The Kalamazoo-area list of 25 greatest football players of all time includes, clockwise from top left, Greg Jennings, Jason Babin, Jerome Harrison, Little John Flowers and Brian Dolph.
KALAMAZOO, MI - From high school All-Americans to Super Bowl champions, an abundance of talented football players call the Kalamazoo area home.
But which ones represent the cream of the crop?
After talking with more than a dozen longtime football coaches and athletic directors and combing through a treasure trove of archives, including countless articles by 56-year Kalamazoo Gazette sports editor Jack Moss, who had more knowledge of Southwest Michigan sports in his pinky finger than most could acquire in a lifetime, we present our take on the 25 greatest players who hail from the Kalamazoo area.
The list is an all-encompassing ranking, taking high school, college and professional performances into account for players who hail from anywhere in our 35-high school coverage area.
Be sure to add your voice to the discussion in the comments and let the great debate rage on.
25. BOB TOPP, Kalamazoo Central
Topp was a multisport star athlete at Kalamazoo Central and part of two basketball state championships in the early 1950s, but football is where he made a name for himself, first at the University of Michigan and later in the NFL. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Topp made the Wolverines varsity roster in 1952, earned a starting spot the following year and became the second player in Michigan history to eclipse 100 receiving yards in a single game when he caught seven passes for 111 yards against Iowa on Oct. 10, 1953. He also blocked a pair of punts that season and garnered first team All-Big Ten recognition from the Associated Press and the United Press.
Topp finished his Michigan career with 28 catches for 390 yards and three touchdowns, and made enough of an impression to be drafted by the New York Giants in the 13th round of the 1954 NFL Draft. He played in six games as a rookie, finishing with six catches for 90 yards and three touchdowns, but spent a year away from football when he joined the U.S. Air Force.
24. LEON ROBERTS, Portage Northern
From the day it first opened its doors in 1965, Portage Northern has produced an abundance of talented athletes, but ask anyone who has been around the school for an extended period of time, and they'll tell you the best to ever wear the Brown and White was class of 1969 grad Leon Roberts, and that it's not very close. A 6-foot-3, 200-pound split end, Roberts was a two-time high school football All-American in football and a two-time All-American for the Huskies' hoops team.
He was heavily recruited by Michigan's Bo Schembechler, but ended up playing shooting guard for the Wolverines basketball team and outfield for the baseball team, where he won the Big Ten batting title as a freshman. After a stellar sophomore year with the Wolverines, Roberts was drafted by the Detroit Tigers as the heir apparent to Al Kaline in right field, but the club traded him after two years, and he ended up spending 11 seasons in Major League Baseball, before beginning a career as a minor league manager -- a role he continues to this day at age 68.
Before his retirement, long time Kalamazoo Gazette sports editor Jack Moss wrote in a column that one of his favorite memories was, "Watching him become the bestever allaround athlete to perform here."
23. ERIC GEORGE, Mendon
A dozen state finals appearances and 11 championships have created a storied history for the Mendon football program, and one the guys who started it all was a running back named Eric George. The future Cincinnati Bearcat runner led Mendon to its first state title as a junior in 1982, when the Hornets defeated Rudyard 44-8 in the Class D finals.
He followed it up with an even more impressive senior campaign in which he set a school record with 1,861 rushing yards to lead the Hornets back to the state finals, but George injured his ankle in Mendon's 13-0 win over Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, and he was unable to play in his team's 15-12 championship game loss to St. Ignace-LaSalle.
"He's the only Mendon back I've ever seen where people would stack their defense where they knew he was running, and we still scored a lot of touchdowns," said Constantine coach Shawn Griffith, who was an assistant coach at Mendon in 1983. "(George) was the fastest kid on the field and the strongest kid on the field." His Cincinnati career didn't go quite as well, as George finished with four carries for 16 yards and 10 kickoff returns for 183 yards over a two-season span, but he'll always have a place in Mendon lore.
SVSU receiver Brian Dolph outruns the official on his way to the end zone. (Bernie Eng | MLive.com)
22. BRIAN DOLPH, Galesburg-Augusta
With four Associated Press state championships between 1962 and 1970, Galesburg-Augusta has one of more storied histories among Kalamazoo-area prep football teams, but Dolph stands out for his success at the high school and college levels. A three-year all-conference performer from 1993-95, Dolph also earned an honorable mention all-state nod as a junior in 1994, before receiving first team all-state recognition as a senior receiver in 1995.
