Who's the Greatest Buckeye Multi-Purpose Player? (Vote for 3)

[Saw31]

This one is tough - Cassady and Warfield for sure, but then it's difficult to choose among Gamble, Ginn, and Colzie for the third and spot. And what Bruce Elia accomplished in 1973-74 was really quite amazing, especially considering the amount of talent that was on those two Buckeye squads.

I got Cassady, Warfield and Ginn. Agree, tough choice for #3...

 

[Kueller]

I went with Cassady, Warfield and Gamble. Gamble got the nod over Ginn because I thought he showed more versatility overall, but there's no doubt Ginn was a bolt with the ball in his hands.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Not to beat a dead horse BUT...

Up to 10 people now who didn't even vote Hop Cassady in the top 3!!??

That just boggles my mind.

OSU football is all about tradition, read up on those who played before 2001 and give them the respect they deserve. The guy is one of our 6 Heisman winners but not in the top 3 of multi purpose players?

That pisses me off Souther Speed style, its just dumb. Sorry, I don't often call people out for their opinions but this is like saying the moons made of cheese, your opinion has to have some shred of truth and or intelligent thought to it.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

Not to beat a dead horse BUT...

Up to 10 people now who didn't even vote Hop Cassady in the top 3!!??

That just boggles my mind.

OSU football is all about tradition, read up on those who played before 2001 and give them the respect they deserve. The guy is one of our 6 Heisman winners but not in the top 3 of multi purpose players?

That pisses me off Souther Speed style, its just dumb. Sorry, I don't often call people out for their opinions but this is like saying the moons made of cheese, your opinion has to have some shred of truth and or intelligent thought to it.

I have a personal policy of only giving one GPA to a person per day. You already got yours, so all you get for this is a green chiclet.

EDIT: Crap, I already repped you today. You have to stop posting for 24 hours.

 

[ant80]

Voted for Cassady, Gamble and Ginn, the latter two because I didn't recognize any of the older names. Woody Hayes coached Janowicz during his senior year. I think he should be included because he played in 1951. From what I hear, he was spectacular. Great runner, passed, place kicker and punter. Played safety on D and an outstanding blocker. Who can forget his field goal in the snow bowl, with the swirling wind. There is not a single player in all of college football that could've made that field goal. That turned out to be the only offensive scoring in that game. He is my favorite all-time buckeye, and arguably the greatest buckeye of all time. Since he played in 1951, he MUST be included in this list.

edit: sorry for the rant. But Janowicz was just truly spectacular. I just can't imagine any all-buckeye team without him.

 

[martinss01]

hop, elia, and gamble.

first off, anyone who didn't play offense and defense i immediately eliminated from the list. no offense to those players. but to play offense or defense and special teams isn't unusual. nor is a player moving from 1 position to another on the same side of the ball. while they may have excelled at both positions, its not something out of the ordinary with the exception of their actual performance.

now, having the physical talent, stamina, and mind to memorize both an offensive and defensive playbook. then playing over 100 plays on offense and defense in a single game, let alone keeping that pace for part or all of a season... now THAT is impressive.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Not to beat a dead horse BUT...

Up to 10 people now who didn't even vote Hop Cassady in the top 3!!??

That just boggles my mind.

OSU football is all about tradition, read up on those who played before 2001 and give them the respect they deserve. The guy is one of our 6 Heisman winners but not in the top 3 of multi purpose players?

That pisses me off Souther Speed style, its just dumb. Sorry, I don't often call people out for their opinions but this is like saying the moons made of cheese, your opinion has to have some shred of truth and or intelligent thought to it.

Here are some facts concerning Hopalong Cassady:

1954 (10 games)
Led team in rushing (701 yards; 5.7 avg)
Led team in receiving (148 yards)
88-yard interception return for TD (4th longest in Buckeye history)
First-team All American
First Team All Big Ten
Ohio State MVP
Led team to perfect season (10-0-0), Rose Bowl victory, and national championship

1955 (9 games)
Led team in rushing (958 yards; 106 ypg; 5.95 ypc)[sup]1[/sup]
Led team in scoring (15 TD's)
First-team All American
First-team All Big Ten
Heisman Trophy[sup]2[/sup]
Maxwell Award
Big Ten MVP
Ohio State MVP[sup]3[/sup]
AP Athlete of the Year[sup]4[/sup]

Career
2,466 yards rushing (#11 alll time)[sup]5[/sup]
5.67 yards per carry (#5 all time)[sup]6[/sup]
4,403 all-purpose yards (#4 all time)[sup]7[/sup]
222 points (#11 all time; #5 non-kicker)[sup]8[/sup]
37 touchdowns (tied #4 all time) in only 36 games[sup]8[/sup]
10 interceptions for 230 yards and 1 TD
981 kick return yards (#5 all time) for an average of 23.36
College Football Hall of Fame (1979 inductee)

[sup]1[/sup] Cassady's single-season rushing mark was the highest in Buckeye history until Jim Otis surpassed it in 1968.

