USA Today - 26.08.2019

E2 USA TODAY z MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019z SECTION C

Louisiana wins Little League title

US squad defeats Curacao at World Series 2C

College football at its worst, best

Myerberg: Miami-Florida showed lovable game 3C

On Big Three’s tennis radar

Six players who could give top men a run 3C

IN SPORTS

DOMINIC THIEM BY USA TODAY

Football teams from Historically
Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCU) have been competing since
Dec. 27, 1892, when Johnson C. Smith
(then known as Biddle University) de-
feated Livingston College in Salisbury,
North Carolina, 5-0.
The HBCU schools have a storied
history and produced some of the
greatest football players ever, many of
whom are in the Hall of Fame and NFL
record books. They come from confer-

ences like the MEAC and SWAC and pro-

grams like Grambling, Jackson State,

Tennessee State and Florida A&M.

Based on factors such as being en-

shrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

or being all-pro and a Pro Bowler, mak-

ing a team’s Hall of Fame and other re-

search, we bring you the 100 greatest pro

players ever produced by HBCU pro-

grams:

No. 1. Jerry Rice,Mississippi Valley

State

Pos: WR. Years: 1985-2004. Teams:

49ers, Oakland Raiders, Seahawks

Arguably the greatest football player

in the history of the NFL and the league’s

greatest receiver. Three-time Super

Bowl champion and Super Bowl and NFL

MVP. Holds the NFL record for career re-

ceptions (1,549), career receiving yards

(22,895), career receiving touchdowns

(197). First-team all-pro 10 times.

2. Walter Payton,Jackson State
   Pos: RB. Years: 1975-87. Team: Bears.
   Finished as the NFL’s all-time leading
   rusher with 16,726 (ultimately broken by
   Emmitt Smith). Had 21,264 rush/pass
   yards. Hall of Fame. Super Bowl champ.


3. Deacon Jones, South Carolina
   State, Mississippi Valley State

Pos: DE. Years: 1961-74. Team: Los

Angeles Rams.

Hall of Fame. Five-time all-pro.

4. Willie Lanier, Morgan State
   Pos: LB. Years: 1967-77. Team: Chiefs.
   Super Bowl champion. Hall of Fame.
   Had 27 interceptions, 18 fumble recover-
   ies.


5. Buck Buchanan,Grambling
   Pos: DT. Years: 1963-75. Team: Chiefs.
   Super Bowl champion. Hall of Fame.
   Played in 182 games, including 166 in a
   row.

NFL 100: Top players of note from HBCU programs

Donal Ware
Special to USA TODAY

See HBCU, Page 4C

ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy used the
most powerful and important club in
his bag – the driver – to rip off 28 drives
of 320 yards or longer this week at East
Lake Golf Club during the Tour Cham-
pionship.
His putter was equally impressive.
At times his kryptonite during his
career, McIlroy was rock solid this
week with the short stick en route to a
commanding victory in the 2018-
PGA Tour season finale. With both his
power and touch on point, McIlroy
won the largest check in golf history –
$15 million – to push his haul to more
than $23 million this season.
McIlroy also joined Tiger Woods as
the only players to win the FedExCup
twice. McIlroy won the FedExCup in

$15M man:

McIlroy

bags win

by 4 shots

Steve DiMeglio
Golfweek
USA TODAY Network

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland
celebrates winning the Tour
Championship at East Lake Golf Club
and its $15 million top prize.
ADAM HAGY/USA TODAY SPORTS

See MCILROY, Page 2C

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He did what?

Andrew Luck’s stunner of a Satur-

day night news dump will surely go

down as one of the most surprising re-

tirements in NFL history, but let’s put

the comparisons in check.

Of course, despite Luck’s sizzling

comeback last season, this wasn’t

quite like a repeat of Barry Sanders or

Jim Brown, dominant stars who walked

away from football with their skills at a

peak level.

It’s obviously a far cry, too, from gun-

slinger Brett Favre, who turned retire-

ment into an art form but clearly dem-

onstrated an insatiable passion for the

game by coming back over and over.

No, Luck’s exit strikes me as similar

to the retirements this year by Rob

Gronkowski and Doug Baldwin –

straight-up ballers whose commitment

could never be questioned – after their

bodies told them that enough was

enough.

Luck’s decision to take his job as

Colts quarterback and shove it had

nothing to do, he contended, with any

disdain for the job itself. It was the phys-

ical and mental toll. Enough was

enough.

Why not take him at his word?

Shamefully, fans at Lucas Oil Stadi-

um – probably some of the same folk

who wildly cheered on occasion when

Luck bolted from the pocket on a scram-

ble that ended with a car crash scene –

booed this man at the end of the Colts’

exhibition game on Saturday night as

the news spread. How tasteless. It was

Andrew Luck announced his retirement Saturday night citing a string of injuries. MATT KRYGER/THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR

Luck’s retirement at 29

reminder of human toll

Jarrett Bell

Columnist

USA TODAY

See BELL, Page 2C