He still holds the Rams' single-season record for receptions (45), and he went on to set 13 school and conference records at Saginaw Valley State during his 2000 senior season, including touchdown catches in a season (20) and receiving yards in a season (1,141). For his efforts, Dolph was named the 2000 GLIAC Player of the Year and earned an AFCA Division II First Team All-American nod.
Portage Northern running back Kelly Baraka looks for a break in the Kalamazoo Central line during a game on Oct. 8, 1999. (MLive.com file photo)
21. KELLY BARAKA, Portage Northern
A 2001 Portage Northern graduate, the 6-foot, 180-pound Baraka was a consensus five-star running back prospect and 12th-ranked player nationally, who ultimately chose the University of Michigan over Notre Dame, Nebraska and other national powers from the era. However, a marijuana arrest led to a freshman-year suspension from Wolverines head coach Lloyd Carr, and Baraka never played a snap for Michigan, but at Northern, he established himself as one of the state's best running backs to every play under the Friday night lights.
He rushed for 1,624 yards and 26 touchdowns in just over six games during his senior year and finished his career with more than 4,000 yards and 61 touchdowns.
20. ROGER KRAMER, Portage
A 1957 graduate of Portage High School, Kramer was a four-sport star at the prep level, earning all-state honors in football and track and setting the basketball program's single-game record with 27 points. Portage's football team went 8-1 in his senior year, and his play helped him earn a spot on Jack Moss' list of the 24 best high school football players in Southwest Michigan history.
Kramer continued his athletic career at Kalamazoo College, where he earned a total of 11 letters in football, basketball and track, twice claiming all-conference honor on the gridiron and setting the school record in the shot put (43 feet, 11 inches) and the discus (135 feet). He started his professional football career with the Grand Rapids Shamrocks of the UFL, then played nine years in the Canadian Football League, earning a trio of CFL All-Star bids and two Grey Cup Championship appearances along the way.
19. ROB PETERS, Kalamazoo Hackett
The 6-foot-5, 270-pound offensive tackle helped Kalamazoo Hackett compile a 17-1 record during his junior and senior seasons (1971 and 1972), earning Peters recognition as a Parade Magazine high school All-American in his final year with the Irish. He accepted a scholarship to Miami University in Ohio and reported for the RedHawks’ first practice, but his father’s death brought him back to Kalamazoo, and Peters never ended up playing a collegiate snap.
Peters spent seven years on the Mattawan coaching staff, before his life was cut short by a heart attack in 2001. Rob’s son, Don Peters, was also a talented prep lineman at Mattawan who earned a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, but heart problems of his own prevented him from suiting up with the Tar Heels.
18. SHAWN POTTS, Kalamazoo Hackett
The father of recent Portage Central star running back Eli Potts, Shawn started the family football legacy in the Kalamazoo area by earning all-state honors on the gridiron and earning team MVP honors for Kalamazoo Hackett's football, basketball and track teams as a senior.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Potts went on to star as a speedy wide receiver at Bowling Green, where he won four varsity letters, was a team captain and earned honorable mention All-American honors as a senior in 1982, after catching 50 passes for 841 yards and eight touchdowns. Potts finished his Falcon career with 103 grabs for 1,592 yards and 13 touchdowns, then parlayed his success into a two-year stint in the USFL, where he caught passes from hall-of-fame quarterback Jim Kelly.
17. DON MOORHEAD, South Haven
After leading South Haven to a 7-1 record as a senior in 1966, Moorhead earned all-state honors and was recruited by Colorado State, Western Michigan, Purdue, Stanford and Michigan State, but ultimately picked the University of Michigan, where he started at quarterback in 1969 and 1970, which were Bo Schembechler’s first two seasons.
Moorhead compiled a 17-4 record with the Wolverines, including a 24-12 upset win over top-ranked Ohio State in 1969, and he set a total of 24 U-M football records, including career total offense (3,641 yards), most passing yards (2,550), most passes completed (200) and most passes attempted (423). The New Orleans Saints selected Moorhead in the sixth round of the 1971 NFL Draft, but they intended to use him as a running back, so the South Haven native signed with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. In five seasons with British Columbia, Moorhead led the Lions to the playoffs two times.
