Ad Disclosure
LSU has arguably become college football’s greatest factory for producing NFL talent in recent seasons. The names on the list are far to long to list here but of the many former Bayou stars to make it to the league, which ones were the best NFL players?
After ranking the best NFL players from Tennessee on Monday, NFL.com released a ranking of the best professional Tigers of all-time Wednesday.
Jim Taylor
One of the stalwarts of Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers dynasty came from LSU. Without Taylor rushing the ball, the team’s patented “Packers Sweep” would not have been nearly as effective and as powerful of a weapon on NFL defenses.
The NFL’s reasoning behind the pick:
Taylor was a part of four of the five Packers teams that won championships in the 1960s. A romping, stomping fullback for Vince Lombardi’s power-sweeping Packers teams, Taylor won the rushing title in 1962, the only year in which Jim Brown didn’t lead the league in rushing during his legendary nine-year career.
Y.A. Tittle
A candidate for best name in football history, Tittle’s record mark of seven passing touchdowns in an NFL game, set on October 28, 1962, stands to this very day. Tittle is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The NFL’s reasoning behind the pick:
Known by many as being the subject of one of the most memorable sports photographs in American history, Tittle was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection.
Steve Van Buren
Named as an All-Pro five times, Van Buren was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame.
The NFL’s reasoning behind the pick:
Van Buren — the first first-round draft selection out of LSU — was a four-time NFL rushing leader and the first running back to achieve three consecutive rushing titles. Van Buren was a central figure in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 1948 NFL Championship win in a blizzard.
Alan Faneca
One of the best offensive linemen in NFL history, Faneca was twice named NFL offensive lineman of the year (2004 and 2008) as well as being named to the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team.
The NFL’s reasoning behind the pick:
Faneca played for 13 seasons in the trenches, and earned nine Pro Bowl nods in the process. He was also selected to the NFL’s 2000s all-decade team.
According to the NFL, LSU has sent a total of 327 draft selection to the NFL, 38 first-round picks and three players to the NFL Hall of Fame (Taylor, Tittle, Van Buren).
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
