As part of the continuing series of Last Word on Sports looking at the greatest football players at each school, today the focus is on the Ole Miss Rebels. The Rebels football program began on November 11, 1893 with a 56-0 win over Southwest Baptist University of Jackson, Tennessee.
Over the next 122 years the Rebels program has claimed three national championships (1959,1960 and 1962) and won six SEC titles, the last coming in 1962. They also won the SEC West title in 2003.
There have been many great players and coaches to come through Oxford over the years but who are the best of the best.
Ole Miss Football’s Mount Rushmore
Archie Manning- QB 1968-1970- You can’t talk about Ole Miss football without talking about the Manning family and who better to begin the list than the patriarch of arguably the most famous family in football history.
In his three years at Ole Miss, Manning set every passing record possible at the school finishing as the all-time leader in passing yards (5,576) and total touchdowns (56). He still holds the school record for passing yards in a game with 436 in a 33-32 loss to Alabama which was the first ever televised prime time college football game in 1969.
He was the only quarterback named to the All-SEC 50th Anniversary team and finished third in the Heisman voting in 1970. He was taken as the second pick of the 1971 NFL draft by New Orleans and went on to a 14-year career. Manning was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Eli Manning- QB 2000-2003– After Peyton Manning spurned Ole Miss to play at Tennessee, younger brother Eli decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. In his four years, Manning set or tied 47 single-game, season or career records. His 10,119 yards were the most in school history and ranks 8th in SEC history. His 81 touchdowns rank him sixth in SEC history.
Manning won the Johnny Unitas Award for the nation’s top quarterback and finished third in the Heisman trophy voting behind winner Jason White of Oklahoma and Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh. He was the first pick of the 2004 draft by San Diego and famously refused to play for the Chargers, eventually being traded to the New York Giants for Phillip Rivers.
In his 11-year NFL career Manning has led the Giants to two Super Bowl wins, and is one of five players to be named MVP twice. He holds almost every passing record for the team and is one of four quarterbacks to throw for over 44,000 yards, 290 touchdowns, win two Super Bowls and be selected to four Pro Bowls. The others are Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and Tom Brady.
John Vaught- Coach 1947-1970- The Rebels claimed all six of their SEC titles and three national championships during Vaught’s 24 years in Oxford. Vaught went 160-61-12 in his years at Ole Miss taking the Rebels to 18 bowl games and had only one losing season.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and three years later the school renamed the football stadium Hemingway, to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in is honor.
Frank “Bruiser” Kinard- T 1935-1937- Kinard was a two-time All-American and is considered one of the greatest lineman in the history of college football. He was taken in the third round of the 1938 NFL Draft and was named to the Pro Bowl five times in nine years of playing pro football. He later returned to Oxford and was offensive line coach for the Rebels from 1948-1970 and then Athletic Director from 1971-73. Kinard was a charter member of the College Hall of Fame in 1951 and he was inducted in the Pro Hall in 1970.
Now looking at the four who didn’t quite make the list.
Patrick Willis- LB- 2003-2006- Willis was the most honored defensive player in the history of Ole Miss football. He was a two-time All-American and won the Butkus and Lombardi awards in 2006. He was taken in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and was named to seven Pro Bowls in eight seasons.
After struggling with a toe injury for most of the 2014 season Willis retired from the NFL at age 30 on March 30, 2015.
Deuce McAllister- RB 1997-2000- When McAllister finished his playing career he held school records for yards (3,020), touchdowns (37) as well as touchdowns in a season (14.) McAllister was taken in the first round of the 2001 draft by the New Orleans Saints and went on to play eight years in the NFL. He holds the Saints career records for rushing yards and touchdowns. He also led the NFC in rushing in 2002 and was a member of the Super Bowl champion team in 2010 after being re-signed as an honorary captain.
Charlie Conerly- QB/RB 1946-1947- Conerly was a running back who also did the passing for the Rebels. In the 1947 season he led Ole Miss to their first SEC title, scored 29 touchdowns and finished fourth in the Heisman voting. He played 13 seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants leading them to the 1956 title and was named NFL MVP in 1959. His number 42 jersey was retired by the club and was inducted into their Ring of Honor in 2010
Conerly was inducted in the College Hall of Fame in 1966 and spent his later years portraying the Marlboro Man in television commercials.
Roy Lee “Chucky” Mullins- DB 1988-1989- Even though Mullins may not have been one of the best players in school history, almost every discussion of the history of Ole Miss football includes him. Mullins was injured in the homecoming game of 1988 when a head-first tackle against Vanderbilt shattered four vertebrae and left him paralyzed. He began rehabilitation and vowed to return to school, which he did in January of 1991. Four months later he suffered a pulmonary embolism and died on May 6.
In 1990 the school started the “Chucky Mullins Courage Award” given annually to a football player and retired his number 38 in 2006 making Mullins and Archie Manning the only players to have their jersey retired.
In 2014 Mullins was the subject of an SEC Storied documentary called “It’s Time.”
