The inaugural edition of Athlon Sports was published in 1967, the same year that a running back named O.J. Simpson led the USC Trojans to the national championship. As we celebrate 50 years of covering the sport, we thought it would be fun to take a deep dive and compile a ranking of the top 50 players of the Athlon Sports era. This wasn’t easy. Our checklist contained more than 300 players, each of whom received either first-team All-America honors or won a major postseason award. To help us sort through the list of all-time greats, we assembled a panel of college football experts.
Top 50 College Football Players of the Past 50 Years (Athlon Era)
