In our ongoing Mount Rushmore series, we take a look at the history of the Maryland Terps football program and some of the best players to suit up for the Old Line State.
Maryland is a state with an identity crisis.
It’s geographically located in the south, but is referred to us in the Deep South as one of those “states up North.” It’s east coast is largely urban and heavily populated while sitting on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, but as I-70 West turns into I-68 the topography becomes isolated and mountainous. It’s most renowned resident, poet Edgar Allen Poe was as much of a divided individual himself; on one hand literary genius, on the other a tortured soul who could never seem to stay out of his own way. Not to turn this into an American Literature lecture, but there is more to Poe’s life than the story of him dying drunk and desolate on a Baltimore street.
So is the same for the Terps football program.
The Mount Rushmore of Maryland Terps Football
Though falling anywhere from a middle-of-the-road to bottom feeder team, Maryland is one of the few northern football programs on the East Coast (see above) to have an NCAA National Championship that is not apart of the Ivy League or Military Academies. Six players and coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and several have gone on to leave their mark in the NFL as well.
In our Mount Rushmore of Maryland football, we hope to showcase some of the greatest players from the Terps football program so that their history will be an afterthought, nevermore.
Bob Ward, Defensive Lineman (1948-1951)
Ward lettered four years for the Terps playing offensive guard and defensive line during the days of ironman football. Though small even by the day’s standards at 5’9”, 187 lbs., Ward was a dominate force on the football field. He was a captain on the 1951 National Championship team that outscored opponents 381-74, finishing the season undefeated at 10-0.
Ward would earn first-team All-American honors in 1950 and 1951 as a defensive lineman and offensive lineman respectively, becoming the only player to be named All-American at an offensive and defensive position. During his four years at Maryland he was named team MVP and would have his jersey #28 retired. He would go on to be inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the University of Maryland Hall of Fame in 1984.
Ward was a captain for the College All-Stars in the 1952 College All-Star game which was played against the NFL champion Los Angeles Rams. It would be the closet Ward would get to playing professionally, declining an offer to play professionally and instead he joined the Terps football staff as an assistant under his coach Jim Tatum. He was named head coach of his alma mater from 1967-1968 before resigning under controversy. He would spend the remainder of his coaching career in the CFL before retiring.
Former teammate Ed Modzelewski, who himself had a stellar career at Maryland before being drafted in the first round of the 1952 NFL Draft would remark on Ward; “I sill believe he was the greatest player, pound for pound, that I have seen in either pro or college ball.”
Randy White, Defensive Tackle (1971-1974)
One of the greatest players in the history of Delaware High School football, White would earn similar accolades at Maryland and in the NFL.
White first arrived on campus as a fullback but was converted to defensive end his sophomore year. By his senior year, White was proving to be a dominate force and one of the best at his position in the country. He would be named ACC Player of the Year in 1974 while winning the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. In his last game as a Terp, he was named MVP of the 1974 Liberty Bowl, despite a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Tennessee Volunteers.
White would be drafted second overall in the 1975 by the Dallas Cowboys where he was a stalwart of the defensive line for 14 years, appearing in all games but one. He would be named co-MVP of Supper Bowl XII and is a member of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. In 2004 he joined Stan Jones at the only Terps football players to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Norman “Boomer” Esiason, Quarterback (1981-1983)
Just as The Raven is to Poe, Esiason is to the Terps football program.
A three-year starter would be a two time All-American Honorable mention in 1982 & 1983. In 1983, Esiason led the Terps to their first conference title since 1976 while setting a school record with 2,322 yards passing. He would set a total of 17 schools records before leaving College Park and currently sits third and second all-time with 6259 passing yards and 42 career touchdowns respectively. In 2013 he was named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team, making him the final former player from Maryland to achieve the honor as the the Terps are now members of the Big Ten Conference.
Esiason would play 14 years in the NFL, most notably with the Cincinnati Bengals. He would be named MVP of the 1988 season as he guided the Bengals to their second and most recent Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXIII, a 20-16 loss the the San Francisco 49ers.
After his son Gunnar was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1993, Esiason started the Boomer Esiason Foundation to fund research for a cure as well as providing transplant grants and educational awareness programs. He currently serves as a studio analyst for The NFL Today on CBS.
E.J. Henderson, Linebacker (1999-2002)
The only local product to make our Mount Rushmore of Terps football, Henderson was a three-year starter for the Terps, leading the defense as the Terps advanced to their first and only BCS Bowl Game in the 2002 Orange Bowl against the Florida Gators.
Playing defensive end, Henderson would be named first-team All-ACC in 2001 & 2002 as well as being named ACC Defensive Player of the Year in those years as well. In 2001 he became Maryland’s first consensus first-team All-American in 16 years after registering 150 tackles, six sacks, and two blocked kicks. In 2002 he was again named first-team All-American and was awarded the Dick Butkus and Chuck Bednarik awards, recognizing him as the best linebacker and overall best defensive player for that season. In his final game in the 2002 Peach Bowl, Henderson recorded 12 tackles including four for a loss to give the Terps football program their first bowl victory since 1985 and first 11 win season since 1976 with a defeat of the Tennessee Volunteers 30-3.
Henderson would be drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2003 NFL Draft as the 40th overall pick. He was named Defensive MVP for the Vikings in 2007 and in 2009, he was selected by his teammates for the Ed Block Courage Award, which is voted on by the players for a teammate who “exemplifies commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.” After suffering a gruesome broken leg in 2009, Henderson was able to make a miraculous comeback and was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl. He currently works with the Vikings as the team’s Youth Football Manager, assisting with Vikings youth football programs in the Greater Minnesota area.
Its hard to pin down exactly what to make of 154 years of Terps football. Just like Poe in his early life, they’ve showed flashes of greatest and potential at various times, but also frustration at struggling to maintain consistency. There were times he and the Terps’ program seemed to have it all together, but for whatever reason it would ultimately be lost.
Poe was quoted as saying “I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.” The same can be said by any fan of Terps football, but as seen with our Mount Rushmore, those intervals of sanity have produced players who’s legacy will live on in the annals of college and Terps football history, just as The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Tell-tale Heart has in literature.
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