Ed Reed only Miami Football Player in CFB Top 50 of Last 50 Years
Former Miami Hurricanes safety Ed Reed was the only Miami Football player named to College Football’s Top 50 players of the last 50 years.
The list was compiled by Athlon in honor of their 50th anniversary. Having only one player honored in that time was surprised. Alabama, USC and Oklahoma are the only schools that have more than Miami’s five National Championships in last 50 years.
Twelve schools exceeded the Hurricanes one player on the list. Alabama and USC are the only teams that have won exceeded Miami’s five National Championships in that time. The schools with multiple players in the top 50 are below.
USC: 6
Nebraska: 4
Ohio State: 4
Oklahoma: 3
Pittsburgh: 3
Texas: 3
Alabama: 2
Auburn: 2
Florida: 2
Michigan: 2
Tennessee: 2
UCLA: 2
Athlon’s take on Reed was:
"34. Ed Reed S, Miami, 1998-2001Reed anchored the back end of some of the most talented defenses of the modern era. He holds Miami records for interceptions (21), interception return yards (389) and return touchdowns (five). (Reed) He also blocked four punts, had 288 tackles, forced four fumbles and defended 52 passes during his career. He had nine interceptions for the 2001 national champions, one of history’s greatest teams."
No Miami Football players made the “The All-Athlon Team”. Three former Miami football players that were named All-American multiple times were left off the list. Ted Hendricks was a three-time All-American (twice in the last 50 years) and Bennie Blades and Bryant McKinnie each earned All-American Status twice.
Hendricks was a first-team consensus All-American in 1967 and 68, just fitting inside the last 50 years. He was named the National Lineman of the Year in 1968 and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
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Hendricks went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL with Baltimore, Green Bay and Oakland. He also earned enshrinement in the College Football and University of Miami Halls of Fame.
Blades was a star on Miami’s teams in the mid-1980s. He set the school season record for interceptions in a season with ten in 1986. That record has since been equaled by the late Sean Taylor.
Blades followed that up with five more in 1987. His five consecutive games with an interception spanning the 1986 and ’87 seasons also set a Miami football record. That record has since been matched by Dexter Siegler during the 1992 and ’93 seasons.
Blades was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Bryant McKinnie earned first-team All-American status in 2000 and 2001. He protected All-American quarterback Ken Dorsey’s blind side as Miami’s left tackle. McKinnie did not allow a sack in 24 career games.
During McKinnie’s two seasons as a Miami football player, the Hurricanes went 23-1. If not for a controversial third place finish in the BCS computers, the ‘Canes might have had a chance to win national championships in each of his two seasons.
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McKinnie earned the Outland Trophy during his senior year. He also won the Jim Parker Award as the nation’s top offensive lineman and was named the CNN/Sports Illustrated Player of the Year.