How high will Ty Detmer go?

ESPN has start a "Simply Saturday" countdown for football players best known what they did in college.



http://espn.go.com/ncf/feature/video/_/id/6681950/simply-saturday



50-41 are already up. Where do you think Detmer will end up? Any other cougars you think will make the list?

I was thinking Steve Young, but his biggest numbers were in the NFL. So many of our QB's started for only 2 years.

If Detmer isn't on the list yet, I really hope he is not on the list.



While his pro success pales in comparison to his college results, he did have a modest pro career.



He threw for over 6,000 yards, started several games, and even took his team to the playoffs.



There are easily 50 players who had great college careers and were more irrelevant than Detmer was in the NFL.

[quote="Y12"]If Detmer isn't on the list yet, I really hope he is not on the list.



So... you don't think that Detmer is higher than 40th of the all-time best players in College football? If I am correctly understanding what this list is, then no offense dude, but you are up in the night! He set all kinds of NCAA records and granted they threw the ball a lot but no one was even close until a I-AA player (McNair) and A guy in Timmy Chang who threw the ball way more than Detmer ever did broke his records. I think his records alone should put him in the top 25. I would say he belongs even higher but I don't want to show how much of a :crazy: cougar fan I am.

Detmer should be in the top 10. Other guys that probably should be ranked around him would be Andre Ware, Rocket Ismail, and Ron Dayne.

trueblue72 wrote:

If Detmer isn't on the list yet, I really hope he is not on the list.



So... you don't think that Detmer is higher than 40th of the all-time best players in College football? If I am correctly understanding what this list is, then no offense dude, but you are up in the night! He set all kinds of NCAA records and granted they threw the ball a lot but no one was even close until a I-AA player (McNair) and A guy in Timmy Chang who threw the ball way more than Detmer ever did broke his records. I think his records alone should put him in the top 25. I would say he belongs even higher but I don't want to show how much of a :crazy: cougar fan I am.

I think this list is for players whose college careers overshadowed what they did in the NFL. That's why I don't think Young or McMahon will be on the list. I think Y12 is just saying that Detmer being on this list undermines what he accomplished in the pros. I think he'll be on the list because the nicest things I've heard from non-BYU people about his pro career was that he had was a decent journeyman...far removed one being one of the best college QBs to ever play the game.

[quote="trueblue72] So... you don't think that Detmer is higher than 40th of the all-time best players in College football? If I am correctly understanding what this list is, then no offense dude, but you are up in the night! He set all kinds of NCAA records and granted they threw the ball a lot but no one was even close until a I-AA player (McNair) and A guy in Timmy Chang who threw the ball way more than Detmer ever did broke his records. I think his records alone should put him in the top 25. I would say he belongs even higher but I don't want to show how much of a :crazy: cougar fan I am.[/quote]



Detmer is easily one of the top 40 players in CFB history. But that is not what this list is.



"But once the marching bands and pep rallies stopped, they barely made a ripple in pro football. Because of injuries, military commitments and other career decisions, many of the sport's legends never made an impact in the NFL."



This list is about players who wre awesome in college (Detmer fits that discription), but they "never made an impact in the NFL." (Detmer does not fit)



As I stated, 6,000 yards passing and taking your team to the playoffs is having an impact.



#45 on the list is Oklahoma QB and Heisman Trophy winner Jason White.



"White went undrafted in 2005 and even had to wait several weeks to get a free-agent contract. He never made an NFL roster -- but he does have a street named in his honor in his hometown of Tuttle, Okla."



He was clearly an NFL bust. To say Detmer was more irrelevant than White was in the NFL that is a major insult.



#41 Eric Crouch. Another Heisman Trophy winner who didn't even play in the NFL.



#33. Chris Weinkie.



"The fourth-round pick spent one season as an NFL starter, going 1-15 with the Carolina Panthers in 2001. After that he was a career backup."



Detmer was better than that.



There have been THOUSANDS of college football players. Each decade HUNDREDS of them are big-time college stars. For a list of only 50 players it is very, very easy to find 50 who had worse NFL careers than Detmer did.



I sure wish Detmer had a better NFL career (and I truly believe he would if he had just stayed in San Fran), but we need to take off the blue goggles and get a little perspective. Detmer does not belong on this list.

Charlie Ward should be number one.

http://espn.go.com/ncf/feature/video/_/id/6681950/num/32" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Number 18 apparently

For anyone who was dying to know. Detmer ended up #18.

No college football quarterback was as prolific as Detmer, who broke 59 NCAA records and tied three others during his four-year career at BYU. He won the 1990 Heisman Trophy after passing for 5,188 yards with 41 touchdowns.



He finished his career with an NCAA-record 15,031 passing yards and led the Cougars to four bowl games. Detmer also guided BYU to one of its biggest football victories, a 28-21 upset of No. 1 Miami in 1990.



After being drafted by the Green Bay Packers, Detmer served as Brett Favre's backup for four seasons. He started 25 games in 14 NFL seasons, but never matched his golden college career.

I have no problem with him being on this list because one didn't have to be a total bust to be incuded. Raghib Ismail is #13 and he had two 1,000 yard receiving years. Rashaan Salaam is #42 and he had a fantastic rookie year. He rushed for over 1,00 yards and 10 TDs.



The fact is, going from being the most prolific passer in NCAA history to having one above average NFL season and bunch more as a backup is more than enough to get you on this list.



It's a shame Detmer didn't have better career. I'm not sure what happened after that one good year with the Eagles. Just looking at Wikipedia, it seems like whenever he got a chance to play, he performed really well...with the exception of a few awful games (7 ints in first start for the Lions). Timing and opportunity is a huge part of success in the pros and he just never got those.

Arm strength was always his issue in the NFL. Teams loved his smarts and basically had him on staff to act as a QB coach for younger QBs, and as a safe insurance policy. He basically has 7+ years of coaching experience in the NFL under his belt.

Wickchad84087 wrote:
Detmer should be in the top 10. Other guys that probably should be ranked around him would be Andre Ware, Rocket Ismail, and Ron Dayne.

I almost hit this right on the head.



Andre Ware - 19

Ty Detmer - 18

Rocket Ismail - 13



I'm assuming that Ron Dayne is yet to come. I don't know how you can set the NCAA rushing record and not really do anything in the NFL and not be mentioned on this list.