Chris Low gives us his list of faces to chisel on a potential SEC Football Mount Rushmore.

It got me thinking about the faces that I’d put on a Georgia Football Mount Rushmore. So I got along with making my choices with the one caveat being that I reserved the final spot for a player in the modern era (1990-).

Herschel
The legendary phenom from Wrightsville, GA. He led Georgia to the national championship in 1980 and SEC titles in 1980, 1981 and 1982. An indisputable living legend, Herschel would be on the college football Mount Rushmore.

Frank Sinkwich
Sinkwich won the heisman trophy in 1942 and led the Bulldogs to victory in the 1943 Rose Bowl. He won the AP Number 1 athlete for 1942 over runner-up Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who just happened hit for the triple crown and win the batting title that year.

Fran Tarkenton
Tarkenton led the old Athens High School (now Clarke Central) Trojans to the state title in 1955 and led the Georgia Bulldogs to the SEC Championship in 1959. Minnesota Vikings head coach called Tarkenton “the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.”

David Pollack
Instrumental in bringing an SEC Title back to Athens in 2002, he won the SEC Player of the Year that same season. Known for his relentless drive, he not only played at a high level himself, he elevated everyone around him. In 2004 Pollack became the only Georgia player to win the Bednarik and Lombardi trophies.

Who would be on your Georgia Football Mout Rushmore? Same rule applies… one player from the modern era (1990-).

I recently came across this captivating essay by Joe Posnanski on Herschel Walker. It’s a must read for any Georgia fan and especially entertaining for someone like me who was 6 years old during Walker’s legendary freshman season.

I was aware of his greatness, even fortunate enough to attend a few games that year, but not aware of his mythical recruitment and the uniqueness of his once in a lifetime football prowess.

Posnanski’s essay covers everything from the origins of his legendary commitment to physical fitness…

“What do you like to do?” the father asked.

“Watch TV,” the boy said.

Not much of an answer, is it? But this was a wise father, and he said: “OK, if that’s what you like doing, fine. You can watch as much television as you want. But during the commercials, you must exercise. That’s the deal.”

The boy agreed. He would watch television. But during commercials, he would do pushups, sit-ups, chin-ups, he would go outside and run sprints. After a little while, he could feel his body changing. His arms bulked, his legs moved faster. He did more sit-ups, more pushups, more chin-ups. He would race his older sister, Christine, and she would beat him, and he would get mad, and he would do more sit-ups, more pushups, run more sprints.

… to his less than magical professional career:

The legend ends there. Herschel went pro. It was, looking back, a better pro career than most remember. He went to the USFL for some obscene amount of money (something like $16 million guaranteed), and he rushed for more than 5,000 yards in three years, and one of those seasons he ran for 2,411 yards. Nobody really knew what that meant though — being the USFL and all — and nobody knows now.

If you were around to absorb and appreciate the Herschel experience this might be a nice trip down memory lane, if you’re like me though, this is like reading the book when you’d only read the back cover.

Prep Ticket has a nice gallery to go along with their countdown of the thirty best college football players of all time.

Is there really any doubt who number one is?

1. Heschel Walker – 80-82 Georgia, 3 time All American (inc. Freshman Year), Won Heisman Junior Year, Led Georgia to National Championship Freshman Year, 33 Games 55 Touchdowns 5,259 (159 Yd Game avg. Career) Vince Dooley, He was like old man river, the longer the game went on in the fourth quarter he got stronger and stronger and stronger.”

They have Tim Tebow at number three with the acknowledgement that he could easily ascend to number one next season were he to collect another champioship or Heisman Trophy.

That would be tough to argue with indeed.

Here’s to hoping that the ‘Dawgs can prevent the championship part of that equation from happening.