Brown also took our top spot.)
SI placed the Syracuse legend ahead of Herschel Walker, Barry Sanders, Jim Thorpe, Cam Newton, Bo Jackson, Dick Butkus and Tim Tebow. (si.com)
The greatest player on a collegiate football field played for the Orange. Then you start looking at what Brown actually did at Syracuse and the numbers are almost difficult to believe.
Jim Brown’s 1956 Season Was Absurd
Brown’s senior season lasted just eight regular-season games.
Eight!
He still rushed for 986 yards on 158 carries, averaging 123.3 yards per game and 6.2 yards every time he touched the ball. He scored 13 rushing touchdowns.
Imagine averaging more than SIX yards per carry. And remember: those 986 yards don’t include the bowl game.
Brown then faced TCU in the Cotton Bowl and ran for another 132 yards on 22 carries. He scored three touchdowns and kicked three extra points, accounting for 21 of Syracuse’s 27 points in a heartbreaking 28-27 loss. (cuse.com)
Add the Cotton Bowl and Brown rushed for 1,118 yards in nine games.
Then there’s what he did to Colgate.
Brown rushed for 197 yards and six touchdowns and scored an NCAA-record 43 points.
Forty-three points.
By himself.
And here’s where explaining Brown to younger Syracuse fans gets almost comical.
He wasn’t just carrying the football.
Brown kicked extra points.
He played defense.
He intercepted eight passes during his Syracuse career.
Oh, and when football season ended?
He was one of the greatest lacrosse players ever. Brown also played basketball and competed in track and field during his Syracuse career.
This wasn’t merely an incredible running back.
This was one of the most outrageous athletes ever to step onto a college campus.
And Somehow He Finished FIFTH for the Heisman
Perhaps the craziest part of Brown’s senior season is what he didn’t accomplish.
He didn’t win the Heisman Trophy.
Brown finished fifth in the 1956 voting.
Think about the absurdity of that nearly 70 years later.
A unanimous All-American runs for nearly 1,000 yards despite playing only eight regular-season games. He scores 13 rushing touchdowns. He plays defense. He kicks. He then scores 21 points in the Cotton Bowl.
And he’s apparently only the fifth-best player in college football.
Now Sports Illustrated has looked back across more than a century of the sport and essentially corrected history.
According to SI, nobody was better.
Syracuse Fans Should Never Forget This
Sometimes Jim Brown’s name becomes almost too legendary.
He’s a statue. He’s No. 44. He’s an NFL icon. He’s a name from an era most Syracuse fans never experienced.
It’s easy to lose sight of what actually happened on the field.
So here’s the reminder:
The greatest college football player in Sports Illustrated’s ranking didn’t play for Alabama.
Or Ohio State.
Or Michigan.
Or Notre Dame.
Or Georgia.
He played for Syracuse.
And the more you dig into the numbers, the less crazy No. 1 seems.
The crazy part might be that Jim Brown was ever ranked anywhere else.
