UW’s Top 50 football players: By the numbers
LARAMIE -- You know what they say about opinions.
Everyone had one this summer.
When we counted down Wyoming's Top-50 football players of all time, you'd think the results would be chiseled into stone and placed in front of War Memorial Stadium. Some took it that seriously, which was awesome.
It was well thought out. The panel of five -- Jared Newland, Ryan Thorburn, Kevin McKinney, Robert Gagliardi and myself -- have a combined 100-plus years of Wyoming football knowledge under our collective belt.
This list wasn't a simple one. The Cowboys have played football for 124 years. That's a whole bunch of players.
Did we get it right? Probably not. We were all very confident that Marcus Harris is the best player in the program's history though. Four of the five of us, anyway.
There were some really good players left off the final tally. It was cringe-worthy, honestly. We had to make some really tough decisions.
Today, let's break down our final list by the numbers:
87
This is how many players ended up listed on our spread sheet after we compiled all of our lists, which means 37 players didn't make the final cut.
11
That's how many players hail from the Cowboy State on our list: Logan Wilson, Chris Prosinski, Jim Talich, Jerry Hill, Casey Bramlet, Jim House, John Wendling, Jim Crawford, David Edeen, Nick Bebout and Ryan McGuffey.
6
That's the number of quarterbacks to make the final cut: Josh Allen, Brett Smith, Josh Wallwork, Casey Bramlet, Randy Welniak and Paul Toscano.
9
That's how many of our selections played for Lloyd Eaton during the glory days of Wyoming football in the late 60's: Jim Kiick, Vic Washington, Mike Dirks, Paul Toscano, Jim House, Gene Huey, Mike LaHood, Larry Nels and Nick Bebout.
14
That's the combined number of players who suited up for Paul Roach and Joe Tiller on this list. Roach, who coached in Laramie from 1987-90, led these guys onto the field: Mitch Donahue, Galand Thaxton, Pat Rabold, Randy Welniak, Jeff Knapton and David Edeen. The Tiller era, 1991-96, featured: Marcus Harris, Ryan Yarborough, Brian Lee, Steve Scifres, Josh Wallwork, Jim Talich, Ryan Christopherson and Wendell Montgomery. Some of these guys were recruited by Roach and played for Tiller.
0
That's how many unanimous players ended up on this list. Marcus Harris was the closest, receiving four No. 1 votes. Ryan Thorburn gave that honor to Eddie Talboom and selected Harris No. 2.
3
That's the number of players who all received Top-10 votes from the panel: Marcus Harris, Mitch Donahue and Brian Hill. No other player was a unanimous Top-10 selection.
28
The panel all agreed unanimously that 28 of the 50 players selected should all be on this list in some capacity. All received a vote of 50 or less.
Here is our final Top 50:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Mitch Donahue
3. Brian Hill
4. Eddie Talboom
5. Ken Fantetti
6. Ryan Yarborough
7. Galand Thaxton
8. Josh Allen
9. Jim Kiick
10. Brian Lee
11. Andrew Wingard
12. Brett Smith
13. Logan Wilson
14. Vic Washington
15. Jovon Bouknight
16. Jay Novacek
17. Steve Scifres
18. Mike Dirks
19. Josh Wallwork
20. Chris Prosinski
21. Pat Rabold
22. Jim Talich
23. Jerry Hill
24. Casey Bramlet
25. Dewey McConnell
26. Paul Toscano
27. Ryan Christopherson
28. Randy Welniak
29. Marcus Epps
30. Jim House
31. Chase Roullier
32. Gene Huey
33. John Wendling
34. Eddie Yarbrough
35. Jeff Knapton
36. Mike LaHood
37. Jim Crawford
38. Larry Nels
39. Tanner Gentry
40. Adam Goldberg
41. Aaron Kyle
42. Selmer Pederson
43. John Salley
44. David Edeen
45. Joe Ramunno
46. Tashaun Gipson
47. Nick Bebout
48. Wendell Montgomery
49. Ryan McGuffey
50. Devin Moore
Those who didn't make the cut (Honorable mentions):
51. Paul Nunu
52. Patrick Chukwurah
53. Derrick Martin
54. Al Duyn
55. Gabe Knapton
56. Cooper Rothe
57. Al Rich
58. Jack Weil
59. Malcom Floyd
60. Sean Fleming
61. Dennis Baker
62. Jacob Hollister
63. Grant Salsbury
64. Mike Schenbeck
65. Mike Jones
66. Mitch Unrein
67. Jerry Durling
68. Gerald Abraham
69. Pedro Billingsley
70. Shawn Wiggins
71. Paul Wallace
72. Harry Geldien
73. Josh Biezuns
74. Gordy Wood
75. Joe Hughes
76. Alijah Halliburton
77. Jerry DePoyster
78. Dabby Dawson
79. Robert Rivers
80. Rick Donnelly
81. Brian Hendricks
82. Craig Burnett
83. Dick Campbell
84. Tom Corontzos
85. Conrad Dobler
86. Marques Brigham
87. Jim Walden
Tucker's Top 50:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Mitch Donahue
