Where I Come From: My All-Time Favorite NIU Players
by Mike Breese on Jul 8, 2010 9:06 AM CDT
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Picking my favorite players is like picking my favorite kids if I had any...so here they are in no particular order:
QB Josh Haldi. What's not there to like about Haldi? He was never a flashy quarterback, but managed the games well leading to some of the most successful seasons in NIU history. The Huskies have yet to replace his football skills and smarts on the field. Also became a certified CPA, which first inspired me to become an accounting major (before I switched that 2 more times).
RB Michael Turner. He was like a bowling ball out there, but he also had that extra speed to get it into the end zone. I was worried what was going to happen when Thomas Hammock went down in 2002, but Turner "The Burner" was nothing short of spectacular leading the running game the next couple years. He was NIU's first legitimate Heisman contender for the first time since LeShon Johnson in the mid-nineties. Remember the hot sauce?
RB Garrett Wolfe. This little son of a gun was one of the toughest players ever to play for NIU. He never let down. Even though entire defenses were focused on him from 2004-06, he still found a way to cause damage and get in the endzone.
WRs P.J. Fleck & Dan Sheldon. These guys were pure underdogs with limited athletic ability that always made the clutch catch or return when needed to turn this program around.
LBs Brian "The Beast" Atkinson & Nick Duffy- The defensive centerpieces in both 2003 and 2004 was just an animal. In 2003 Beast even led the team with 6 sacks. I have always been a fan of whatever MLB that the Huskies have had.
LB Alex Kube - He became my favorite player his first couple of years, but kind of trailed off. Here's to him rekindling the destructive spirits in 2010.
Who are your favorite Huskies of all-time?
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My favorite huskie players
I came to NIU as a junior in the fall of 2007. I’ve never seen Michael Turner or Garrett Wolfe play.
Some of my favorite players are:
Larry English – he dominated at the line of scrimmage and got to the QB so quickly. It was to bad he broke his wrist in his senior year.
Josh Allen – I felt he was always underrated. I liked how he played, he was quick, but not very good in stopping the run.
DeMarcus Grady – I love Grady! I think if we ran a spread offense, he would dominate the MAC. He looked lost in the Tenneessee game, but who wouldn’t if you were playing an SEC game, that Eric Berry dominated.
by goniu1523 on Jul 8, 2010 10:23 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
LeShon Johnson.
That’s where it all began for me and what I will ask you is, do you remember the giant, red, foam cowboy hats?
Nicknamed “The Cowboy” because he was a bull-rider from Oklahoma, Johnson was amazing to watch. I’ve yet to see another RB at NIU do what he could do. He was lighting fast and strong. We’ve had some pretty good RBs at NIU, but they’re all kind of a piece of what The Cowboy brought to each game.
While guys like Michael Turner and Garrett Wolfe (my 2nd favorite Huskie) were explosive in the sense that they could break away at any moment, no one could do it like LeShon.
And the thing is, there was absolutely no one else on the team that was a threat to the defense. We had a decent enough line, but he was so fast that if he got to the 2nd level, there was no one out there that was going to take him down…..or catch him.
I always loved how he’d line up what seemed like 15 yards behind the line of scrimage and by the time he got the handoff, he was running at full speed. Just electricity every time he got the ball.
If I were to select my next two, they’d be Garrett Wolfe and Larry English.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Garrett Wolfe
I gotta go with Garrett, although Michael Turner is a close second. My favorite run of Wolfe’s was his 73 yard touchdown in the first series of the game against Michigan. Even though we ended up losing, hearing the crowd go quiet and watching the Michigan coaches vapor lock was priceless. Even the B10 network announcers were stunned. t was like “who are these guys?”
Beating Maryland, then Alabama, was the best overall. The win at Purdue last year got the B10 monkey off of our back.
I think we’ll have a great year this year, and strangely, we’re ranked ahead all of our opponents, at least as of this point. Who would have thought?
Favorite Players
Where to start?! Let’s list a few that come to mind right away… Turner, Azar (Mr. Clutch), Wolfe, Fleck, Hickenbottom (Boogie!), English, Adamski (went to the same HS), Diem, Free. Yeah, pretty much all stars during the years they were playing there.
Bottom line, I’d have to go with Garrett Wolfe, which is kind of surprising to myself. I was always a Turner the Burner fan. In fact, his was the first jersey I ever owned. His running style is one I love. Garrett was electric though. There were times when you thought that Turner would break it at any point but with Wolfe… you thought he’d break one EVERY CARRY! He was so exciting to watch. Starting with his first game against BG (which happened to be part of my bachelor party experience) through his record breaking performances, to watching him hold the Detroit bound sign up after the WMU game, and to him getting drafted by the Bears (I swear my screams woke up the neighbors when his name and the Bears popped up on the screen). His never give up attitude and shear determination are a joy to watch coming from someone his size!
The White Assassin!
Dustin Utschig.
Big blocked punt in 2004 Bowl Game win and then became a defensive machine in 2005.
Gotta go with the BURNER
I’m a little bit biased here because Turner came from my high school, North Chicago…..but a very close second is Larry English – a real stud! and right behind them is Garrett Wolfe – simply amazing what this guy did, given his size
Garrett Wolfe
The combination of his size, speed, explosiveness and strength were ridiculous at times. On any given play you felt like he could bust off a touchdown run. While this wasn’t unique to Garrett, Turner could do it as well, his size and shiftiness were something you could really only believe when you saw it in person. I remember watching the Michigan game from the endzone that he scored the long TD run on and when he sped past everyone and cut inside my jaw just dropped. That would have been an unbelievable game if we didn’t turn the ball over ~6 times. Anyway, Garrett Wolfe was one of the great college football runningback’s I have ever seen and his size just made it that much more awesome. Watching him play every week was unforgettable.
Favorite Players
First year I attended NIU was 2000, and so obviously Thomas Hammock is the first player I think of when I think of Huskie Football, as well as Justin McCareins. I have a feeling though, that most of my answers are going to be the same as the other people. Of course I’ve got to mention Haldi, Fleck, Turner, and Wolfe in here, as well as Larry English. My favorite defensive player had to have been Nick Duffy.
Finally…one person that I haven’t seen mentioned yet. Steve Azar. Could you ask for a more consistent kicker than Steve. I always wondered how NIU could get such good kickers while the BCS schools would have such bad ones.
Azar was great.
I don’t think he ever made it to the NFL, though. Am I wrong? He was one guy who I was looking at to actually get drafted.
Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.
- John Wayne
Favorite Players
5. Azar (guy was automatic)
4. P.J. Fleck (Too many big catches to count) Maryland and Ohio game in 2003
3. Garrett Wolfe (One of the best running backs i have ever personally witnessed got us to the MAC Championship game)
2. Larry English (The most dominant defensive player ever to put on an NIU uniform)
1. Michael Turner (Could burn you with speed or run you over if you got in his way)
by projectmayhem011 on Jul 9, 2010 9:39 AM CDT reply actions
My Favorite Players
5. Ray Smith, the guy hits you like a bus from nowhere.
4. Dustin Utschig, the white assassin, ’nuff said.
3. Garrett Wolfe, I think he should be starting RB for the Bears.
2. Michael “Burner” Turner, He will torch your @$$.
1. Larry English, he eats people.
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