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Silver Squad #2: RB Toby Gerhart

I've been writing in this space for the past fifteen months, and if there's one regret I have about starting when I did it's this. I never had the chance write about Toby Gerhart (2006-09).

You remember Toby. 

Even though he had put up some astounding numbers in high school, expectations were low for him upon his arrival at the Farm. Other Pac-10 schools had recruited him, but most had seen his bruising running style and physical frame and figured he translated into a fullback at the collegiate level. Stanford offered him a chance to compete at the tailback position -- and play baseball as well -- so Toby became a Cardinal.

He played in every game as a freshman, and even started once, but his contribution was modest: 106 carries for 375 yards. Even so, he entered his sophomore campaign as one of the top backs on the squad and rushed for 140 yards on just twelve carries in the season opener against San Jose State... before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the third quarter.

Expectations are obviously reduced for any running back returning from a serious knee injury, but Gerhart had a phenomenal junior season, one of the best of any Stanford running back in history. He broke Tommy Vardell's single-season school rushing record, racking up 1,136 yards, and also ran for fifteen touchdowns. Following the season he was named second-team All-Pac-10 and seemed poised for an historic senior season.

Silver Squad #3: OT Bob Whitfield

The first time I heard about Bob Whitfield (1989-91), he was still in high school, but he was already creating a buzz. A Sports Illustrated piece speculating about the future of the NFL included a projected All-Pro team for five or ten years down the road, and Whitfield was selected as a starting offensive lineman even though he was yet to play a single down as a collegian.

Silver Squad #4: FL Troy Walters

The first thought that comes to mind when I think about Troy Walters (1996-99) is his odd position listing. He was obviously a wide receiver, but for some reason he was archaically listed as a flanker, as if he were playing for Gil Thorp instead of Tyrone Willingham. My friends and I had lots of fun with this, noting that he was frequently referred to in game summaries as "Flanker Walters." We liked to wonder if there were people out there who might think that was his actual name. During his third season, we'd see phrases like "the junior flanker scored a touchdown in the third quarter." Junior Flanker -- another great name.

Silver Squad #5: RB Brad Muster

I first started hearing stories about Brad Muster (1984-87 within the first few days after my arrival on campus as a freshman in the fall of 1987. I had been a huge sports fan for all of my young life prior to then, but sadly I knew only two things about Stanford football: there was John Elway, and there was the Play. I had never heard of Brad Muster.

Silver Squad #6: LB Ron George

Sometimes it's a drag being older than the internet. After scouring the web for weeks looking for a photo that would do justice to the fierce combination of speed and strength that linebacker Ron George (1990-92) brought to the field each Saturday afternoon, the serene portrait at left was the only image I could find. It doesn't really matter. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but a mountain of statistics and school records says a lot more than that.

George's Stanford career was short, but he made the most of his three years. He led the team in sacks and tackles for loss each year, and stands atop the school list for career TFLs with sixty-one. His thirty-three career sacks are good for second in Cardinal history.

Silver Squad #7: RB Glyn Milburn

During my time at the university it was rare that a blue chip recruit chose Stanford over the traditional football factories, and Glyn Milburn (1990-92) was one of the few.

The best thing about his commitment was that it came with a great story. Apparently Milburn was enamored with Stanford as a high school senior, but his parents forced him to go to Oklahoma, a much more likely destination for one of the best high school running backs in the nation. Milburn dutifully signed with the Sooners, but as soon as he turned 21 and became his own man, he left Oklahoma for Stanford and lived happily ever after. Looking back twenty years later I can't imagine that that's completely true, but at the time I took it as gospel.

Silver Squad #8: WR Ed McCaffrey

For the past twenty years I've had a poster of Easy Ed McCaffrey (1986-87; 1989-90) hanging in my classroom. It had been the central photograph adorning the 1990 Stanford Football schedule poster, but when I started teaching I simply cut out the photo, laminated it, and slapped it on the wall. It's hung in six different classrooms, and two weeks from now Ed will be looking down at the twenty-first group of students to learn at his feet.

The photo is from the 1989 Notre Dame game at Stanford. The photographer took his image from the back corner of the south end zone. McCaffrey has just gathered in a pass, and his right toe is dragging the turf just before he will fall out of bounds. It's a touchdown. A packed Stanford Stadium stretches out behind him, and a crystal blue California sky completes the scene. The Cardinal lost that game, but twenty-two years later, it doesn't matter.

Silver Squad #10: FB Tommy Vardell

If we're to believe the mythology, then-head coach Denny Green gave Tommy Vardell (1988-1991) his nickname following the Notre Dame game in 1990. "Touchdown Tommy" had put his stamp on that game by scoring four one-yard touchdowns in the 36-31 Cardinal upset over the top-ranked Fighting Irish at South Bend. (Also, check out this great piece on the game written by Stanford play-by-play voice Bob Murphy. Great stuff.)

When the nickname came isn't so important, but it certainly stuck. When you look at Vardell's numbers, his place at #10 on this list might seem a bit high. After all, his 1,789 career rushing yards are only good enough for tenth on the all-time Stanford list behind people like Mike Mitchell, Brian Allen, Kerry Carter, and Anthony Kimble, and current back Stepfan Taylor will likely cruise past him in the third or fourth game this year.

