{"id":88634,"date":"2026-06-29T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=88634"},"modified":"2026-06-29T01:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:09:24","slug":"61-days-away-from-college-football-kickoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/06\/29\/61-days-away-from-college-football-kickoff\/","title":{"rendered":"61 Days Away From College Football Kickoff"},"content":{"rendered":"
We are 61 days away from college football kickoff. Happy Monday. \u00a0Let’s kick off another new week. And drum roll please…… another number down on the countdown<\/a>. \u00a0Today, we have Joe Steffy from Army, Jim Lynch from Notre Dame, and Zeke Smith from Auburn. Are you enjoying the countdown so far? Have you learned anything new from these cool stories? <\/span>Be sure to check back tomorrow for #60 in our countdown to kickoff<\/a>. Have a great week y’all.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

Joe Steffy (<\/span>61) Days Away From College Football Kickoff<\/h2>\n

A Decorated Cadet<\/h3>\n
\n
Joe Steffy played football at both the University of Tennessee and West Point. After finishing high school in Chattanooga, he joined the University of Tennessee and was part of the 1944 team that went to the Rose Bowl. He was then appointed to the United States Military Academy. \u00a0In his three years on varsity, Steffy helped the Black Knights achieve a 23-2-3 record and win national championships in 1945 and 1946. He played on the offensive line that cleared the way for Heisman Trophy winners Felix “Doc” Blanchard in 1945 and Glenn Davis in 1946.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In 1947, Steffy finished his career by winning the Outland Trophy, given to the best college football lineman. That year, he was also the team captain and earned first-team All-American honors as a guard.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After graduating from West Point, Steffy served in the Army for five years. He fought in the Korean War, earned the Bronze Star Medal, was wounded, and received the Purple Heart. Steffy also worked as an aide to General “Iron Mike” O’Daniel.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After his Army service, he coached at West Point for five years and then started his own business in Newburgh, New York.<\/span><\/div>\n
Steffy was the only Army player to win the Outland Trophy.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another Great # 61, Jim Lynch, Notre Dame<\/b><\/h3>\n
Jim Lynch<\/a> had an outstanding senior season in 1966. As team captain, he was named a unanimous First Team All-America linebacker and led Notre Dame to a national championship. That year, he made 106 tackles and won the Maxwell Award as the nation’s top college football player.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nLynch was not only a standout on the field, but also excelled academically. In 1966, he was named an Academic All-American and an NFF National Scholar-Athlete.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nLynch anchored two of Notre Dame\u2019s strongest defenses in 1965 and 1966. He also led the team in tackles in 1965, finishing with 108.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nAfter college, Lynch played 11 seasons in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967 to 1977. He helped the team win a Super Bowl in 1969 and was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1990.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nWhile still playing in the NFL in 1973, Lynch co-founded D. Thomas and Associates, a food brokerage company focused on packaging technology. He stayed with the company for the rest of his professional life.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

One More Great #61 Zeke Smith, Auburn<\/h3>\n
\n
Roger Duane Smith got the nickname “Zeke” from his high school coach, who said he ran like the pro quarterback Zeke Bratkowski. He grew up in Uniontown, Alabama, and at Auburn, he played both offense and defense like the rest of his team.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In 1958, Smith won the Outland Trophy as the best lineman in the country. Auburn has always remembered what he achieved. Every year, the team gives the Zeke Smith Award to its top defensive player.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Editor’s Note: The countdown to college football kickoff has been a series on the Last Word on College Football social media platforms for the past 9 years. \u00a0They consisted of a photo and a small blurb for each player, with the jersey corresponding to the number of days until kickoff. \u00a0The rank of the players is sourced from articles by Bleacher Report, Fox Sports, and The Athletic. There are also some favorite players of the Last Word on College Football writers. \u00a0Their bios are sourced from multiple online sources, including but not limited to the College Football Hall of Fame, their Heisman profiles, and school websites.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Main Photo: Army Football<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are 61 days away from college football kickoff. Happy Monday. \u00a0Let’s kick off another new week. And drum roll please…… another number down on the countdown. \u00a0Today, we have Joe Steffy from Army, Jim Lynch from Notre Dame, and Zeke Smith from Auburn. Are you enjoying the countdown so far? Have you learned anything […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1643,"featured_media":88682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9,8],"tags":[32656,8568,4922,6708],"class_list":["post-88634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-americanathletic","category-fbs","tag-army","tag-army-football","tag-maxwell-award","tag-outland-trophy"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1643"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88634"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88687,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88634\/revisions\/88687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}