By Paul M. Banks

On Saturday, Illinois tailback Rashard Mendenhall will become the first University of Illinois player taken in the first round since 1996. Twelve years ago, UI produced the #2 (Kevin Hardy taken by Jacksonville) and #3 overall (Simeon Rice drafted by Arizona) picks. Hard to believe that team went 5-5-1 with talent like that. With a 4.45 forty time, ideal size at 5’11” 225, a 33 ½ inch vertical and the only “negative” being only one year of “producing,” he’s the consensus number two running back available and ranks in the top overall of most players lists. His 1,700 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns his junior season are school records.  So Mendenhall is by far the best running back prospect to come out of Illinois since Harold “Red” Grange. The native of Skokie will burn by you, run through you and impress you with his name that sounds like it should belong to an English lord. Indeed. So if Mendenhall is to someday become the patriarch of orange and blue running backs in the pros, who currently sits above him in the hierarchy? The list isn’t very dynastic.
 

Pierre Thomas-
On December 30, 2007, in the Saints’ season finale, injuries had taken regular starters Deuce McAllister (out for the season after the 3rd game of the season against the Tennesse Titans), Reggie Bush, and Aaron Stecker out of the game. Thomas proved he could carry the load  and despite the Saints loss, Pierre made history that day. Not only did Pierre get his first NFL start in his hometown at Chicago’s Soldier Field against the Bears; he became the first Saints player to gain over 100 yards both rushing and receiving in the same game

Keith Jones-
Had some decent games with the Atlanta Falcons in 1980s.

Ty Douthard, Jameel Cook, Carey Davis, Jason Davis-
I probably wasted your time even bringing up their NFL careers. Rocky Harvey is currently a star with the Ft. Wayne Freedom.

Robert Holcombe-
The school’s all-time leading rusher had a fine seven year career as a fullback. In 1999, Holcombe won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams. He played four seasons for the Rams and led the way for NFL MVP Marshall Faulk. Finshed with just over a 1,100 career yards and 14 TDs.

Howard Griffith-
He ran for 8 touchdowns in the 1990 Illini preconference win over SIU. Record still stands to this day. He also converted to fullback in the pros. In 1997, Griffith joined the Denver Broncos and played five seasons for the Broncos, primarily as a blocking back for Terrell Davis. He didn’t get very many rushing attempts but was often used as a receiver out of the backfield, recording 27 receptions in 1996 and 26 in 1999. With the Broncos, Griffith won 2 Super Bowl rings. Griffith was a big contributor in the Broncos Super Bowl XXXIII win, scoring 2 rushing touchdowns in the game. While playing for the Denver Broncos, Howard earned the nickname The Human Plow due to his extremely successful blocking for Terrell Davis. He had a nice little career over 11 NFL seasons with 351 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns, along with 122 receptions for 844 yards and 9 touchdowns. He wrote a book and does public speaking engagements on business leadership. I wonder if he stresses the same methods of motivation and leadership that I did in the high school powder puff game. I was the senior girls’ secondary coach, and I trained and prepared my girls into a performance where they limited the juniors’ air attack to less than a 1/3 pass completion percentage. Maybe I should do lectures on leadership? Howard is now a Big Ten Network studio analyst.

Red Grange-
There is a reason that my Bears jersey is of #77 and I bought a leather helmet to make my 2006 Halloween costume, Red Grange. In 2008, he was named the greatest college football player of all time by ESPN. He was to pro football what Babe Ruth was to Major League Baseball. He earned All-America recognition three consecutive years, and appeared on the October 5, 1925, cover of Time. His number 77 was retired at the University of Illinois in 1925. It remains one of only two retired numbers in the history of University of Illinois football, the other being the number 50 (Dick Butkus.) This is the bar for Illini running backs. Rashard may easily be able to have the second greatest pro career that an ex-Illini ever had, but he would have to become a living legend to unseat the “Galloping Ghost” or “Wheaton Ice Man” as #1. 

   

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