{"id":88901,"date":"2026-07-07T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=88901"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T22:40:08","slug":"53-days-away-from-college-football-kickoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/07\/07\/53-days-away-from-college-football-kickoff\/","title":{"rendered":"53 Days Away From College Football Kickoff"},"content":{"rendered":"
We are 53 days away from college football kickoff<\/a>. We are cruising through July. \u00a0Today, we have Randy Gradishar, Jerry Tubbs, and <\/span><\/span>Ray Childress. \u00a0Be sure to check back tomorrow for #52 in our countdown<\/a> to kickoff. Enjoy!<\/span><\/div>\n

Randy Gradishar (<\/b>53) Days Away From College Football Kickoff<\/h2>\n
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Randy Gradishar<\/a> was named All-America linebacker in both 1972 and 1973, earning unanimous honors in his second year. He started for Ohio State for three years, during which the team posted a 25-6-1 record, won two Big 10 championships, and split two Rose Bowl games. Ohio State finished No. 9 in the Associated Press poll in 1972 and No. 2 in 1973. Gradishar was also named Academic All-America in 1973 and was later elected to the GTE Academic Hall of Fame in 1992. Ohio State’s director of athletics, Ed Weaver, said, “No more outstanding young man has participated in our athletic program.” Gradishar was 6-foot-3, weighed 236 pounds, and went on to have a successful professional career. He played ten seasons for the Denver Broncos from 1974 to 1983 and was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times.<\/span><\/p>\n

He now serves as president of the Phil Long Community Fund, a non-profit that supports young people by promoting self-esteem and leadership through education, sports, and recreation. Gradishar is also a member of the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame, the Ohio State Varsity Hall of Fame, and the Ohio State All-Century Team. In 1998, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Another Great #53, Jerry Tubbs, Oklahoma<\/h3>\n
Jerry Tubbs<\/a> spent three varsity seasons at Oklahoma, where the Sooners won every game, finishing 31-0. He started as a fullback in 1954, averaging six yards per carry. In 1955, Coach Bud Wilkinson switched him to center, which became his main position. Tubbs also played linebacker and made three interceptions in a 1955 win over Texas. In 1956, Tubbs was a unanimous All-America center and was named Lineman of the Year by three organizations. <\/span><\/div>\n
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\u00a0Tubbs earned a degree in economics from Oklahoma and was named a 1956 Academic All-America. During his three varsity years, Oklahoma went 10-0, 11-0, and 10-0. The 1954 team finished third in the Associated Press and United Press polls, while the 1955 and 1956 teams were national champions. Oklahoma played one bowl game in those years, with the 1955 team defeating Maryland 20-6 in the Orange Bowl.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Tubbs went on to play 11 years as a linebacker for the Chicago Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys from 1957 to 1967. After his playing days, he spent 21 years as an assistant coach with the Cowboys.<\/span><\/div>\n

One More Great #53, Ray Childress, Texas A&M<\/h3>\n
When Ray Childress<\/a> was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, he held the record for most tackles (360) by any lineman in Texas A&M football history. By the end of his college career, Childress ranked second all-time in career sacks with 25 and second in single-season sacks with 15 in 1983. As team captain in 1984, he was credited by his coach, Jackie Sherrill, with changing the team’s attitude and culture during his senior year. \u00a0 <\/span>Thanks to the foundation Childress built, the Aggies went on to win ten games in 1985. Childress was a two-time All-SWC pick, earned AP Player of the Week honors twice, and helped the Aggies defeat Oklahoma State in the 1981 Independence Bowl.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Childress was selected as the third overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft. He spent 11 seasons with the Houston Oilers and finished his career with the Dallas Cowboys. Childress earned first-team All-Pro honors five times and was chosen for the Pro Bowl five times. While he was with Houston, the team made the playoffs for seven consecutive years. In 2008, he was inducted into the State of Texas Sports Hall of Fame.<\/span><\/div>\n
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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.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Main Photo: Ohio State Athletics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are 53 days away from college football kickoff. We are cruising through July. \u00a0Today, we have Randy Gradishar, Jerry Tubbs, and Ray Childress. \u00a0Be sure to check back tomorrow for #52 in our countdown to kickoff. Enjoy! Randy Gradishar (53) Days Away From College Football Kickoff Randy Gradishar was named All-America linebacker in both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1643,"featured_media":88918,"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":[5,2,35609,35581,3,35575],"tags":[36114],"class_list":["post-88901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","category-ohio-state-buckeyes","category-oklahoma-sooners","category-sec","category-texas-am-aggies","tag-countdown-to-kickoff"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88901","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=88901"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88921,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88901\/revisions\/88921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}