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Listing the 20 greatest college football players of all-time sounds simple, but with over 125 years of history to sift through, the task is a lot more difficult than it sounds. With every new season, a new group of talented players take the field, but very few of them become legends.
We took those legendary players are narrowed it down to the best of the best. Being a star player is meaningful, but being an iconic one is even truly rare.
These players made the most of their college experiences, and they’ll be remembered forever. Here’s our list of the 20 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time! (Click the Next Button Below to get Started)
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John Rains says
Herschel is not even the greatest college running back, much less the greatest college football player. He was big; he was fast; he had one dimension: straight ahead. The man was a “stiff” runner with no moves. If he found a seam, he was off to the races; if he could bull over you, he was off to the races; otherwise, phweeehhhh.
Doug Larson says
Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A AY/A TD Int Rate
958 1530 62.6 15031 9.8 9.5 121 65 162.7
RON DAYNE says
RON DAYNE
7,125 rushing yards for Wisconsin
Rushed for over 200 yards in a game 14 times
Averaged 151 yards per game for his career
Carried his teams to 3 bowl wins, 2 Rose Bowls wins
John Holmes says
Ron Dayne is definitely one of the best college players ever.
Unstoppable. Teams knew Wisconsin would run it, and they still couldn’t stop him. 5.8 yards per carry for his career. Dayne crushed opposing defenses, playing on Wisconsin teams stocked with little talent. Wisco never had better than the 5th best recruiting class in the Big Ten.
Matthew Alkire says
This article is a complete joke.
AJ McCarron won back to back titles at Alabama. Watch some football. I mean really, my wife knows that.
Hugh Green is not on your list? He’s Top 5 on any list. 460 tackles, 53 sacks, 24 forced fumbles … not on your list. Again, do you know a thing about football?
Reggie Bush is not on that list? I don’t know what to say. Lee Roy Selmon is not on that list? Wow. John Hannah. Ronnie f’ing Lott.
Honestly, I’d fire you if you turned this in to me and I was your editor.
Mike Boyle says
Three HUGE omissions from this list:
Apparently the writer of this piece never checked the Statistics:
What was Kellen Moore’s passing percentage when Boise State was behind by more than a touchdown? (Not surprised you don’t know the answer. It was a trick question. During his 4 years as a starter at Boise State his team was never behind by more than a touchdown.) He is college footballs All-Time winning-est Quarterback posting a 50-3 record including 1 undefeated season and 3 one-loss seasons. 143 TD’s 28 Ints. Only his Freshmen year did he pass for less than 3500 yards (3486). And his lowest Quarterback rating was also his freshmen year’s 157.1 rating. His high mark was 2010 when he threw for 3845 yards with a 182.6 rating.
Danny Woodhead – Overlooked because he played Division II. But consider his stats:
Woodhead accumulated 7,441 yards on the ground, for his career, giving him a career average of 190.8 yards per game. He rushed for more than 200 yards in 19 of his 39 appearances and scored in 37 consecutive games, both of which are NCAA all-division records.
Cooper Kupp – Overlooked because he was not a Big Conference player. However his stats are ridiculous. He is College footballs all division all time receiving yards leader. The previous record holder was Jerry Rice with 4693 receiving yards. Kupp destroyed that mark with 6464 receiving yards. He also bested the previous all time touchdowns mark of 58, by catching 73 touchdown passes.
Doug Price says
“As mentioned in the intro, this list does not include any athletes who played in college prior to 1970.”
Then why did you include OJ, who played 1968-69?
Dr Zarkov says
Tony Mandarich was drafted by the Green Bay Packers and was a total bust. However, the media labeled him as the greatest college offensive lineman of all time.
rob cooper says
Jim Thorpe? Red Grange? College football didn’t start in 1970…
donald says
“Tommy Frazier is the last quarterback to win back-to-back national championships in 1994-95.”
Pretty sure that would be AJ McCarron. Seriously dude… do some research
mike says
Tebow and Woodson ahead of Manning? No way
Zen says
Manning was methodical in his passing and always steady, but he did not show up big in big games like Tebow or especially like Woodson, which is why he lost the Heisman to Woodson. Manning never beat his rival and Woodson did his best work against his rivals and elevated his game as the stage got bigger.
drantigmo says
and was crushed by Nebraska…. I mean crushed… for the National Championship…
Gary Hill says
Is # 17 missing because the person typing the list was shocked to see Brain Bosworth coming up right after Randy Moss at 18, so they skipped 17? Charles Woodson was a great player no doubt, but not more of an impact than Deion Sanders, and it’s really not that close. I would take Neon Deion any day over Woodson. Lawrence Taylor was a pretty dominant defender at UNC, I would have a tough time leaving Marcus Allen or Eddie George off of this list, and I’ve never seen anybody as electric as Raghib Ismail or Anthony Carter to name a couple more that should have been on here in place of several.
Zen says
Woodson won a Heisman, so there might be an argument that he had more of an impact than Sanders. I was looking for “Rocket” Ismail and Eddie George too. Forgot about Anthony Carter.
Phil O'Sophocle says
“OJ’s despicable actions off the field”?? He was found not guilty of the murders, and the other crime was B.S. caused by the civil case he lost over the criminal case he was found not guilty of. Maybe he did kill those 2, but they failed to convict him for it, so he’s not guilty. If they’re going to play the game & jail those who are innocent due to circumstance & evidence, then stand by it & live with it when they don’t get someone.
geneb2000 says
Maybe GQ will name him Citizen of the Year next year.
Phil O'Sophocle says
No, but maybe Jet.
Regula Seizin says
Without reading the list, I will guess that I can count on one hand the number of players on the list who played before 1960.
Ryan Pitts says
Randy Moss should be higher, but the fact that Reggie bush is not on this list is an absolute travesty.
Al Smith says
I quit looking after the first two you showed were murderers.
donald says
Pretty sure Ray Lewis didn’t technically murder anyone.
John Rains says
Herschel Walker???? Come On!
Kurt Adams says
I’d place The Juice higher, but I understand the desire to downplay his attributes on the gridiron field
Jon Lelekis says
Elway and Manning? Seriously?
Mike Parrott says
No Emmitt Smith??? And seriously Tebow 4th. All-Time Career TDs in the All-Time toughest conference.
donald says
Emmitt’s college numbers were great but not on par with the other guys on this list. Emmitt’s best season at Florida isn’t even in the top 100 rushing yard season’s in college football history.
Alex Walker says
This list is absolutely awful. Tebow at 4?!? Comical. And no Dupree? Give me a break.
Doug Price says
I am no Tebow fan, but he is the only player with 20 rushing and 20 passing touchdowns in the same season. And a Heisman. And 2 national championships.
BBBYpsi says
Anthony Carter should be somewhere on this list.