Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma football: Ranking the top seven linebackers in school history

By Aaron Gelvin

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 20: The Oklahoma Sooners flag is waved from the field after a touchdown against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first quarter at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 20, 2021 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners won 28-21. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 20: The Oklahoma Sooners flag is waved from the field after a touchdown against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first quarter at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 20, 2021 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners won 28-21. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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Fans walk outside Cotton Bowl Stadium before the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Texas Longhorns (UT) at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.
Fans walk outside Cotton Bowl Stadium before the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Texas Longhorns (UT) at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. /

No. 5 — Rocky Calmus

Rocky Calmus is the third straight Brent Venables linebacker to start this list, but he was actually recruited by John Blake, and began his career as a Sooner in 1998, one year before Bob Stoops became the head man.

Calmus was also a part of the 2000 national championship team and was one of the key players in the early Stoops’ days that helped right the ship from the down years that were the ’90s. He was a major contributor in the national championship season and one of his brightest moments was this interception against Texas.

Calmus would go on to win the Butkus Award in 2001, his final season as a Sooner, a year that ended with a victory over Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl on a day when the OU defense only surrendered three points.

Calmus had a nose for the football and always seemed to be in the action when something good was happening for the Sooners. He, along with Marshall and Lehman, restored the glory of the greats at linebacker from the past, and paved the way for the future greats at the position in Norman.

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