You don't reach the level of historic achievement and national recognition that Oklahoma has in the world of college football without having outstanding offensive line play along the way.
The Sooner offensive line was an area of much criticism this season. Veteran offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh started eight different personnel combinations in Oklahoma's first nine games this season, which makes it extremely difficult to establish any kind of continuity or consistency.
As a lingering consequence, the Sooners struggled mightily on offense this season, something that is highly atypical of an Oklahoma team.
Every year since 1946, the Football Writers Association of America has presented the Outland Trophy to the best interior lineman in college football. An Oklahoma offensive lineman has won that award five times.
And in 2015, the Joe Moore Foundation for Teamwork raised the anty for recognizing offensive linemen, introducing the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in college football. Oklahoma was the fourth recipient of this prestigious honor, winning the award in 2018.
Other than that, the "big uglies," as the late John Madden liked to refer to the guys who patrol the trenches on both sided of the line of scrimmage in the game of football, are the unsung heroes and largely overlooked when the headlines and game stories are written.
All of this got me wondering, if there were a Mount Rushmore exclusively to recognize the greatest offensive linemen in Oklahoma football history, who would the four honorees be?
Here are the top four on my list:
1. Ralph Neely (1962-64)
Ralph Neely was a two-time All-American offensive tackle who played at Oklahoma for both Bud Wilkinson and Gomer Jones from 1962-64 and went on to become one of the greatest offensive linemen not only in Dallas Cowboys history, but also in NFL history.
Neely was a two-way player at Oklahoma -- as a number of players were in those days -- manning the tackle position on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and growing up in Farmington, New Mexico, the 6-foot-5 Neely might have been the biggest Sooner recruited by Wilkinson.
The former Sooner All-American did not play for the best of Wilkinson's Oklahoma teams. The 1963 OU team finished 8-2 and in second place in the Big 8. That was also Wilkinson's final season at Oklahoma. Neely was a First-Team All-American that year and was a consensus All-American the following season on a 6-4-1 team coached by Jones.
In a 2022 article in The Oklahoman, sports columnist Berry Tramel wrote that Rick McCurdy, a teammate of Neely's at OU, said, "I've never seen anyone as big as Ralph Neely. When he got mad in the Oklahoma Drill, there was no stopping him."
Neely was a second-round pick of the Baltimore Colts, the 28th player selected overall, in the 1965 NFL Draft. His rights, however, were obtained by the Dallas Cowboys, where he spent all 13 of his NFL seasons. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and of the NFL All-1960s Team.
Ralph Neely died in 2022 at the age of 78.
2. Jerry Tubbs (1954-56)
Jerry Tubbs was another of the great Oklahoma two-way players who played under Bud Wilkinson. Unlike fellow OU alum Ralph Neely, Tubbs played for some of the best of Oklahoma's teams during the Wilkinson era. That was during the time that Oklahoma set the college record 47-game winning streak, which still stands today.
Oklahoma never lost a game during the time Tubbs played there. He began his OU career as a fullback filling in for the injured Billy Pricer. Tubbs was moved to center his junior season, which turned out to be his signature position. He also played middle linebacker on defense.
Tubbs was a Second-Team All-American in 1955 and a unanimous All-American selection in 1956. Oklahoma was crowned national champion both seasons. As a senior, Tubbs came in fourth in the 1956 Heisman Trophy voting.
After his decorated college career, Tubbs was selected in the first round of the 1957 NFL Draft by the Chicago Cardinals. He played 11 seasons in the NFL for three different teams (Chicago, San Fransicso and Dallas).
Tubbs' accomplishments in college and professional football career are even more remarkable considering that he was crippled for a time with the polio virus as an adolescent.
The OU legend was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. He also is a member of the Oklahoma Football All-20th Century Team.
Tubbs died in 2012 at the age of 77.
3. Tom Brahaney (1970-72)
Tom Brahaney played on the great Oklahoma teams of the early 1970s when offensive coordinator Barry Switzer was introducing the Wishbone offense that would be highly associated with Sooner football for the next two decades.
Brahaney was a two-time consensus All-American (1971 and '72), and his senior year in 1972 he was a finalist for the Lombardi Award, presented every year to the best college lineman and a person who best embodies the values and spirit of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who himself was a collegiate offensive lineman.
Oklahoma was just 7-4 in Brahaney's sophomore season in 1970, but the Sooners were 11-1 in each of his final two OU seasons.
He was the anchor of the Oklahoma offensive line in the 1971 game against Nebraska that was billed at the time as the "Game of the Century." The Sooners lost that game 35-31 but went on to finish No. 2 in the country in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the 1971 season.
Oklahoma led the nation that season in scoring, rushing and total offense.
After leaving Oklahoma, Brahaney played nine NFL seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, the team that drafted him in 1973. In 2007, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
4. Greg Roberts (1975-78)
Greg Roberts was another player from the Lone Star State who found his way across the Red River and became an outstanding player at the University of Oklahoma.
Some experts have called Roberts, who hails from Nagcogdoches, Texas, as Barry Switzer's most acclaimed offensive lineman. And that's saying something about how good Roberts was because Switzer had several at OU who would fall into that category.
Roberts will perhaps be best remembered as the lineman who paved the way for Billy Sims in the latter's Heisman-winning season in 1978. Sims rushed for an NCAA-best 1,762 yards and 22 touchdowns that season and averaged 7.6 yards every time he carried the ball.
The two-time consensus First-Team All-American was awarded the Outland Trophy in 1978 as college football's most outstanding interior lineman.
Roberts was drafted in the second round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played four seasons with the Bucs and one final season in 1984 with the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League.
Honorable mention
Kurt Burris, center/linebacker (1951-54)
Jammal Brown (2001-04)
Lane Johnson, offensive tackle (2010-12)
J.D. Roberts, offensive guard (1951-53)
Trent Williams, offensive tackle (2006-09)