Players, Coaches and other Dignitaries who provided commentary

Players, Coaches and
other Dignitaries who
provided commentary
legendsofthepalouse.com
Drew Bledsoe: First Team All-America as a junior in 1992. First overall pick in 1993
draft. Youngest player to ever play in the Pro Bowl at age 22 in 1994. Four-time Pro
Bowl pick. Top 10 all-time for NFL passing yardage.
NY Jets
Erik Coleman: Stellar DB and team captain who starred for the Cougs during their
three ten-win seasons in the early 2000’s. Started at safety as a rookie for the division
winning New York Jets in 2004.
Colin Cowherd: Host of ESPN’s national radio show “The Herd.”
Steve Gleason: Three-year starter at LB for the Cougs in the late 1990’s. Special teams
captain for the New Orleans Saints.
Erik Coleman
Bob Griese: QB of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins. NFL Hall of Famer. Goes on
camera to talk about broadcasting the 1998 Rose Bowl with Keith Jackson. (Bob’s
son, Brian was the QB for the Michigan team that played the Cougars in that game.)
Keith Jackson: ABC’s “Voice of College Football.” Currently seen in Gatorade TV ads.
Mark Rypien: All-Conference QB in 1984. Enjoyed a stellar 18-year NFL career. Won
Super Bowl MVP honors in 1992.
ABC Sports
Jack Thompson: First Team All-America QB for the Cougars in 1978. Played for the
Bengals and Buccaneers in the NFL. One of only two Cougars to have his number
retired.
Robbie Tobeck: Centered for Drew Bledsoe on 1992 Copper Bowl Champion Team.
Made All-Pro at Center for the Seattle Seahawks in 2006.
ABC’s Keith Jackson
Marcus Trufant: First Team All-America and first round draft pick in 2002. Starting
cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks.
Kyle Basler: One of WSU’s finest punter’s ever. 2003 finalist for the Ray Guy Award.
Defensive MVP of 2003 Holiday Bowl.
Pat Beach: First Team All-America tight end for WSU’s Holiday Bowl team in 1981.
Played eleven years in the NFL, mostly as a starter for the Colts.
Troy Bienemann: All-Academic Pac-10 tight end who started in every game he ever
played in at WSU and was Team Captain his senior year.
Indianapolis Colts
John Bohler: Son of Doc Bohler, legendary Cougar Athletic Director for whom WSU’s
Bohler Gym is named.
Bobo Brayton: Legendary baseball coach who lettered in football, baseball and basketball for the Cougars in the 1940’s.
Pat Beach
Earl Brenneis: Outstanding HB on Babe Hollingbery’s 1941-42 teams.
Steve Broussard: Second Team All-America RB in 1988. Nine-year NFL career. Holds
WSU records for most TD’s in a career, most rushing attempts in a game and is second
only to Rueben Mayes in career net rushing yards with 3,054.
Detroit Lions
Hugh Campbell: Longtime CEO of the Edmonton Eskimo Football Club. Legendary WR
who played for the Cougs from 1960-62 and led the nation in receiving. Coached in the
NFL and CFL, winning the Grey Cup five straight years in the 1980’s.
Gail Cogdill: Speedy, sure-handed end for the Cougs in late 50’s who went on to become NFL Rookie of the Year in 1960 and a four-time Pro Bowl pick.
Gail Cogdill
James Darling: All-Conference and Second Team All-America MLB for the Cougs in
1996. Longtime starting LB in the NFL.
CJ Davis: Caught 63 passes from Drew Bledsoe in 1992. Fifth in all-time receptions at
WSU.
Will Derting: First Team All Pac-10 LB in 2004.
Washington State University
Bill Doba: Longtime WSU Asst and Head Coach. ESPN.com’s Pac-10 Coach of the Year
in 2003.
Drew Dunning: First Team All-America kicker in 2003. All-time career points leader at
WSU. All-time field goal percentage leader at WSU at .773.
Don Ellingsen
Don Ellingsen: All-West Coast end in 1957. Member of the WSU Hall of Fame along with
his Dad, Tuffy Ellingsen, who played for Babe Hollingbery on the Cougars 1931 Rose
Bowl team.
Dennis Erickson: Coached WSU’s Aloha Bowl Champion team to a 9-3 season in 1988.
