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As part of our 100 days until Kansas football (maybe) series, we’re doing another countdown. This one features the best players to wear certain numbers for the football Jayhawks. Just as a side note, there is no way that we’re going 1-99 (although any suggestions in the comments are always welcome), so we’re going to highlight the very best from a certain number set. We’ve already examined 1-20 here, 21-39 here, and 40-70 here. Today, we’ll look at the last batch, 71-99.
The Best of the Best
#73 Mike McCormack
This guy helped the Brown win two NFL championships. THE BROWNS. Let’s put him at the top of this list for that alone. He was an All-Big Seven lineman for Kansas and was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984. Read more about him right here.
The Next Best
#71 Dana Stubblefield
As far as I know, Dana Stubblefield is the only player on any of these lists to be in a movie with Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron. I don’t even remember the premise of Reindeer Games, but hey, Dana was in it.
Stubblefield was also well known for his poor off field behavior, so because he wasn’t a very good person (to say the least), I can’t give him the highest accolade on this list. But since we do need to mention the bad (charged with rape) whenever mentioning the good (NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1993, NFL Defensive POY in 1997, First Team All-Pro in 1997), I figured he had to be on this list even though I didn’t want to include him.
#78 Anthony Collins
This guy was good. Really good. First team All-Big XII in 2007 is a pretty good honor. First Team All-American in 2007 is outstanding. Somehow, he was only a fourth round pick in 2008 with the Cincinnati Bengals taking him with pick 112. He played six strong years with the Bengals before finishing out his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
#80 Dezmon Briscoe
A favorite target of Todd Reesing, Dezmon Briscoe made a name for himself at KU with stats like these: 219 catches for 3,240 yards and 31 touchdowns. Not too shabby. His NFL career was short, but his best season was 2011 with Tampa Bay where he caught 35 passes for 387 yards and six touchdowns.
#83 John Zook
John Zook recently passed away. Our own Mike Plank did a nice feature on him here.
#83 George Mrkonic
A 1951 All-American selection and two time All-Big 7 selection, George Mrkonic then played two seasons in the NFL and CFL before deciding on a career in the United States Air Force. His name is forever displayed in the Kansas Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium.
#93 Gilbert Brown
Nose tackle Gilbert Brown was a force to be reckoned with. He finished fifth and sixth in school history for tackles and tackles for a loss at the position of defensive lineman. And then there is his reign in Green Bay for the Packers. He played 125 regular season games in the NFL and was crowned a Super Bowl Champion after the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI.
Pretty Great
#72 Chris Maumalanga
First Team All-Big Eight and Honorable Mention All-American in 1994, Chris Maumalanga is probably best remembered by Kansas fans for the safety he made in the 1992 Aloha Bowl as Kansas beat Brigham Young. Maumalanga played parts of six seasons in the NFL for seven teams.
#99 Ron Warner
Ron Warner was a First Team All-Big XII selection in 1997. The big defensive end from Independence, Kansas then went on to play parts of four seasons in the NFL and a few more in the CFL.
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Can you think of anyone else? Add your suggestions below because there is definitely someone that we’ve forgotten.