In LastWordOnSports.com’s on-going Mount Rushmore series, we take a look at four of Pitt’s greatest players.
The Steelers aren’t the only football team in Pittsburgh with multiple championships and a historic legacy.
The Pittsburgh Panthers at one time were a college football powerhouse. Starting in the early 1900s, while being coached by the godfather of football Glenn “Pop” Warner, the Panthers won the first three of their nine claimed national titles. Jock Sutherland would add five more in the 1930s and in 1976, Johnny Majors would lead Pitt to is ninth National Championship after a undefeated 12-0 season. All together, the Panthers are recognized by the NCAA as having a total of 11 Championships, tying them for eighth most among FBS teams.
Along with its mid-20th century dominance, Pittsburgh has produced legendary players at the collegiate level that have gone on to leave lasting legacies in the NFL as well. The four we selected as Pitt’s greatest players were just as dominate at their respective positions while setting the standard for college football players for years to come.
Pittsburgh Panthers Football Mount Rushmore
Mike Ditka, Tightend (1958-1960)
The legendary Bears player and coach was a three-sport athlete for the Panthers, playing baseball and basketball in addition to football, where he also served as punter and played on the defensive line. As a three year starter, Ditka led the Panthers in receiving yards every year, ending his career with 45 receptions for 730 yards and seven touchdowns. A consensus first team All-American in 1960, Ditka finished sixth in that year’s Heisman voting. Ditka’s place as one of Pitt’s greatest players was cemented by his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame only eight years after his final season. His jersey number 89 was retired and now hangs in Heinz Field.
Ditka would go on to be drafted in the Top 10 of both the 1961 NFL and AFL Draft by the Chicago Bears (fifth overall) and the Houston Oilers (eighth overall), respectively. He would earn Rookie of the Year honors with twelve receiving touchdowns, which still stand as a Bears’ rookie record. Ditka would make five consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl and an NFL Championship in 1963. The final six years of his career were spent with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys with whom he would win Super Bowls VI and XII. In 1988, he would become the first tight end to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and his number 89 was retired by the Bears.
Tony Dorsett, Runningback (1973-1976)
The 1976 Heisman Trophy winner is widely considered one of the greatest college football players of all-time and without a doubt is THE greatest player in Pitt history.
After a stellar career at nearby Hopewell High School, Dorsett was was the first freshman in nearly 30 years to be named an All-American, a feat he would accomplish every year of his career. His arrival on campus immediately changed the fortunes of the Pitt program, giving the Panthers their first winning season in a decade. His 1,586 rushing yards would set a NCAA freshman record, and he would rush for over 1,000 yards every year of his career. He still holds the Pitt record for most rushing yards in a season (2,150), career (6,526), and total touchdowns (59). His rushing total stood as the most all-time for 22 years and is currently second in NCAA career rushing yards. In 1976, he would become the first Pitt player to win the Heisman Trophy in addition to the Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards while guiding Pitt to its first National Championship in 39 years. His #33 was the first number to ever be retired by the Panthers and a road near the stadium is named after him.
Dorsett would be drafted second overall by the Dallas Cowboys and would play twelve years in the NFL. His legend in the NFL was cemented with his record setting 99-yard touchdown running on Monday Night Football in 1983. He sits eighth on the NFL’s all-time rushing list with 12,739 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994 and the College Football Hall of Fame that same year.
Hugh Green, Defensive End (1977-1980)
A three-time consensus first-team All-American from 1978-1980, Green is another one of Pitt’s greatest players from their last era of dominance in the late 70s. He would appear in every game during his career totaling 460 tackles, 53 sacks and 24 forced fumbles which still stand as team records. In 1980, he would win the Walter Camp, Maxwell, and Lombardi Awards while being named Player of the Year by The Sporting News and UPI while leading Pitt to a No. 2 finish in both the AP and Coaches Poll. Green would become the closet primary defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy, finishing second to South Carolina’s George Rogers and above Georgia’s Herschel Walker. His jersey was retired during his last game in 1980, and he would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Green was the seventh overall pick of the 1981 NFL Draft by the fledgling Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He would play a total of ten years in the NFL earning All-Rookie honors in 1981 and All-Pro honors in 1982 & 1983. After a near fatal car accident in 1984, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins were he was teammates with another one of Pitt’s greatest players, Dan Marino.
Larry Fitzgerald, Wide Receiver (2002-2003)
Though he only played two seasons for the Panthers, Fitzgerald is Pitt’s greatest player in recent memory.
After transferring from Valley Forge Military Academy, Fitzgerald was an integral part of Pitt’s revival in the early 2000s. His 1,000 receiving yards in 2002 set a Pitt freshman record, recently broken by Tyler Boyd in 2013. In 2003, he lead the nation in receiving yards (1,672) and touchdowns (22) earning him the 2003 Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football. In addition to winning the 2003 Walter Camp Award, Fitzgerald would finish second in Heisman Voting, losing to Oklahoma’s Jason White by a slim 128-point margin. His jersey #1 was retired by Pitt in 2013.
Drafted third overall in the 2004 NFL Draft, Fitzgerald has spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals and will go down as one of their all-time greatest players as well. He holds every Cardinal receiving record and can potentially finish his career within the NFL’s top-ten career receiving yards.
Pitt’s Standard of College Football Excellence
Like the Steelers in the NFL, Pittsburgh’s greatest players are some of the greatest players in college football history. Just like their pro counterpart, the history of Pitt football is deep and has produced so many legendary players there wasn’t enough room on the mountainside to include them such as Mark May and Marino just to name a few. Though no longer the powerhouse they once were, the accomplishments of the Pitt program and its greatest players will live on as the standard of excellence in the sport of college football.
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