Ward Pell remembers the night Wilber Marshall was told he was being moved from tight end to linebacker like it was yesterday. Recruited out of Titusville Astronaut as a tight end, Marshall started at that position as a true freshman in 1980. It was in the spring of 1980 that Charley Pell told Marshall he was being switched to outside linebacker because the Gators had a logjam at tight end with James Jones, Mike Mularkey and Chris Faulkner.
“He came over to our house that night, which wasn’t anything unusual and Charley had already gone to bed,” recalls Ward, Charley Pell’s widow, who now lives in Gadsden Alabama. “When I opened the door, there he was with tears in his eyes. He thought the world was coming to an end and he was thinking about transferring. We talked and talked and I told Wilber that Charley had said that with his speed and how strong and athletic he was that he could be one of the best linebackers ever. He decided to give it a try. It was after midnight and he stayed over at our house … slept in the room with Carrick (the Pell’s son), which is what he did a lot. Wilber and Carrick were inseparable buddies in those days.”
Charley Pell woke at 5 a.m. as he always did and he found Ward in the kitchen preparing his breakfast. Charley told Ward he was worried about Wilber.
“I told him go look and see who’s sleeping in the other bed in Carrick’s room,” Ward said. “He went down the hall and when he saw Wilber, he knew everything was going to be all right.”
That move transformed the career of Wilber Marshall, who became the most feared defensive player in the nation. Selected the national defensive player of the year in 1982 and 1983, Marshall was a game-changer who knocked three FSU quarterbacks out of the game in the final home game of his career, a 53-14 drubbing of the Seminoles. Marshall was so feared that before the game he stood at midfield taunting FSU All-American tailback Greg Allen. After a particularly hard hit by Marshall in the second quarter, Allen took himself out of the game.
When it comes to Best Ever in the Southeastern Conference and the subject turns to linebackers, picking someone for the top spot isn’t easy. Any of the first five could be considered deserving of the honor. Lee Roy Jordan (Alabama) made first team All-America on both sides of the ball; Cornelius Bennett (Alabama) and Woodrow Lowe (Alabama) both made All-America three times. Derrick Thomas had an astounding 27 sacks in his senior year in 1988.
Here is the Gator Country Best Ever for SEC linebackers:
1. WILBER MARSHALL, FLORIDA: A three-time first team All-SEC selection, Marshall was a consensus first team All-American in 1982-83. His game against Southern Cal in 1982 is widely regarded as one of the greatest one-man defensive shows in the history of the SEC. Sean Salisbury still hears the footsteps after Marshall’s dominating four-sack performance that also included several stops behind the line as he ran down Southern Cal’s tailbacks from behind. Wilber went on to have an outstanding pro career, earning Super Bowl rings with the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins. He made All-Pro three times and was the 1992 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
2. LEE ROY JORDAN, ALABAMA: Lee Roy makes it as a two-way player. One game described his college career and that was the Orange Bowl in 1963 when Alabama beat Oklahoma. Lee Roy played every snap, graded out 100 percent as Bama’s center on offense and made 30 unassisted tackles as the middle linebacker. Until the day he died, Bear Bryant raved about what Lee Roy Jordan did in that game and about what a special player he was on both sides of the ball. “He was one of the finest football players the world has ever seen,” Bryant said. Jordan was an All-American center and middle linebacker in college. In the pros, Jordan was a five-time All-Pro selection with the Dallas Cowboys. He intercepted 32 passes in his career, third best in NFL history for a linebacker. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and is expected to be named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame sometime in the next couple of years.
3. CORNELIUS BENNETT, ALABAMA: The winner of the Lombardi Trophy in 1986, Bennett was a three-time first team All-American (1984-86). He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1986 and was selected the Most Valuable Player in the Southeastern Conference. In his Alabama career, Bennett recorded 287 tackles and had 21.5 sacks. Drafted in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts with the second pick in the 1987 draft, Bennett was a five time Pro Bowl selection and a three-time first team All-Pro. He was anmed to the NFL All-Decade team of the 1990s. Bennett was a first ballot selection to the College Football Hall of Fame.
