It has been an awesome G.O.A.T. week here at SpartansWire, where we have been ranking Greatest of All-Time in a number of different categories in the history of Michigan State Football. Today, we continue our G.O.A.T. series by ranking the greatest defensive players in program history.
In case you missed them, here are the other posts from G.O.A.T. week:
Extremely Honorable Mentions
I wanted to dedicate this page to a few guys who are going to fall outside my criteria for the list as I am focusing on just the past forty years for my ranking. Of course, Michigan State experienced its greatest period in program history before 1980 so there are some great players who won’t be making the main list. With this being such a large category, there’s a lot of players that won’t be making the cut, so direct your anger at our Facebook page comments section.
George Webster
Probably the best Michigan State football player of all-time. Sports Illustrated even had him on their All-Century team back in 1999. The two-time All-American was the second player in MSU history to get his number retired and he helped the Spartans win two titles in 1965 and 1966.
Bubba Smith
It’s pretty crazy that two of the top players in program history both played on the same defense, but that’s the kind of talent the ’65 and ’66 National Title teams were playing with. Bubba Smith, the #1 pick in the 1967 NFL Draft was a 6-foot-7 monster defensive end, two-time All-American, and, if you’ve seen Police Academy, he was also a movie star.
Brad Van Pelt
The star defensive back and 1971 and ’72 All-American was a unique and terrifying player. At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, he was huge for the safety position but he didn’t sacrifice any ball-hawk skills. He was just as adept at punishing running backs and QBs as he was at intercepting the football, finishing his career with 14 picks. He was great in the pros too, ending with five Pro Bowl selections.
Some other names that were considered:
- Renaldo Hill
- Trae Waynes
- Denicos Allen
- Jerel Worthy
- Max Bullough
- Phil Parker
- Carl Banks
- Larry Bethea
- Dan Bass
#5 Shilique Calhoun, Defensive End (2012-15)
Personal anecdote: Shilique Calhoun stopped and talked to me and my buddies one night while we were hanging outside of our house on Spartan Ave in East Lansing. I got a picture with him on a buddy’s phone but I have no clue what happened to it, but I digress.
Calhoun is currently second all-time in sacks at Michigan State behind only Larry Bethea. Calhoun was Dantonio’s most dominant pass rusher (although Kenny Willekes is making a push), a 3-time All-Big Ten appointee and the 2013 Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. Calhoun was a huge part of MSU’s 2013 Big Ten Championship.
#4 Greg Jones, Linebacker, 2007-10
Michigan State’s third All-Time leader in tackles started his career about as hot as any Spartan ever has. He was the first freshman to lead the team in tackles since Dan Bass in 1976. He led the team in tackles for the next two years straight.
Jones made First Team All-Big Ten each of his first three years, he was a consensus All-American in 2009 and ’10, and the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. While Jones failed to have a successful NFL career (he largely played in the CFL), he did start 5 games for the Super Bowl-winning 2011-12 New York Giants.
#3 Julian Peterson, Linebacker (1998-99)
This might be somewhat controversial given that Julian Peterson didn’t join MSU until his junior season after spending his first two years with Valley Forge Military Academy and College. But man, what an impact he had in two years.
He still holds the program record for career tackles-for-loss with 48 and the 30 he had in one season is still the single-season record. Think about that for a minute. He only played in East Lansing for two seasons and holds the program record for career tackles-for-loss. Absurd. Oh, and he also holds the record for most tackles-for-loss in a single game with seven.
Of course, Peterson rose to national prominence in the NFL after breaking out with the 49ers (who drafted him in the first round). He was a 5-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro in 11 seasons.
#2 Darqueze Dennard, cornerback (2010-13)
There is an argument that Dennard should be at the top of this list, and he might, in fact, be the best player Michigan State has had in the past 40 years. I actually had him in that position until about 15 minutes ago, so it’s really a toss-up between him and the #1 ranked player.
Dennard is the only MSU defensive back to win the Jim Thorpe Award for the best DB in college football and he was the full embodiment of the “No Fly Zone.” He was a two-time All-Big Ten appointee, the 2013 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and he was a consensus All-American in his senior year.
You won’t find Darqueze Dennard on the top-10 list of all-time interceptions for the Spartans, that would’ve required teams to actually throw the ball to the player he was guarding. Dennard didn’t allow enough separation for the guy to get open in the first place.
A physical player who could make tackles, Dennard was never supposed to be the player he became. A two-star wide receiver/cornerback out of Georgia, Dennard quickly emerged as one of the greatest defensive backs in the program’s history. He was a first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he still plays.
#1 Percy Snow, Middle Linebacker (1986-89)
We now conclude our list with the G.O.A.T. defensive player in MSU history: Percy Snow.
Snow was a nightmare for opposing ball-carriers in the ’80s and he is still ranked second in career tackles, and tackles in a season, in program history.
Aside from being a consensus All-American in 1989, he also won the Dick Butkus Award AND the Vince Lombardi Award that season. He is one of only four players to ever win both of those awards.
Aside from those accolades, here is the reason Percy Snow topped this list: the 1988 Rose Bowl. In one of the most historic performances in bowl game history, Percy Snow racked up 17 UNASSISTED TACKLES AND FOUR USC TURNOVERS. Snow was obviously named player of the game after MSU beat USC 20-17 and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