16. HERMAN EVERHARDUS, Kalamazoo Central
Everhardus starred at Kalamazoo Central in the late 1920s, but it wasn't until enrolling at the University of Michigan in 1930 that he really started making a name for himself and picked up the moniker of "Flying Dutchman."
A three-year starter at running back and kicker, Everhardus led the Wolverines to back-to-back national championships in 1932 and 1933. His most impressive campaign was Michigan's undefeated 1933 season, in which Everhardus led the Big Ten in scoring with 64 points, earning him first team all-conference honors and a second team All-American nod. In a 10-6 win over Iowa that season, he ran for a 47-yard touchdown, kicked the extra point and added a field goal to account for all the Wolverines' scoring. At Michigan, he was a friend and a fraternity brother of Gerald R. Ford, and according to fellow Delta Kappa Epsilon member Bill Hurley, Everhardus helped the future president get a job waiting tables at the fraternity house, which eventually led to Ford joining DKE.
15. SHELBY GAMBLE, South Haven
Part of South Haven's inaugural hall of fame class in 1997, Gamble led the football program to new heights by rushing for 3,823 yards from 1976-78. The Rams went 22-6 in that span, which stands as the best three-year stretch in South Haven history.
Gamble's 100-yard dash time of 10.6 seconds stood as a school record for 35 years, and his speed made him the country's 48th-best prospect for his graduating class, according to college football analyst Charles Holland, who published the annual National 100 list. Gamble held scholarship offers from college football powers like Notre Dame and Penn State, but ultimately chose Boston College, where he finished with 1,688 yards and 17 touchdowns across 33 games, including a pair of 700-yard, eight-touchdowns seasons in his first two years on campus.
MSU tailback Little John Flowers rushes toward Oregon Duck defenders at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Thursday, September 2, 1999. (MLive.com file photo)
14. LITTLE JOHN FLOWERS, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
When paired with Loy Norrix teammate Todd "T.J." Duckett, Flowers was part of arguably the most talented backfield in the history of Michigan high school football. The 6-foot, 200-pound running back rushed for 2,120 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior in 1997, while helping the Knights to their first-ever appearance in the Class A playoffs.
He finished his four-year career at Loy Norrix with 4,320 yards and 56 touchdowns and was named a high school All-American by SuperPrep, PrepStar and Blue Chip Magazine. Flowers' 443 yards rushing yards on 28 carries (15.8 per carry) in a 42-33 win over Battle Creek Central on Oct. 3, 1997 still ranks as the 10th-best single-game effort in MHSAA history. Ranked the No. 11 running back in the nation for his graduating class, Flowers went on to play at MSU, where he tallied 770 rushing yards (5.1 per carry) and five total touchdowns.
Kim Rowekamp, a former star Michigan State linebacker and a physical education teacher at Paw Paw Later Elementary, instructs a class as Chasity Coy, 9, watches the action on April 22, 2004. (MLive.com file photo)
13. KIM ROWEKAMP, Kalamazoo Central
An all-state football player at Kalamazoo Central, Rowekamp's gridiron success continued at the college level, where he earned All-Big Ten honors at Michigan State. In 1974, he was in on a goal-line stand as time expired to knock off top-ranked Ohio State in a game that still holds a prominent place in Spartan history.
Unfortantely, injuries derailed Rowekamp's promising career, as he tore up his left knee as a junior and his right knee as a senior on a sack of Michigan quarterback Rick Leach. Rowekamp rehabbed and made it back to the field to play in the short-lived Challenge Bowl in the Seattle Kingdome, but another knee injury made it three in three years and marked the end of his playing days.
Cleveland Browns coach Chris Palmer congratulates Scott Rehberg as he comes off the field late in the third quarter of a game on Dec. 27, 1999. (David I. Andersen | Cleveland Plain Dealer)
12. SCOTT REHBERG, Kalamazoo Central
At 6-foot-8, 325 pounds, Rehberg was a mountain of a man, and after starring at Kalamazoo Central in the early 1990s, he earned a scholarship at Central Michigan and went on to earn first team All-Mid-American Conference honors in 1996 and second team all-league honors in 1995. Rehberg won a MAC championship with the Chippewas in 1994, helping to pave the way for Brian Pruitt's school-record 1,890-yard rushing campaign that season.
A Class of 2014 CMU Hall of Fame inductee, Rehberg went on to play seven seasons as an offensive lineman in the NFL with the New England Patriots, the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals.
