Building the RTR 200: Who are the best Clemson football players of all-time?

As I sat down to begin compiling an updated list of the best Clemson Tiger football players of all-time for Rubbing The Rock, I wrote down the names that stood out to me from my four decades as a Clemson fan.

Those four decades started when I was six years old. It started on January 1, 1982. I walked into my living room to find my Dad watching this sport where the players were wearing these weird gladiator outfits with helmets. They looked like giants.

One of the teams was wearing all orange gear. He explained that was a team from the state we lived in called Clemson. It was the Orange Bowl against Nebraska when Clemson won their first national championship.

My fandom was sealed when a friend at school had handstamps. He told me to choose between the Dallas Cowboys or the Clemson Tigers stamp. I went Clemson and it was the best choice I ever made.

In all honesty, I have no idea if all of that is true. I have no clue what game I actually saw in our living room, but I was 5 or 6 years old, the timing is pretty close, Clemson doesn’t wear orange pants that often and the story sounds good, so that is the way I tell it. The handstamp part is 100% fact.

The reason I tell this story is to explain that I have watched a metric ton of Clemson football, but I’m not an encyclopedia.

After I wrote down all the names I remembered, I started doing research. I quickly realized I had missed a lot of names. I tried to learn what I could about each player to make sure my recollection of their playing days was realistic. I looked up some names and realized they didn’t quite have the impact that I remember from 25 years ago. I had forgotten how good some other names were. Not to mention there were about 8 decades of Clemson football before I was ever born.

I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it would be. So, what is this list based on? What are the criteria?

I am basing this list on each player’s career as a football player at Clemson. I am doing my best to separate that from other factors, such as NFL careers. Player A might have a much better NFL career than Player B, but if their college careers are comparable, you will likely see them ranked very closely, with Player B possibly listed ahead.

There are other examples of players who played multiple sports while they were at Clemson, or coached football after their playing careers were over, perhaps at Clemson. I am also trying to separate their careers playing college football from those achievements as well.

Statistics are important, but I don’t always have all the numbers that I would like to consider. We only must go back about fifteen years before record-keeping online becomes spotty. Players from the latter-half of the 20th century can often have very incomplete records. Their statistics may exist somewhere, but I couldn’t find them. I might have some players ranked based on an eye-popping statistic, but because I couldn’t find more information, they might be ranked much lower than they probably should be.

Achievements, such as induction to the College Football Hall Of Fame, All-American status, player awards/finalists & Clemson records definitely carry weight. Honors help us understand how the world outside of Clemson respected some of these players. Clemsontigers.com has a very nice list of all the Clemson players who were named to a post-season All-America team.

In the end, I am using the precedent set by the College Football Playoff committee: I balance the different variables in the manner that seems to make the most sense to me at the time I evaluate them, and then I put them in order. It isn’t any fancier than that, and if you question my decision, I will give you coach speak that will make every CFP committee chairperson jealous.

It’s hard the gauge exactly how one should rank an offensive lineman against a quarterback. Obviously, the quarterback is the most important position on the team, and most impactful to overall success. How impactful is the best offensive tackle when compared to the quarterbacks? Comparable to the third-best quarterback? Fifth? Tenth?

Popularity is a consideration. Some players make their mark in a single season, or single game. Sometimes a key moment or two can define a career. I am trying to distinguish popularity as a Clemson football player from popularity accomplished from an NFL or coaching career. On the other hand, I am not knocking any players down a rung or two because they weren’t a “celebrity”. Hog mollies deserve recognition too.

Special teams accomplishments definitely boost a player’s profile as well, but I tend to lean towards the player’s primary role on offense or defense as the main component on which I base their ranking.

When it comes to active players, I am also using the CFP committee as a guide: I only consider their accomplishments to date – no projecting. Most active players don’t make the cut because they are being compared to players who have completed their careers. Hint: there is only one active player ranked in the RTR 200, not including the honorable mentions listed in this piece. See if you can guess who it is.

It is obviously subjective, and it isn’t likely any two lists of this sort would be identical. There are some guys that are usually rated very high on similar lists that aren’t quite as high on this one. There are some guys ranked rather high that don’t normally get their due because they weren’t always the focus of the camera. As this list is gradually released, I am certain you will see rankings that you will disagree with. There will be names missing that you think should be there.

You will be right. You all will be right. I’m no Tim Bourret.

There are some names that aren’t in the RTR 200 that deserve an honorable mention and here they are: