THE U(SC) DEBATE

ESPN has recently created a little tournament that was to decide which college football school is the best at producing NFL players and low and behold the final battle came down to the USC Trojans vs. the Miami Hurricanes. This is like choosing between Adriana Lima and Marissa Miller, you can’t get this one wrong if you are a top flight player looking to get to the NFL.

Let’s first break down the Trojans. They have had some of the greatest players ever to play in the NFL. The list consists of O.J. Simpson (“if the glove don’t fit, you must acquit”), Bruce Matthews, Anthony Munoz, Junior Seau, Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott. Current NFL stars consist of Reggie Bush, Brian Cushing, Mark Sanchez, Matt Cassell, Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Lendale White and Troy Polamalu. Just looking at that list you could arguably say that O.J., Matthews, Munoz, Lott and Seau are all in the top five if not top two of the greatest players to ever play those positions and if Polamalu could ever stay healthy for a whole year we may actually be able to say he is one of the top safety’s to ever play the game. Having had the chance to go to USC this past season you can’t go wrong with choosing this school if you’re looking to get to the NFL, you have the best facilities, you play in one of the most famous college stadiums in the country and you get to spend all your time in LA where it is at least 70 degrees all year round and celebrities treat you as if you are one of them. Just look at how Matt Leinart took advantage of the fact that he was just as famous as Kobe Bryant when he was leading the Trojans to National Titles and winning Heisman trophies.

Now onto the “U”. Let’s just skip to the chase, the 2001 Miami Hurricanes were the best college football team ever assembled. This team just flat out beat the shit out of you. Just look at this list of NFL players that played on this team: Willis McGahee, Andre Johnson, Antrel Rolle, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Phillip Buchanon, Jonathon Vilma, Vince Wilfork, William Joseph, Kellen Winslow and Jeremy Shockey. Honestly I might not even list the rest of their alum because that list alone from one team is unbelievable but it gets better, other past players include: Ray Lewis, Devin Hester, Santana Moss, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Greg Olson, Kenny Phillips, Reggie Wayne, Vinny Testaverde and Jim Kelly. And top out the icing on the cake DeWayne “The Rock” Johnson played for the Canes and instead of dominating in the NFL he became one of the greatest WWF (WWE does not exist in my mind) of all time.
Like Michael Corleone said in The Godfather “it is strictIy business Sonny, not personal” and that is why I have to say the “U” brings home this one ven if my heart is with the Trojans, just the life of a blogger gotta state facts not feelings. Make no mistake USC has produced some of the greatest talent that has ever walked onto the gridiron but you can’t overlook the amount of superstar talent that has just poured out of Miami throughout the past twenty years.

But let’s take a look back ten years from now and see what some of the young USC talent has done with their NFL careers, I may have to rewrite this if Sanchez starts collecting the Lombardi Trophies.