11. PETE GENT, Bangor
One of the best all-around athletes ever from Southwest Michigan, Gent's early athletic career was based primarily on the hardwood, where the 6-foot-4 forward led Bangor to the 1960 Class C state title and averaged 22.6 points per game during the Vikings' championship run. He followed up his prep career with a stellar run at Michigan State, becoming the first player in Spartans history to lead the team in scoring for three consecutive seasons. He capped his senior year with a 21-point-per-game average and left East Lansing ranking No. 2 on the program's career scoring list with 1,146 points.
While he never played a down of college football, the Dallas Cowboys were impressed by his athleticism and offered Gent a tryout, and he impressed head coach Tom Landry enough to earn a roster spot. Gent spent all five of his pro football seasons with the Cowboys, finishing with 68 catches for 989 yards and four touchdowns across 48 games.
After a series of injuries ended Gent's playing days, he turned his experiences in the NFL into a writing career, and his semi-biographical debut novel, North Dallas Forty, became a best-seller. The novel, told through the eyes of fictional a quarterback-wide receiver combo, received praise from critics and contempt from the NFL for offering an in-depth look at the widespread use of painkillers in the league. Gent also helped write the screenplay for the 1979 film adaptation of the same name.
Michigan safety Ernest Shazor, left, struggles to take down Northwestern running back Noah Herron during a game in Ann Arbor. (MLive.com file photo)
10. NOAH HERRON, Mattawan
Despite missing the first three games of his senior season with an ankle injury, Herron became one of Southwest Michigan’s most prolific rushers, finishing his career with 5,544 yards and 92 touchdowns on 552 carries. The class of 2000 Mattawan graduate remains in the MHSAA record book for all three categories, ranking 14th in career touchdowns, 15th in career rushing yards and 16th in career carries. He was an all-state selection as a senior and was ranked the No. 56 running back in the nation, according to Rivals.com, and the Midwest's 15th-ranked runner, according to PrepStar.
Herron received interest from Virginia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Iowa among others, but chose to play college football along the shores of Lake Michigan at Northwestern, where he finished his career with 462 carries for 2,524 yards and 26 touchdowns, while making 72 catches for 781 yards and two more touchdowns. As a senior, he was a second team All-Big Ten selection and was named the Chicago Tribune conference running back of the year. The Pittsburgh Steelers picked Herron in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and the Green Bay Packers signed him off the Steelers’ practice squad later that offseason. He played three seasons in the NFL and finished his pro career with 273 rushing yards and three touchdowns in 23 games.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix coach Duane Young poses for a photo on Wednesday, August 9, 2006. (MLive.com file photo)
9. DUANE YOUNG, Kalamazoo Central
Young starred at Kalamazoo Central before graduating in 1986 and joining Michigan State, where he earned first team All-Big Ten honors as a senior tight end in 1990, finishing the year with 12 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. A four-year letterman for coach George Perles, the 6-foot-3, 270-pound Young had 35 career receptions for 347 yards and a score.
The San Diego Chargers selected Young in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft, and he spent six years in the league, including five seasons with the Chargers (1991-95) and one with the Buffalo Bills (1998). He played in Super Bowl XXIX, in which the Chargers lost to the San Francisco 49ers 49-26.
Tico Duckett, left, and Little John Flowers take in a high school football game at Loy Norrix High School on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016 in Kalamazoo, Mich. (Chelsea Purgahn | MLive.com)
8. TICO DUCKETT, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
The older brother of Todd "T.J." Duckett, Tico earned all-state honors at Loy Norrix, then became the first Michigan State running back to eclipse 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons from 1990-92. Duckett's 1,394 yards in his sophomore campaign (1990) led the Big Ten and earned him league offensive MVP honors. He garnered some preseason Heisman hype before his junior year and enjoyed a productive 1,200-yard campaign, but MSU struggled to a 3-8 record, and his chances for the sport's top prize fizzled. Duckett currently ranks third in MSU history with 4,212 career rushing yards.
7. JOHN RAPACZ, Kalamazoo Central
Rapacz's accomplishments as a football coach at Kalamazoo Hackett earned him an induction into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1984, and his name lives on at Soisson-Rapacz-Clason Field, which the co-op football team from Kalamazoo Hackett and Kalamazoo Christian calls home. But before he was a hall of fame coach, "Big John" Rapacz was a 6-foot-4, 250-pound lineman that was among the area's best to ever play in the trenches.
