Big 12 Football: 50 best players of all-time

Big 12 Football best players of all-time: 29. Rocky Calmus, LB, Oklahoma football

Rocky Calmus was a part of a huge turnaround for Oklahoma in the late 1990s, which culminated in them winning the National Championship in 2000. Calmus joined the team amid a stretch of losing seasons and they were still finding their footing during his freshman campaign. That year, they went 5-6 but then hired Bob Stoops, who was able to turn things around.

In Stoops’ first season, which was the sophomore campaign for Calmus, Oklahoma went 7-5. Calmus was a budding star at this point, earning Second-Team All-Big 12 honors after racking up 114 tackles and an interception.

Then in 2000, he earned a nod to the First-Team All-Big 12 roster as well as becoming an All-American. Calmus had 125 tackles with 17 going for a loss. He added another interception and two forced fumbles while helping to lead Oklahoma to the championship that season.

He added one more season with at least 100 tackles and double digits for tackles for a loss as a senior. This time he had 117 tackles for the Sooners. His performance for Oklahoma led to him becoming a third-round pick of the Tennessee Titans. He played three seasons in the NFL and never had the same star power he did at Oklahoma but that doesn’t make his days in Norman any less important.