Last summer, a panel of AJC voters selected our top 10 players per decade. The voters have many years of experience, much of it as journalists and some of it earlier as fans, observing our state and local sports teams with a close and often passionate eye — as many of you do.
The backgrounds of the voters lent a knowledge of Tech football that we captured and used to assemble these lists of some of the more accomplished and recognizable players in Tech history, through thick and thin times for the program.
Here’s who we selected as the top players of each decade:
1950s
This decade was the golden era of Yellow Jackets football, and when you look at the all-decade team, you’ll find four members of the College Football Hall of Fame. One of those players went on to show his greatness as a pro and was chosen to an NFL all-decade team for the 1960s.
Full list: The top 10 Tech players of the 1950s
1960s
John Heisman won a lot of games as a head coach at Tech (76.4% of them), but no Jackets player has won the Heisman Trophy. One from the ‘60s came close, and he’s on our all-decade team. (He’s one of two Tech players who was a runner-up.) Another player left an endearing mark in the radio booth for many years. … And there was this one defensive lineman who was as solid as a rock.
Full list: The top 10 Tech players of the 1960s
1970s
The 1978 team got off to a great start before fading down the stretch, but it was loaded with players who made their mark in the NFL. Half this all-decade team played on the ’78 team. Two players on the ‘70s team made history, one for setting a record while running on snow with a wind chill below zero and the other for something far more significant. Then there is the three-time All-American with family ties to Tech.
Full list: The top 10 of the 1970s
1980s
The ‘80s started on a sour note with lots of losses but ended with the foundation in place for a national championship. Along the way came the guy who remains Tech’s all-time leading rusher, a future NFL head coach and three members of the famed Black Watch defense. One of those defenders became a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Full list: The top 10 of the 1980s
1990s
This team includes several members of a national championship team, plus a player considered by many to be the beloved Jacket of all-time. And the team is well rounded, with two players whose primary job was to kick the football. Oh, yeah, there’s a former Falcon who made five Pro Bowls.
Full list: The top 10 of the 1990s
2000s
The high mark of this decade came when Tech won an ACC title (on the field, though technically, it was taken away). Four players from that 2009 team are among our 10 best of the first decade of this century. However, the player who stands tallest from this group is a guy known to many as “Megatron.”
Full list: The top 10 from 2000-09
2010s
The team includes three quarterbacks who flourished in Paul Johnson’s successful (but sometimes polarizing) offense and three offensive linemen. That’s fitting for a decade closely associated with Johnson’s ground-oriented attack. There is a nod to the defense, though, in two linemen who were second-round NFL draft picks.
Full list: The top 10 of the 2010s
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