Archie Griffin's Two Heismans Earn No. 4 on ESPN List

Ohio State finishes with seven players among Top 150 in history

If Archie Griffin wanted to finish first on the ESPN Top 150 players in college football history, he'd have had a better chance playing two sports than winning two Heisman Trophies.

Griffin, the only two-time Heisman winner, finished fourth behind Syracuse’s Jim Brown at No. 1, Georgia’s Herschel Walker at No. 2 and Auburn’s Bo Jackson at No. 3.

Brown was an All-American lacrosse player at Syracuse and Jackson played both in the NFL and Major League Baseball, while Walker followed his professional football career by participating in the 1992 Olympics on the United States bobsled team.

Griffin won the 1974 and ’75 Heisman Trophy in an OSU career that ended with him atop college football's rushing list with 5,589 career yards.

The first player in history to start in four consecutive Rose Bowls, Griffin remains the Buckeyes' career leader in rushing. His team's went a combined 40-5-1, finishing No. 9, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 4 in the nation.

Griffin, Brown, Walker and Jackson joined the rest of the Top 11 players for a mid-field introduction at halftime of the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night in New Orleans.

In great company here at the CFB National Championship tonight! pic.twitter.com/eQwxISPBR5

— Barry Sanders (@BarrySanders) January 14, 2020

Griffin was the only former Ohio State player among the final 25 ESPN honorees. Six former Buckeyes made the list between No. 26 and No. 150, including:

• No. 38 -- Eddie George, running back, 1992-95 (1995 Heisman Trophy winner).
• No. 44 -- Jack Tatum, safety, 1968-70 (two-time All-American, 7th in Heisman in 1970, 1968 national champion).
• No. 47 -- Hopalong Cassady, running back/defensive back, 1952-55 (1955 Heisman Trophy winner, 1954 national champion).
• No. 51 -- Orlando Pace, offensive tackle, 1994-96, (first true freshman ever to start on OSU offensive line, first sophomore to win and repeat as Lombardi Trophy winner, Outland Trophy winner, fourth in Heisman voting in 1996).
• No. 141 -- Jim Parker, guard, 1954-56 (OSU's first Outland Trophy winner, two-time All-American, 1954 national champion).
• No. 143 -- Chris Spielman, linebacker, 1984-87 (OSU career leader with 283 solo tackles, two-time All-American, Lombardi Trophy).