Should Cal Alum Marshawn Lynch Have Found a Spot on ESPN's List?

The website picked two Cal players to its list of the top-25 NFL players of the 21st century

Marshawn Lynch / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Cal is among five schools with at least two players listed in ESPN’s ranking of the top-25 NFL players of the 21st century.

We wonder if it should have been three.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers checked in at No. 9 on ESPN’s list and tight end Tony Gonzalez is No. 24.

What about running back Marshawn Lynch?

Should Beast Mode have found a spot on the list?

Three running backs are included on ESPN’s compilation, with Adrian Peterson at No. 18, LaDanian Tomlinson at No. 20 and Marshall Faulk at 21.

All three had more career rushing yards than Lynch, so our gripe is not with them.

But Lynch has legit credentials: 10,413 rushing yards and 84 total touchdowns scored. He even threw one. Lynch was a three-time first-team All-Pro selection, a six-time Pro Bowl pick.

He had six 100-yard rushing games and scored 12 touchdowns in playoff action, won a Super Bowl and likely would have had another had the Seattle Seahawks simply handed him the ball on second-and-goal at the New England 1-yard line with 20 seconds left in Super Bowl XLIX.

Instead, an ill-advised pass was picked off and Tom Brady and the Patriots escaped with a 28-24 victory.

Even without Lynch, Cals two entries on the ESPN list match the second most of any school, alongside Michigan, Wisconsin and Pitt. Only Miami, with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Warren Sapp, topped the Bears.

Here is ESPN’s list:

1. Tom Brady (Michigan) QB

2. Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech) QB

3. Aaron Donald (Pitt) DT

4. Peyton Manning (Tennessee) QB

5. Randy Moss (Marshall) WR

6. Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech) WR

7. J.J. Watt (Wisconsin) DE

8. Ray Lewis (Miami) LB

Aaron Rodgers / Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

9. Aaron Rodgers (Cal) QB

Key accomplishments: Four-time NFL MVP, 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro, HOF All-2010s Team, Super Bowl XLV MVP, 475 passing TDs (Packers' all-time leader)

Of all the superlatives and milestones that can be used to explain Rodgers' greatness, here's one that often gets overlooked: He is the NFL's all-time leader in touchdown-to-interception ratio (475 TDs, 105 INTs). In that way, he was the anti-Brett Favre, yet Rodgers carried on Favre's remarkable run of success in Green Bay before getting traded to the Jets. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur perhaps described Rodgers' impact best when he said near the end of the quarterback's time with the Pack: "A lot of people have been rewarded, quite frankly, because of his ability to go out there and play." -- Rob Demovsky

10. Darrelle Revis (Pitt) CB

11. Ed Reed (Miami) S

12. Charles Woodson (Michigan) CB

13. Rob Gronkowski (Arizona) TE

14. Travis Kelce (Cincinnati) TE

15. Drew Brees (Purdue) QB

16. Troy Polamalu (USC) S

17. Brett Favre (Southern Miss) QB

18. Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma) RB

19. Michael Strahan (Texas State) DE

20. LaDanian Tomlinson (TCU) RB

21. Marshall Faulk (San Diego State) RB

22. Warren Sapp (Miami) DT

23. Joe Thomas (Wisconsin) OT

Tony Gonzalez / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

24. Tony Gonzalez (Cal) TE

Key accomplishments: HOF (2019), 14-time Pro Bowler, five-time first-team All-Pro in 2000s, HOF All-2000s Team, most receiving yards by a tight end

Gonzalez is still the leader for players at his position in receptions (1,325) and yards (15,127). A basketball player at Cal, Gonzalez made many of his plays by using his 6-foot-5 frame to his advantage. A memorable example came in 2002 when the Chiefs played against the Patriots. Gonzalez was covered by another eventual Hall of Famer, Ty Law. The pass was underthrown and Law looked to be a certain interception. But Gonzalez jumped higher than Law and went over him without interfering to pluck the ball for a 17-yard catch. -- Adam Teicher 

25. Derrick Brooks (Florida State) LB