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Best football player to ever come out of NC

Bruce Matthews is a great pick, I still think Julius Peppers is one of the freakish athletes of all time.

Mario Williams aint to shabby ether.
 
Trot Nixon.. decided to play baseball, but great QB at New Hanover.

Marcus Jones. 6'6 defensive end at unc was a national player of the year. Broke lawrence Taylor mark for sacks while at UNC. Actually should have been apart of the great Tampa Bay defense That won suoerbowl, but was injured.

Tori Holt. Might be a HOF.

Can't believe I forgot his name, but RB that went to state and at one time had national rushing record. Went to Albermarle

Tony Baker another RB who I believe held national HS rushing record.

The best is hard to name, but by position might be interesting.
 
With Minnesota:

2 time All-American ('61-'62)
Outland Trophy Winner ('62)
3rd in Heisman voting as a DEFENSIVE LINEMAN ('61)
1960 National Champion
College Football Hall of Fame
College graduate May 14, 2015

With Kansas City:

6× AFL All-Star selection (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969)
5× First-team All-AFL selection (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969)
Second-team All-AFL selection 1964
AFL Champion, 1966 and 1969
Super Bowl IV Champion, 1969 season
AFL All-Time Team
3x NFL Pro Bowl selection (1970, 1971, 1972)
First-team All-Pro selection 1970)
Second-team All-Pro selection 1971
NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
Kansas City Chiefs retired his number 78
 
His University of Minnesota teammate, Carl Eller, out of Atkins High School in Winston-Salem, would have similar stats.
 
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Chester McGlockton
Career highlights and awards


Good but no where even close to Bell.

Choosing the best player to ever come out of N.C. is much like choosing which of your kids is the best.There are lots of great players,many mentioned in this post,but there is none a clear favorite.
 
Lincolnton, one of the greatest thrills of my high school career was meeting Carl Eller. His nephew, Anthony Mitchell, was in my high school class and was my Bulldog teammate. One day after practice, he strolled through the locker room door to give Anthony a ride home. We had a couple of NFL guys, Ron Carpenter and Dan Medlin, who came around some during the summer, so most of us weren't that easily impressed. But when Mr. Eller came into the locker room, a lot of jaws dropped, including mine. Needless to say, Anthony's approval rating rose considerably for the rest of the year.
 
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I met Roman Gabriel about 20 years ago (he spoke at an East Gaston Athletic Banquet).....super nice guy.
I also ran into Tony Dorsett in Myrtle Beach a few years back. He was cordial and gave me an autograph (even though he said he generally didn't give autographs). You could tell he was pretty struck on himself.
 
Cheerduck, you're right. Picking a player is in the eye of the beholder. Hope all is well with you, my friend.

OC Davis, it's always good to hear from you. I'm not surprised you and Carl Eller's paths' crossed, both of you being from the Triad, but also football meaning so much to you and those in Thomasville...Not only did you meet a special persona in Mr. Eller, but he got to meet one, in you, too...Hope you have a good summer.
 
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To me awards and etc don't make the best players just like they don't make the best people. Some of the best athletes and people never get the credit they are due. Also it's hard to pick a best player of all time because skill sets change in time and the game has changed so much over time. To me it's like people comparing MJ and Lebron. They are so different. Size, skill sets, and surrounding talent. For example, if Micheal Jordan ,Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had played on the same team how man titles would they have won? Lebron hasn't won 6 but the ones he has won have come with 2 other all stars on his team. So who is better MJ or Lebron I don't know but you can make a argument for each of them. You talk about all these awards and achievements but without good teams to play on you are not gonna get those. Example, how many players win the MVP in any sport on a losing team? Not many. I can't speak for the entire state but I can give you top five from Owen. Jager Gardner, Brad Johnson, Shawn Gibbs, Al Ellis, and James Lewis.
 
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