CFB150 Greatest Players in History | Ceremony Video | Photos
ESPN unveiled college football's Top 11 players in history during Monday's CFP Championship Game in New Orleans, with Fighting Illini legends Red Grange and Dick Butkus both cracking the top-10. Grange was named the No. 6 player of all time, while Butkus came in at No. 8. Illinois is the only school to have two players among the sport's Top 11.
The Top 11 were revealed with a special, on-field ceremony at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome during halftime of the Clemson-LSU national championship game, culminating the sport's year-long initiative recognizing 150 years of college football.
Illinois is the only program with two players among the top 11 greatest players of all time. Grange and Butkus each have a statue outside Memorial Stadium and they remain the only two football players to have their numbers retired at Illinois – Grange's famed No. 77 and Butkus' No. 50.
RB RED GRANGE | No. 6
Harold E. "Red" Grange is one of football's all-time greats, and arguably the game's greatest all-time offensive player. He is a charter member of the Pro (1963) and College (1951) Football Halls of Fame. Grange's most memorable performance came Oct. 18, 1924, when he scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes vs. Michigan in the Memorial Stadium dedication game. Later in the same game, he ran for a fifth touchdown and threw for a sixth. Nicknamed the "Wheaton Iceman" and "Galloping Ghost," he left Illinois to play pro football with the Chicago Bears under former Fighting Illini George Halas. He was an All-American in each of his three seasons with Illinois and won the 1924 Silver Football Award as the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player, the first recipient of the award.
Grange was named to The Sporting News All-Time Team, the Big Ten Diamond Anniversary Team, the Walter Camp All-Century Team and the UI All-Century Team. In 2010, he was named the No. 1 Icon in Big Ten history by the Big Ten Network, and in 2020 he was named the No. 6 player in college football history as part of college football's 150th anniversary.
ESPN.com on Grange
Nearly a century later, Grange's first-quarter performance against Michigan in 1924 remains unmatched: In the dedication game of Memorial Stadium on the Illinois campus, Grange returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. In the next 10 minutes, he ran for scores of 67, 56 and 44 yards. He finished with five touchdowns and threw for a sixth. Grantland Rice bestowed Grange with the nickname "the Galloping Ghost." Illinois coach Bob Zuppke, late in his career, told Rice, "I will never have another Grange. But neither will anybody else." Grange was a three-time consensus All-American and in the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame class.
LB DICK BUTKUS | No. 8
Dick Butkus remains the standard to which all linebackers are compared. He played two All-America seasons in 1963 and 1964 before enjoying a Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears, where he was a six-time All-Pro selection. Butkus finished third in the 1964 Heisman Trophy voting and has college football's annual award for the outstanding collegiate linebacker named after him. He had his jersey, No. 50, retired at Illinois in 1986, joining Grange as the only two Illinois football players to have their number retired. Butkus helped lead the Fighting Illini to a 1964 Rose Bowl victory over Washington. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors twice and was awarded the 1963 Silver Football Award as the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player. Butkus finished his career with 374 tackles. His 145 stops in 1963 stood as the school record until 1976. He was named the 1964 Player of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.
Butkus was named to the Big Ten Diamond Anniversary Team in 1970, The Sporting News College Coaches All-Time Team, the Walter Camp All-Century Team and the University of Illinois All-Century Team. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. In 2010 he was named the No. 6 Big Ten Icon in the history of the conference by the Big Ten Network, and in 2020 he was named the No. 8 player in college football history as part of college football's 150th anniversary.
ESPN.com on Butkus
Legendary sports writer Dan Jenkins once wrote that if every college football team had a linebacker like Butkus, "all fullbacks would soon be 3 feet tall and sing soprano." Few linebackers hit as hard or as often as Butkus, a two-time All-American at Illinois. He was named the Big Ten's MVP in 1963 and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting the next year. Against Ohio State in 1963, Butkus made 23 tackles, a school record at the time. In 1985, a trophy awarded to the best linebacker in college football was named in his honor.
