« Reply #668 on: September 03, 2025, 08:43:22 PM »
Well I mean Anthony Carter averaged almost 20 yards a catch for his career, had 33 TD receptions, 1 rushing TD, and 2 return TD's. Dude was a highlight reel in an era where WRs were allowed to be mugged and no one threw the ball around the lot.
As far as pure WR goes though, you're probably right. Edwards was 6'3 ish and 210 pounds- big physical and fast- just a phenomenal talent. Edwards is a pretty giant douchebag though and lot of Michigan fans don't really like him. And he also wasted his talent in the NFL- he had a really good NFL career- not a great one like his talent suggests he should've had.
Edwards had HOF talent- he was however a lazy alcoholic egomaniac douchebag who was more concerned with being a celebrity and partying than he was with being a great football player. If he worked half as hard at football as he did partying and trying to hit on Rihanna and beat up LeBron James' friends at night clubs he'd have been one of the greats in the NFL.
You're also right about Desmond Howard, he gets downgraded too much because well he was a major flop as a WR in the NFL.
Part of why I made the comment of Edwards supplanting Carter is that I think we all tend to do that. Once a recent guy reaches a certain level of greatness, he sort of replaces the old-school great. He's more recent and thus more relevant and in more people's purviews. Older generations tend to leave the public discourse and eventually move on, while the younger generations are more populous, plugged-in, and out there.
For Florida, Danny Wuerffel was the be-all, end-all for great QB play. Stats, success, and a Heisman will do that. It took Tebow to come along to eclipse Wuerffel's star. Wuerffel still did what he did and was an all-time great college QB. But his career is going on 30 years ago.
This probably doesn't work for have-not programs....but it may with any program with a pulse.
Maybe Red Grange is still THE guy for Illinois. Maybe Nile Kinnick is for Iowa...but how much of that is the stadium being named after him? What % of Iowa fans could pick Kinnick out of a lineup? What % of Iowa students could?
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