Greatest Kansas Football Players of All-Time Bracket: Otto Schnellbacher vs Ron Warner

Schnellbacher secured his spot in the field of 64 by taking out Curtis Moore by a 6-0 count. Meanwhile, Ron Warner moved past Dana Stubblefield by forfeit (due to Stubblefield’s extremely troubling current legal issues).

(2) Otto Schnellbacher

Otto really should be one of the favorites in this bracket. Not only was his nickname super awesome - The Double Threat from Sublette - he was an amazing all around athlete. He played both offense (WR) and defense (CB), plus, he was first team All-Conference four times in basketball for the Jayhawks.

He laced it up on the gridiron for KU from 1942-43 and 1946-48. He was named first team All-Conference in 1943, 1946, and 1947.

He was a co-captain on the 1947 Orange Bowl squad, the same year he (alongside Ray Evans) became KU’s first ever first team All-Americans. In the “three yards and a cloud of dust” era, Otto was credited with 58 receptions and 1069 yards in his KU career, school records that stood for 22 years.

Otto was drafted 231st overall by the Chicago Cardinals (you read that right) in the 1947 NFL Draft. His professional career wouldn’t start until 1948 with the New York Yanks. He was an interception machine in his NFL career, averaging nearly an interception per game. At the same time, Otto played professional basketball in the NBA.

(15) Ron Warner

Kansas native Ron Warner played for KU from 1996-97. He came to KU via Independence CC and made an impact right away at linebacker. His senior year of 1997 saw him earn first team All-Big 12 honors. He still sits at third in career sacks in the Jayhawk record books, and owns the single-season sack mark with 14.5 in 1997.

Warner was drafted 239th overall in the 1998 NFL Draft by Mike Ditka and the New Orleans Saints. He bounced around in the NFL for a few years with the Saints, Bucs, and Redskins, and then spent two years in Canada before retiring following the 2007 season.

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