Has one of the highest winning percentages in college football. Has coached the
Seahawks and 49ers in the NFL.
Carolina Panthers
Mark Fields: Two-time NFL Pro Bowl LB. Started for the Carolina Panthers after making
inspirational comeback from cancer in 2004.
Bill Gaskins, Jr: Second Team All-America CB for the Cougars “Cardiac Kids” in 1965.
Went on to become a highly regarded Pac-10 referee.
Mark Fields
Jason Gesser: Arguably the greatest QB to ever play at WSU. Broke Jack Thompson’s
WSU Career Passing yardage record in 2002 while leading the Cougars to the Rose
Bowl. Currently plays in the Arena Football League.
Rod Giske: Started both ways in Babe Hollingbery’s final season of 1942, a team that
still holds many Washington State defensive records.
San Diego Chargers
Ken Greene: First Team All-America CB for the Cougars in 1977. 19th player taken in
the 1978 NFL Draft. Enjoyed a seven-year NFL career with the Cardinals and Chargers.
Currently coaches the defensive backs at Washington State.
Brian Griese: Longtime NFL QB. MVP of 1998 Rose Bowl vs. WSU.
Collin Henderson: Versatile All-Academic Pac-10 player who threw six TD’s from his
WR position from 1999-2002 and also played baseball for the Cougs.
Jerry Henderson: WSU QB from 1966-68. Both sons (Collin and Patrick) played at WSU.
Ken Greene
Buster Hollingbery: Son of legendary coach Babe Hollingbery, the most winning coach
in Cougar history. Buster was the center on that 1942 Cougar team that finished 6-2-2.
Washington State University
Chris Jackson: One of Ryan Leaf’s favorite targets on WSU’s Rose Bowl team in 1998.
Arena Football League Offensive Player of the Year in 2003. Currently a star for the
Georgia Force of the AFL.
Michel James: Mark Rypien’s favorite target at WSU in the mid-1980’s. Also starred in
track at WSU.
Randall Johnson: Designed the “Cougar Head Logo” in 1936 and it is still in use by
WSU to this day. Signed it over to his alma mater and never made a dime off the logo.
Bob Kennedy
Bob Kennedy: All America QB who played on the last team Babe Hollingbery ever
coached at Washington State in 1942. Went on to play professionally for the New York
(Football) Yankees.
Tennesse Titans
Gary Larsen: Tough-as-nails All-Conference LB for WSU from 1972-74. Started as a
sophomore on that great Cougar team of 1972 and is remembered for sacking rival
Washington’s QB Sonny Sixkiller and then doing a dance around him enroute to a 2710 win over the Huskies.
Keith Lincoln: All Conference running back for the Cougars in the late 1950’s. Went
on to have a successful career in the NFL. Member of the San Diego Chargers Hall of
Fame.
Rien Long
Rian Lindell: Kicked a 57-yard field goal in 1997, second longest in WSU history. NFL
starter since 2000, currently with the Bills.
Rien Long: Outland Trophy Winner and First Team All-America for Cougs in 2002. Currently plays DT for the Tennessee Titans.
Dan Lynch: First team All-America G who blocked for Rueben Mayes in the early
1980’s. Currently the highly successful CEO of a venture capital firm in Prague.
New Orleans Saints
Rueben Mayes: First Team All-America running back 1984 and 1985. Voted NFL Rookie
of the Year in 1986.
Rueben Mayes
Ammon McWashington: RB on the 1965 Cougars who became the first team outside
the Big Ten to defeat three Western Conference teams on their home fields in one season. Son, Shawn, was a receiver on the Cougars 1998 Rose Bowl team.
Les Metzger: Farm boy from Elma who played Tackle for the Cougars in 1942 before
WWII caused football to be cancelled at Washington State.
Singor Mobley: Starting DB for two winning Cougar bowl teams in the early 1990’s.
Former Dallas Cowboy who currently stars at LB for the Edmonton Eskimos.
Washington State University
Bill Moos: All-Conference OT who played for the Cougars from 1970-72 and went onto
be Athletic Director at the University of Oregon for many years.
Chuck Morrell: All-Conference HB in 1958 who became a Hollywood actor in popular
films “Midway” and “The Sting.”