After starring at Kalamazoo Central, Rapacz football career took a brief hiatus while he served as a Marine Staff Sargeant during World War II, but he returned to the game and became a two-time All-American at Oklahoma in 1946 and 1947. He capped his college career by leading the Sooners to a 34-13 win over North Carolina State in the 1947 Gator Bowl, which was the program's first bowl victory. The Boston Yanks drafted Rapacz in the third round of the 1947 NFL Draft, and he went on to play seven seasons in the league, earning All-Pro honors in three consecutive years from 1949-51.
Portage Central defensive end Ken VandenOever tries to grab Kalamazoo Central tailback Jerome Harrison, but Harrison breaks free for a 1st down during a game on Oct. 6, 2000. (MLive.com file photo)
6. JEROME HARRISON, Kalamazoo Central
The son of Western Michigan great Jerome Persell, Harrison had one of the interesting and ultimately unfortunate rises to stardom in football. As a senior at Kalamazoo Central in 2000, he earned all-state honors by rushing for a school-record 2,228 yards and 27 touchdowns, leading the Maroon Giants to a 7-3 record and their first playoff berth since 1975.
Harrison signed with Eastern Michigan, but opted to focus on academics in his year with the Eagles, then transfer to Pasadena City College, where he spent two years and earned a Rivals 4-star ranking as a junior college recruit. He transferred to Washington State for his junior and senior years, and during his final campaign with the Cougars in 2005, broke the record for most consecutive games with 100 or more yards by a PAC-10 runner (16) and set the WSU single-season rushing record with 1,900 yards, which also led the nation and garnered consensus All-American honors.
The Cleveland Browns selected Harrison with the 145th pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, and in 2009, he broke Jim Brown’s single-game franchise rushing record with a 286-yard, three-touchdown performance against Kansas City. After more than four years with the Browns, Harrison was traded midseason to Philadelphia, and he signed with the Detroit Lions to start the 2011 campaign. The Lions tried to trade Harrison back to the Eagles, but doctors discovered a brain tumor during his physical exam, and he was placed on injured reserve while he underwent surgery to remove the benign growth.
Jason Babin runs to make a tackle during the Brown and Gold Spring Game at Waldo Stadium Saturday afternoon, April 12, 2003. (MLive.com file photo)
5. JASON BABIN, Paw Paw
After receiving interest from Big Ten coaches during the early part of his high school career, Babin broke his leg during the first game of his senior year in 1998, and the 6-foot-4, 240-pound linebacker/defensive end stopped hearing from all but Western Michigan and Central Michigan.
Babin healed well enough to go 44-0 and capture a heavyweight state championship as a senior wrestler, and he eventually signed with his hometown Broncos, playing in Kalamazoo from 2000 to 2003, during which time he set program records for career tackles for loss (75) and TFL in a season (33 in 2003), as well as the record for career sacks (38). He was a two-time Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year (2002, 2003) and a second-team All-American in 2003. The Houston Texas selected Babin with the No. 27 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, and he went on to play 13 years in the league with eight different teams, finishing his career with 372 tackles, 64.5 sacks, 14 forced fumbles and two Pro Bowl selections, including a 2011 campaign in which he registered 40 tackle and 18 sacks.
Michigan State tackle Jack Conklin talks with the media during their 2015 Cotton Bowl offense press conference at Omni Hotel in Dallas, Monday, December 28, 2015. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)
4. JACK CONKLIN, Plainwell
The son of a college football walk-on, Conklin's path followed the same early trajectory as that of his father, Darren, but instead of wearing the winged helmet in Ann Arbor, Jack joined rival Michigan State following his 2011 senior season at Plainwell. It didn’t take him long to earn a scholarship and show other coaches what they missed, as he started 13 games during his redshirt freshman season and garnered a Freshman All-American nod from the Sporting News.
By the time he was a junior, Conklin earned First-Team All-American status and chose to forego his senior season to enter the NFL draft, where he was selected eighth overall by the Tennessee Titans. As a rookie, Conklin started all 16 games at right tackle for the Titans and was named First Team All-Pro by the Associated Press. He started every game in 2017, his second year with the team, and led the Titans to their first playoff berth since 2008 and their first playoff win since 2003, but his year ended with a torn ACL in the first quarter of Tennessee’s 35-14 loss to New England in the AFC divisional title game. In 2019, Conklin has started all nine games to date at right tackle for the Titans.
