The past few days I have been counting down my five Sooner football favorites of all-time. Well, zero hour is here, and it is time to reveal the player I consider my favorite OU football player of all-time.
Before I lift the curtain, however, and shine the spotlight on numero uno on my personal list of the best Oklahoma players I have had the pleasure of watching perform in their time as Sooners, let me share with you how other Sooner fans responded when I asked them to name for me their five most favorite Oklahoma football players.
Here is a sampling on some of the “five favorites” lists I received on the @StormininNorman Facebook page:
Billy Sims, Rocky Calmus, Roy William, Sam Bradford, Lee Roy Selmon.
J.C. Watts, Billy Sims, Brian Bosworth, Adrian Peterson, Eric Striker.
Billy Sims, Adrian Peterson, Sam Bradford, Brian Bosworth, Roy Williams.
Brian Bosworth, Roy Williams, Derrick Strait, Adrian Peterson, Sam Bradford.
Billy Sims, Brian Bosworth, Sam Bradford, Kenny Stills, DeMarco Murray.
Several of these choices also appear on my top-5 list, including my choice for No. 1 all-time.
No. 1 Billy Sims
Oklahoma might have Earl Campbell to thank for Billy Sims coming to OU instead of the state school in his home state. Campbell, a Heisman Trophy winner, was one of the best running backs ever to play for the Texas Longhorns, and he was there at the time Sims was being recruited to play college football.
As it turned out, Sims had the same problem when he elected to come to Oklahoma.
“Once I got to OU, I also knew I wouldn’t start because Joe Washington was there,” Sims wrote in the “Seventies” chapter in the autobiographical book “What It Means to Be a Sooner.” That was OK with me because I didn’t know the wishbone from a chicken bone.
“A lot of people thought I should go to a college when I would have been able to play right away, but I always figured I could come on Oklahoma’s level.”
Sims acknowledges that he learned a lot from Washington (No. 2 on my Sooner Football Favorites list), especially regarding training and work ethic.
The fleet-of-foot running back out of Hooks, Texas, obviously was a good learner, but because of injuries early in his Sooner career, it took him a couple of years to really get untracked. In fact, what many OU fans might not know, Sims actually considered quitting between his sophomore and junior seasons. Fortunately, Barry Switzer convinced him otherwise.
He rushed for over 3,200 yards in final two years at OU in 1978 and 1979 and led the Big Eight Conference in rushing both seasons. He set an all-time NCAA record for average yards per rush (7.0) for running backs carrying the ball a minimum of 500 times.
Sims was the third Oklahoma Sooner to win the Heisman Trophy, capturing college football’s top individual prize his junior season in 1978, at the time only the sixth junior to do so. He tells the story that when he traveled to New York for the trophy presentation, it was the first time he had ever purchased a suit. He said he also borrowed luggage for the trip.
Sims would come in second in the Heisman balloting the following season (1979).
The all-time career rushing leader at Oklahoma (4,118 yards in his career) and No. 2 in rushing touchdowns (53), was a human highlight film throughout his brilliant career as a Sooner, but particularly in his final two seasons. See for yourself in this YouTube compilation.
In 1980, he was the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, selected by the Detroit Lions. He is one of three former Oklahoma players to be taken No. 1 overall in the annual spring NFL draft. The others are Sam Bradford (2010) and Lee Roy Selmon (1976). Brian Bosworth was selected No. 1 in the 1987 supplemental draft in 1987 by the Seattle Seahawks.
Sims played five seasons in the NFL, all with the Lions, before suffering a serious career-ending knee injury in the 1984 season.
Recapping the list of my 5 Favorite Sooner Football Players of All-Time:
1. Billy Sims
2. Joe Washington
3. Greg Pruitt
4. Tommy McDonald
5. Sam Bradford
It is not a coincidence that this all-time favorites list contains all offensive players. In my view the best of Oklahoma football down through the years has come from individuals on the offensive side of the ball. That is not to say that there haven’t been outstanding Sooner players on defense. Rather, the all-time players who I have had the most fun watching are those who are scoring points and on the side advancing the ball toward the opponents’ goal line.