What Happened to Syracuse Orange Football?
Remember the glory days when SU football was something to brag about. There might not be a long list of National Championships for Syracuse Orange football and college football may have developed over time. While it seems like those days are long gone, we can’t help but wonder what happened to the program that turned out so much talent? Some big names have come out of Syracuse.
Marvin Harrison
Harrison is one of the main reasons Peyton Manning had a Hall of Fame career. He’ll go down in history as one of the Indianapolis Colts best receivers of all time.
Donovan McNabb
McNabb elevated the Eagles to Super Bowl contenders despite coming up short. He’d go on to play for the Washington Redskins and may have been their last relevant quarterback. He’s probably the last exciting quarterback to watch out of Syracuse and the last one to show any consistency.
Dwight Freeney
Another part of the Colts dynasty. While Manning and the Colts would only go on to win one Super Bowl, former SU players were at the heart of multiple 10-win seasons. Freeney was one of the top defenders in his prime in the NFL.
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Larry Csonka
Do you remember the backfield for the only undefeated team in NFL history to go on and win a Super Bowl? Larry Csonka was the fullback who would bruise defenses up and down the field, but before that, he was an All-American for Syracuse.
Jim Brown
Speaking of good ball carriers out of SU, Jim Brown had one heck of an NFL career setting a rookie rushing record in 1957 for a single game with 237 yards. That record would stand for 40 years. The first of many rushing records Brown would go on to set for the Cleveland Browns.
Ernie Davis
Davis was the first African American recipient of the Heisman Trophy back in 1961. While Davis would pass away from leukemia before ever playing an NFL game, his college resume spoke for itself. His story was eventually made into a motion picture in 2008, The Express: The Ernie Davis Story.
All those greats and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. So where did Syracuse Football go so wrong? Syracuse has never been on the level of multiple championship teams like the Alabamas or Clemson, but with how much talent they’ve developed why can’t they find a winning formula. Even to this day, guys like Chandler Jones is still making an impact for the Arizona Cardinals.
Syracuse Football has had some great talent come through its campus but can’t find ways to make it show during their college careers anymore. What once was a proud and competitive football program is a sad shell of its former self.
Rick ODonnell aka Caveman Rick has many years covering the Miami Dolphins, Sports, and all sorts of movies and television.