4. DERRICK THOMAS, ALABAMA: The all-time sacks leader for the SEC (52), Thomas was the scariest pass rusher the league has ever seen. A unanimous first team All-American in 1988, Thomas won the Butkus Award and finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy balloting after a record-setting season with 27 sacks. Drafted as the fourth pick in the first round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989, Thomas made the Pro Bowl nine straight years and was a three-time first team All-Pro selection and second team All-Pro three times. He had 126.5 sacks in his NFL career. He died of complications from a traffic accident in 2000. Thomas is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
5. WOODROW LOWE, ALABAMA: Like Cornelius Bennett, Lowe was a three-time first team All-American (1973-75) and a three-time first team All-SEC pick. He started all four years at Alabama on teams that won four SEC championships (1972-75) and one national championship (1973). He had 315 tackles in his Alabama career, which ranks third all-time in school history and he still holds the single season standard with 135 tackles. Known for his outstanding speed and ability to pursue, Lowe was a hard hitter even though he was considered under-sized. Lowe spent 11 years in the National Football League, playing his entire career with the San Diego Chargers.
5. STEVE KINER, TENNESSEE: During the 1960s, Tennessee was known as Linebacker U and Kiner was the best of the bunch in Knoxville. A tackling machine, Tennessee outrecruited Florida for this sideline to sideline Tampa product. He was two-time first team All-SEC and two-time first team All-American (1967-68). Kiner finished sixth in the 1967 Heisman Trophy balloting. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
6. PATRICK WILLIS, OLE MISS: The winner of the 2006 Butkus Award, Willis was a two-time All-American (2005-06) and two-time first team All-SEC selection. A sideline-to-sideline type, Willis totaled 355 tackles in his college career including 137 during his senior season. He was the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2006. Selected 11th in the first round by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2007 draft, Willis was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He has been selected All-Pro in both of his NFL seasons.
7. FRANK EMANUEL, TENNESSEE: Emmanuel was a two-time All-American and two-time first team All-SEC selection (1964-65). There was no official stat for tackles in the SEC at the time and few teams even kept tackle stats but Emanuel’s numbers for his last two seasons would have been off the charts. He’s best remembered for making several critical solo stops in Tennessee’s 7-7 tie with Alabama in 1965. Emanuel played four years of pro football with the Miami Dolphins after his college career. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
8. BARRY KRAUSS, ALABAMA: One of the great photos ever to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated is Barry Krause meeting Penn State’s Mike Guman at the height of his leap over the top of the pile at the goal line of the 1979 Sugar Bowl to preserve a 14-7 win for Alabama’s national champions. Krause was a two-time All-SEC (1978-79) choice and a first team All-America in 1978. A native of Pompano Beach, Krauss was a first round draft pick of the Baltimore Colts. He played 11 years of pro football.
9. ALONZO JOHNSON, FLORIDA: A two-time All-SEC and All-America (1984-85) selection, Johnson inherited the role as the disruptive force on defense for the Gators after the departure of Wilber Marshall to the NFL. He finished his Florida career with 355 tackles, 27 sacks and 55 tackles for loss. Johnson had 11 sacks in 1984 and followed that up with 12 in 1985. He was a finalist for the Butkus Award in 1985. Drafted in the second round by the Philadelphia Eagles, Johnson played two seasons in the NFL.
10. D.D. LEWIS, MISSISSIPPI STATE: The youngest of 14 children, Lewis was thought too small for both college and pro football but nobody ever found a way to measure heart and that’s something he had plenty of. Bear Bryant called Lewis “the best linebacker in the country” and Vince Dooley once said Lewis was the best linebacker Georgia ever faced. A two-time first team All-SEC selection, Lewis was All-America in 1966-67. He was the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1967. Lewis went on to have an outstanding career with the Dallas Cowboys, playing in five Super Bowls and earning two Super Bowl championship rings. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
HONORABLE MENTION: Dwayne Rudd, Alabama; Keith McCants, Alabama; DeMeco Ryans, Alabama; Greg Carr, Auburn; Aundray Bruce, Auburn; Karlos Dansby, Auburn; Takeo Spikes, Auburn; Ralph Ortega, Florida; Scot Brantley, Florida; Jevon Kearse, Florida; Mike Peterson, Florida; Brandon Spikes, Florida; Riy Winston, LSU; Michael Brooks, LSU; Warren Capone, LSU; Joe Fortunato, Mississippi State; Johnnie Cooks, Mississippi State; Kalimba Edwards, South Carolina; Jack Reynolds, Tennessee; Al Wilson, Tennessee; Keith DeLong, Tennessee; Chip Healy, Vanderbilt; Jamie Duncan, Vanderbilt.