3. Brian Hill
4. Ryan Yarborough
5. Josh Allen
6. Eddie Talboom
7. Galand Thaxton
8. Ken Fantetti
9. Jovon Bouknight
10. Brett Smith
11. Logan Wilson
12. Andrew Wingard
13. Marcus Epps
14. Jim Kiick
15. Brian Lee
16. Jay Novacek
17. Jerry Hill
18. Dewey McConnell
19. Steve Scifres
20. Jim Talich
21. Casey Bramlet
22. Pat Rabold
23. Chris Prosinski
24. Ryan Christopherson
25. Vic Washington
26. Josh Wallwork
27. Gene Huey
28. Eddie Yarbrough
29. Jeff Knapton
30. Tanner Gentry
31. Randy Welniak
32. Mike Dirks
33. John Salley
34. Gabe Knapton
35. Patrick Chukwurah
36. Devin Moore
37. Aaron Kyle
38. John Wendling
39. Jim Crawford
40. Mitch Unrein
41. Adam Goldberg
42. Ryan McGuffey
43. Paul Toscano
44. Malcom Floyd
45. Harry Geldien
46. Tashaun Gipson
47. Jim House
48. Chase Roullier
49. Cooper Rothe
50. Wendell Montgomery
Gagliardi's Top 50:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Mitch Donahue
3. Josh Allen
4. Brian Hill
5. Galand Thaxton
6. Andrew Wingard
7. Ken Fantetti
8. Vic Washington
9. Jovon Bouknight
10. Brett Smith
11. Ryan Yarborough
12. Brian Lee
13. Eddie Talboom
14. Logan Wilson
15. Jay Novacek
16. Chris Prosinski
17. Chase Roullier
18. Jim Kiick
19. Jim Talich
20. Casey Bramlet
21. Wendell Montgomery
22. John Wendling
23. Mike Dirks
24. Jeff Knapton
25. Randy Welniak
26. Derrick Martin
27. John Salley
28. Eddie Yarbrough
29. Pat Rabold
30. Ryan Christopherson
31. Steve Scifres
32. Josh Wallwork
33. Patrick Chukwurah
34. Tashaun Gipson
35. Marcus Epps
36. Jim House
37. Tanner Gentry
38. Gerald Abraham
39. David Edeen
40. Gene Huey
41. Gabe Knapton
42. Adam Goldberg
43. Selmer Pederson
44. Malcom Floyd
45. Josh Biezuns
46. Joe Hughes
47. Dennis Baker
48. Jerry DePoyster
49. Ryan McGuffey
50. Rick Donnelly
Newland's Top 50:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Mitch Donahue
3. Eddie Talboom
4. Ken Fantetti
5. Brian Hill
6. Ryan Yarborough
7. Brian Lee
8. Galand Thaxton
9. Andrew Wingard
10. Paul Toscano
11. Dewey McConnell
12. Selmer Pederson
13. Logan Wilson
14. Jay Novacek
15. Josh Allen
16. Vic Washington
17. Jovon Bouknight
18. Brett Smith
19. Pat Rabold
20. Jim Kiick
21. Casey Bramlet
22. Mike LaHood
23. Mike Dirks
24. Steve Scifres
25. Josh Wallwork
26. Jim Crawford
27. Chase Roullier
28. Larry Nels
29. Joe Ramunno
30. Jim Talich
31. John Wendling
32. Adam Goldberg
33. Mike Schenbeck
34. Jim House
35. Dennis Baker
36. Nick Bebout
37. Chris Prosinski
38. Tanner Gentry
39. Ryan McGuffey
40. Devin Moore
41. Ryan Christopherson
42. Jerry Hill
43. Tashaun Gipson
44. Shawn Wiggins
45. Paul Wallace
46. Derrick Martin
47. Malcom Floyd
48. Randy Welniak
49. Mitch Unrein
50. Robert Rivers
McKinney's Top 50:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Ken Fantetti
3. Mitch Donahue
4. Josh Wallwork
5. Vic Washington
6. Mike LaHood
7. Grant Salsbury
8. Eddie Talboom
9. Steve Scifres
10. Brian Lee
11. Ryan Yarborough
12. Jim House
13. Paul Nunu
14. Galand Thaxton
15. Jim Kiick
16. Jerry Hill
17. Gene Huey
18. Aaron Kyle
19. Al Duyn
20. Mike Dirks
21. Andrew Wingard
22. Brett Smith
23. Paul Toscano
24. Randy Welniak
25. Sean Fleming
26. Cooper Rothe
27. Jack Weil
28. Chris Prosinski
29. Logan Wilson
30. Dewey McConnell
31. Mike Schenbeck
32. Jay Novacek
33. Mike Jones
34. Larry Nels
35. Jerry Durling
36. Eddie Yarbrough
37. Jovon Bouknight
38. Joe Ramunno
39. Chase Roullier
40. Nick Bebout
41. Adam Goldberg
42. Dennis Baker
43. Pedro Billingsley
44. Pat Rabold
45. Gordy Wood
46. Alijah Halliburton
47. John Wendling
48. Ryan Christopherson
49. Dabby Dawson
50. Jim Talich
Thorburn's Top 50:
1. Eddie Talboom
2. Marcus Harris
3. Mitch Donahue
4. Brian Hill
5. Brian Lee
6. Jim Kiick
7. Ryan Yarborough
8. Andrew Wingard
9. Jay Novacek
10. Jerry Hill
11. Ken Fantetti
12. Jim Talich
13. Logan Wilson
14. Galand Thaxton
15. Pat Rabold
16. Ryan Christopherson
17. Josh Allen
18. Mike Dirks
19. Brett Smith
20. Steve Scifres
21. Jim Crawford
22. Chris Prosinski
23. Jeff Knapton
24. Casey Bramlet
25. Larry Nels
26. David Edeen
27. Brian Hendricks
28. Paul Toscano
29. Vic Washington
30. Josh Wallwork
31. Randy Welniak
32. Dewey McConnell
33. Eddie Yarbrough
34. Gene Huey
35. Marcus Epps
36. Jovon Bouknight
37. Jim House
38. John Wendling
39. Craig Burnett
40. Chase Roullier
41. Patrick Chukwurah
42. Tanner Gentry
43. Dick Campbell
44. Tom Corontzos
45. Conrad Dobler
46. Aaron Kyle
47. Marques Brigham
48. Jim Walden
49. Nick Bebout
50. Jack Weil
LOOK: Pokes' unis through the years