Pete Metzelaars, left, poses for a photo with former Portage Central coach Bob Knight, center, and current coach Mick Enders during a Portage Central basketball game on Jan. 22, 2016. Metzelaars returned to Portage Central High School to present the school a golden football in honor of playing in the Super Bowl. (Bryan Bennett | MLive.com)
3. PETE METZELAARS, Portage Central
The 6-foot-8, 250-pound Metzelaars was a terror at quarterback for Portage Central, particularly during the Mustangs' run to the 1977 Class A championship game, which remains their lone state finals trip. He led Central to a 12-1 record that year, with the only loss coming to Birmingham Brother Rice in a state title matchup that saw Metzelaars throw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Pat Marek on the Mustangs' first drive. But Brother Rice came back with 17 unanswered points to claim a 17-7 win.
Metzelaars moved to tight end and went on to become a Division III All-American in football and basketball at Wabash College, before the Buffalo Bills selected him with the 75th overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft. He played 16 years of pro football, finishing with 383 catches for 3,686 yards and 29 touchdowns to go with four consecutive AFC Championship trophies from 1990-1993. He retired after the 1997 season as the NFL's all-time leader in games played by a tight end (235), and although his championship game bad luck followed him from Portage Central to the Buffalo Bills, Metzelaars finally got his ring in 2007 as an assistant coach for the Indianapolis Colts.
Michigan State University's T.J. Duckett runs through the Michigan defense for a big gain during first quarter action at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. (MLive.com file photo)
2. TODD 'T.J.' DUCKETT, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
As far as prep careers go, Duckett’s time at Loy Norrix compares favorably to any player in the history of Michigan high school football. As a junior, the 6-foot-2, 255-pound athlete accounted for 2,080 yards of offense and 20 touchdowns, while recording 140 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions as a linebacker. ESPN rewarded Duckett by naming him the nation's best junior in 1998, and PrepStar, SuperPrep and Rivalnet (the precursor to Rivals.com) also named him their Defensive Player of the Year for 1998. As a senior, Duckett rushed for 1,623 yards and 21 touchdowns, while adding 920 yards and nine touchdowns through the air. Defensively, he logged 102 tackles, nine sacks and four forced fumbles in his final season at Loy Norrix.
He held scholarship offers from every major football program in Division I, but chose to stay in Michigan to attend MSU, where head coach Nick Saban promised the jumbo athlete a shot at running back. In three seasons with the Spartans, Duckett rushed for 3,379 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry, to go along with 29 touchdowns. His lone scoring reception lives on in MSU lore as the game-winning touchdown in 2001’s 26-24 victory over Michigan as time expired.
Duckett was selected 18th overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2002 NFL Draft. He played four seasons in Atlanta and enjoyed one-year stints with the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks before retiring after the 2008 season. In seven years as a pro, Duckett ran for 2,814 yards and scored 44 touchdowns.
Kalamazoo Central's Greg Jennings carries the ball downfield for a first-quarter touchdown during a game against Niles on Sept. 17, 1999. (MLive.com file photo)
1. GREG JENNINGS, Kalamazoo Central
The Kalamazoo area was loaded with high-level football prep players from the 2001 graduating class, but none went on to enjoy as much success as Kalamazoo Central's Greg Jennings. Along with fellow 2001 K-Central grad Jerome Harrison, Jennings led the Maroon Giants to their best season in 25 years as a senior, playing wide receiver, running back, linebacker and defensive back. Rated as the state's No. 11 player in his graduating class by the Detroit Free Press, Jennings was heavily recruited by Purdue, Michigan and a host of other Midwest programs, but decided to stay close to home and attend Western Michigan.
His Bronco career got off to a slow start, as he sat out his first season and lost eight games to a broken ankle in his redshirt freshman campaign, but he broke out in 2003 with 56 catches for 1,050 yards and 14 touchdowns. Jennings added two more 1,000-yard seasons at WMU and earned the MAC Offensive Player of the Year award in 2005. He still holds WMU single-game records for receptions (16) and receiving touchdowns (4).
The Green Bay Packers selected Jennings with the 52nd pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, and he went on to catch 571 passes for 8,291 yards and 64 touchdowns in 10 pro seasons. One of Jennings career highlights came in Super Bowl XLV, in which he caught four passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns in the Packers’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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