In 125 years of Oklahoma football, there is a lengthy list, as you might imagine, of players worthy of the adjective “great” next to their name.
If you narrow it down to the “greatest” of all time, the list naturally gets smaller. But in the case of the Oklahoma Sooners, it is still a rather long list. How many other college programs can say that? How many would like to be able to say that?
You would probably expect a school that has won 908 games, tied for sixth most all-time, seven national championships since the end pf World War II, 49 conference championships and produced 167 First-Team All-Americans would claim some of the greatest college players of all-time in its football family.
Forty-six Sooners have earned All-America honors since 2000, and no college program has produced more unanimous All-Americans (35) in the history of college football or more consensus All-Americans (81) in the modern era (since the end of WWII).
Editor’s note: The difference between a unanimous All-American and a consensus All-American is: A unanimous All-American is a player named a first-team selection by the following five organizations: Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Sporting News. A consensus All-American must be a first-team selection by at least three of the same five organizations.
It is virtually impossible to talk about the greatest teams and players of all-time in college football — not to mention the legendary head coaches — and not have some reference to Oklahoma.
To put it bluntly, coming up with four individuals who best represent the glory and greatness that is 125 years of Oklahoma football is not an easy task. But if we were to commission a Mount Rushmore-like monument containing the sculpted images of the four individuals who best represent the history of Sooner football, who would the four be?
Here is the four we think are the most worthy of that rock-solid honor: