Greatest college football player born in each state
Many great college football players were born in the state of Oklahoma, including Heisman Trophy winners Sam Bradford, Jason White and Steve Owens, all of whom starred for the in-state Sooners, as well as arguably the greatest pure athlete of all time, Jim Thorpe. However, our nod for the greatest player from the Sooner State is Brian Bosworth.
The Boz, as he was commonly called, was a wild-haired, controversial player whose career ended after he missed the 1987 Orange Bowl because of a positive steroids test and wore a T-shirt on the sidelines calling the NCAA the “National Communists Against Athletes” (a decision he later said he regretted on the ESPN 30 for 30 film Brian and the Boz). Bosworth, who was born in Oklahoma City but later moved to Texas, entered the NFL Supplemental Draft and eventually landed with the Seattle Seahawks, with whom he played only three seasons.
However, aside from he controversy, Bosworth was an incredible football player that collected 395 tackles in his three seasons, earned consensus All-American honors in 1985 and 1986 and won the Butkus Award, which is given to the nation’s top linebacker, in both seasons. As a junior, Bosworth finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. He was also voted to the All-Big 8 squad in all three seasons in which he played for the Sooners.
While Bosworth led the Sooners defense, Oklahoma went 31-4-1, won the league title each season and won the 1985 national championship. And, off the field, Bosworth was a standout student that earned Academic All-Conference honors three times and was an Academic All-American in 1986.
Other Notable College Football Players Born in Oklahoma:
- Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
- Rick Bryan, DL, Oklahoma
- Kurt Burris, OL, Oklahoma
- Rocky Calmus, LB, Oklahoma
- Tony Casillas, DL, Oklahoma
- LeShon Johnson, RB, Northern Illinois
- Steve Largent, WR, Tulsa
- Kevin Lockett, WR, Kansas State
- Jeremy Shockey, TE, Miami
- Jim Thorpe, Carlisle
- Steve Owens, RB, Oklahoma
- Lee Roy Selmon, DL, Oklahoma
- Rashaun Woods, WR, Oklahoma State
- Jason White, QB, Oklahoma
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