[sup]2[/sup] Cassady was the first candidate to amass over 2,000 points in Heisman balloting, and his margin of victory (1,477 points) is the sixth-largest in Heisman history.

[sup]3[/sup] Cassady is one of only 6 Buckeyes to win that honor twice.

[sup]4[/sup] Both amateur and professional athletes were considered for this award; by way of comparison, the 1954 winner was Willie Mays, and the 1956 winner was Mickey Mantle - pretty good company.

[sup]5[/sup] Cassady was #1 on the list until he was surpassed by Jim Otis in 1969.

[sup]6[/sup] Only players with over 2,000 yards rushing are ranked. Some other notables include: Archie Griffin (6.05); Robert Smith (6.00); Maurice Clarett (5.57); Eddie George (5.52); Antonio Pittman (5.29); Keith Byars (5.17).

[sup]7[/sup] Cassady was #1 on the list until surpassed by Archie Griffin in 1974.

[sup]8[/sup] Cassady was #1 on both lists until surpassed by Pete Johnson in 1975.​

I know that Cassady's numbers may not look all that spectacular today, when top running backs routinely rush for 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns in a single season, but the game really was different back then. And for his era, Hop was one of (if not the) very best.

Voted for Cassady, Gamble and Ginn, the latter two because I didn't recognize any of the older names. Woody Hayes coached Janowicz during his senior year. I think he should be included because he played in 1951. From what I hear, he was spectacular. Great runner, passed, place kicker and punter. Played safety on D and an outstanding blocker. Who can forget his field goal in the snow bowl, with the swirling wind. There is not a single player in all of college football that could've made that field goal. That turned out to be the only offensive scoring in that game. He is my favorite all-time buckeye, and arguably the greatest buckeye of all time. Since he played in 1951, he MUST be included in this list.

He played two seasons prior to Woody, and one season with Woody; and he won his Heisman prior to Woody; so he counts as "pre-Woody". Sorry - gotta draw the line somewhere.

edit: sorry for the rant. But Janowicz was just truly spectacular. I just can't imagine any all-buckeye team without him.

You'll get your chance to vote for Vic in the "old timers" category.

 

[ant80]

He played two seasons prior to Woody, and one season with Woody; and he won his Heisman prior to Woody; so he counts as "pre-Woody". Sorry - gotta draw the line somewhere.

Grumble grumble... He should've been there.

You'll get your chance to vote for Vic in the "old timers" category.

I am counting on it...

 

[Yertle]

In my opinion, Cassady and Warfield are gimmies. Then it's seems like it's down to Ginn and Gamble.

Ginn loses points in this category for the "multi-player-ness" of his positions. Gamble's WR/DB is FAR more impressive than Ginn's WR/PR/KR positions. I'd take Ginn in a straight-up draft, but with this category, you have to give the nod to Gamble.

Gamble played 120+ plays, to Ginn's 70 (with 5-10 being the kick/punt return position). Crazy. Insane.

 

[LitlBuck]

I took Cassady, Ginn and Warfield but after reading some of these posts I would have taken Gamble over Warfield. Warfield's skills were not highly used when he was at Ohio State.

I did not take Elia because I did see him play but he never really stood out.

 

[UpNorthBuckeye]

okay, I'm not gonna vote, because I don't want to leave anyone off.

Here's a couple names for you, though:

Rod Gerald - starting quarterback next year, switched to WR his senior year to give way to Art Schlichter (who promptly lost his first game, 19-0, to Penn State!).

How about Whaley, our current lineman/fullback?

 

[bassbuckeye07]

No Steve Luke? Started a rose bowl at center and finished his career at tOSU as a strong safety then played ss for Greenbay for 7 years. Center to safety... now thats range baby

 

[Yertle]

How about Whaley, our current lineman/fullback?

As one of the greatest ever? Um, no.

 

[Zurp]

I picked Cassady and Gamble. Both easy. Cassady played RB and DB, if I remember correctly, and he has/had some record for interceptions. And he won a Heisman. Kick-ass. Gamble comes in as a wide receiver, plays well enough to start, and then he moves over to ALSO play DB and help shore up a weak point in an already awesome defense. No question he's in my top 2.

Between Ginn and Warfield, I went with Warfield. I thought that playing RB and WR was more variety than playing WR and kick/punt returner. A lot of receivers also return kicks. Nothing special in that aspect. (However, I've never seen someone return kicks and punts better than Ginn did, so he gets some points there to make it close.) I gave it to Warfield.

 

[GoodLifeSean]

I had to go with Cassidy, Warfield, and Ginn... Ginn/Gamble was a toughie and though I can see the point that Gamble played DB and WR, Ginn was a player that had to be acounted for and could change the way an opponent would play thier kick game.