Bill Moos
John Olerud, MD: All-America WSU catcher in the mid-1960’s who opted for a career in
medicine. Father of ex-MLB star John Olerud. Goes on camera talking about the
“Cardiac Kids,” WSU’s football team of 1965 that kept fans on the edge of their seats
with close victories.
Washington State University
Tom Parry: “Black Tom” was a tackle in 1942, then again in 1946-47. Played in the
East-West Shrine Game. Went on to be an outstanding assistant coach at Washington
State, and then head coach at Central Washington.
Deron Pointer: One of Drew Bledsoe’s favorite targets in the early 1990’s. Listed in
WSU record book 14 times for kickoff returns and receiving.
Mike Price
Mike Price: Head Coach at WSU from 1989-2002. 1997 National Coach of the Year. Second only to the immortal Babe Hollingbery in most wins for a WSU football coach. Won
Scripps “First-Year Coach of the Year” after taking UTEP to the Houston Bowl in 2004.
George Reed: CFL’s second all-time leading rusher. WSU RB 1959, 1961-62. WSU Hall of
Fame.
Rod Retherford: Walk-on DB who saw much playing time on that great Holiday Bowl
team of ’81, and started in ’82. Was accidentally shot in the back of the neck by a
teammate and played two subsequent years with the bullet still lodged in his neck.
Currently does inspirational speaking to teams and corporations.
Arizona Cardinals
Bob Robertson: Voted Washington Sportscaster of the Year 15 times. Has broadcasted
Cougar football since 1964.
Timm Rosenbach: Current WSU QB coach and former standout QB for the Cougars.
Played in the NFL and CFL before coaching.
Timm Rosenbach
Tom Roth: QB and strong leader of the Cougars famed “Cardiac Kids,” 1963-65.
George Rowswell: Lettered at tackle and kicker at WSU from 1936-39. Still coaching
track at North Thurston High School in Olympia in his late 80’s.
Minnesota Vikings
Samoa Samoa: Outstanding WSU QB in 1979-80 who, according to Coach Walden,
“May have been about the best athlete we ever had at quarterback.” Played for the
Cincinnati Bengals in the early 1980’s.
Raonall Smith: Cougar LB from 1998-2001. Fifth LB taken in the 2002 NFL Draft. Currently plays for the St. Louis Rams.
Raonall Smith
Paul Sorensen: First Team All-America safety on that great Cougar Holiday Bowl team
of 1981.
Bill Steiger: Cougar end in the late 1950’s who was First Team All-America. Made a
remarkable comeback after being temporarily paralyzed in a diving accident.
Jim Sweeney: Cougar Head Coach from 1968-75 who went on to become a legend at
Fresno State, where the field is named for him.
Detroit Lions
Reverend Junior Tupuola: Outstanding but oft-troubled LB in the early 1980’s who was
kicked off two CFL teams for drinking and brawling before a remarkable revival in the
90’s. Currently an ordained minister in Southern California.
Mike Utley
Mike Utley: Named to six All-America teams in 1988. Was enjoying a stellar NFL career with Detroit before a football accident paralyzed him in a 1991 game. He gave a
thumbs up to his fans and teammates as he was being wheeled off the field, and this
has become his trademark. Currently runs the Mike Utley Foundation, which aims to
find a cure for paralysis.
Jim Walden: Cougar Head Coach from 1978-1987. Responsible for signing superstars
like Mark Rypien, Rueben Mayes and Steve Broussard. Currently calls Cougar football
games for KXLY/Cougar Sports Radio.
Duke Washington: All-Conference FB for the Cougs in 1955. First African American
ever to play in Texas Memorial Stadium versus University of Texas, where he proceeded to reel off a 73-yard TD run.
Jim Whatley: Three-year starter at WR for WSU from 1978-80. Became a folk hero
when he prematurely cut off his leg cast before playing the arch-rival Washington.
Held the WSU record for most consecutive games with a catch upon graduation.
Drafted by the Seahawks.
Mark Wicks: Three-year starter at Rover Back for WSU from 1965-67.
Duke Washington
Mike Wilson: WR for WSU in the late 1970’s. Owns four Super Bowl rings from the
49ers dynasty days. Currently coaches the Arizona Cardinals tight ends.
Cory Withrow: Offensive captain on the Cougs 1998 Rose Bowl team. Currently plays
center for the San Diego Chargers.