Some running backs, though, cannot be measured simply with yards from scrimmage. Vardell was in the perfect place at the perfect time. Coach Green had shrewdly realized that size does matter when putting together an offensive line, and he took that to an extreme. Three hundred pound linemen seem to grow on trees nowadays, but in the early 1990s Stanford football was noteworthy for being one of the few offensive lines in all of football -- NFL included -- to average three hundred pounds from tackle to tackle. Who better to run behind a line like that, than a bruising fullback like Vardell?

Silver Squad #11: FS Tank Williams

As Stanford football has returned to national prominence, much of the recent improvement can be attributed to the great strides made by the defense, specifically the defensive backfield, which always seemed to be an area of profound weakness in years past. One of the best defensive backs to ever play for the Cardinal, however, was Tank Williams (1998-2001).

Williams was that rare player who made an immediate impact upon his arrival, as he played in ten games as a freshman. He earned a starting position as a sophomore, and was a key part of that 1999 Pac-10 championship team. He missed two games during the middle of the season due to injury, but returned to start in the Rose Bowl.

His improvement continued, as he developed into one of the top players in the conference as a junior and was named second team All-Pac-10. Before his senior season, Coach Tyrone Willingham boldly stated that Williams would be the best safety in the conference, and Williams's play did nothing to dispel that idea. An incredibly versatile player, his speed (4.4 in the 40) allowed him to defend the conference's best receivers, and his size (225 pounds) allowed him to play close to line of scrimmage and even line up as a linebacker when needed. He elevated his play enough to earn first team All-Pac-10 honors, and he became the first defensive back in Stanford history to be named first team All-America. 

As the current Stanford defense leads the way with a crew of talented safeties and cornerbacks, the player those defensive backs should be emulating is Tank Williams.

Previously ranked:
#12 Steve Stenstrom
#13 Riall Johnson
#14 Kailee Wong
#15 Eric Heitmann
#15 Chris Marinelli
#16 John Lynch
#17 Kwame Harris
#18 Chase Beeler
#19 Willie Howard
#20 Shayne Skov
#21 DeRonnie Pitts
#22 Anthony Bookman
#23 Sione Fua
#24 Richard Sherman 
#25 John Hopkins

*My first thought was to try to come up with a list of the best Stanford football players of all-time, but I quickly realized that I'm not qualified. I've only been watching Stanford football since the fall of 1987, so I can't really comment intelligently on players who suited up before then. Sure, I know that Jim Plunkett belongs, but I know nothing about Randy Vataha. Sports Illustrated once named Ernie Nevers the greatest college football player of all-time, and that's certainly good enough for me, but how can I possibly rank him against players of a more modern era? So I decided to create a list of the best Stanford players that I've actually seen in my time as a fan, and since that's roughly twenty-five years, I'm calling it the Silver Squad. (Catchy, isn't it?) Anyway, I'd love to hear your own memories of these players, and I won't be offended if you argue about who should or should not have been included on this list. Enjoy.

[Photo Credit: Gina Gayle/San Francisco Chronicle]

Silver Squad #12: QB Steve Stenstrom

As Andrew Luck has rocketed to the tops of many of Stanford's single-season and career passing lists, he's pushed past several recognizable names: Jim Plunkett, John Elway, and Guy Benjamin, to name a few.

But the name sitting atop most of those lists might not be as familiar to most college football fans. Stanford fans, though, will remember Steve Stenstrom (1991-1994). Stenstrom was never named All-America or even All-Pac-10, but he won the starting position as a freshman and was fortunate enough to play his final three years under the tutelage of Bill Walsh. Stenstrom took advantage.

Stenstrom and Walsh were a match made in heaven. Walsh was famously drawing up plays on napkins during team flights, then passing them up the aisle to Stenstrom, who would execute them to perfection the next day. My favorite was something my friends and I still refer to as the "Hands on Hips Play." On a critical third and short, Stenstrom came up to the line of scrimmage, barked at his lineman, then stepped away from center in disgust and walked half way to the sideline before stopping and staring at Walsh with his hands on his hips. The rest of the team, meanwhile, had stayed in place, hoping the defense would relax and get out of their stances. They ran a direct snap play that went for no gain. The play hadn't worked, but it didn't really matter. It was fun.

But Stenstrom was more than just smoke and mirrors. If you take a glance at the passing section of the Stanford record book, it's stunning to see how often Stenstrom's name is mentioned. He authored three of the ten biggest passing games in school history, and he's second only to Elway in career touchdowns. (You might remember that Stenstrom and Elway had been tied for the single-season record before Luck broke that mark last year.)

Luck will leave Stanford after this season holding many of these passing records, but there are two of Stenstrom's marks that he likely won't be able to erase. Stenstrom holds Stanford records for career yardage (10,531) and career 300-yard passing games (15). Both of those totals will likely stand forever.

Stenstrom's best year was probably his junior year, 1993. He completed 300 of his 455 passes for 3,627 yards (all Stanford records) and 27 touchdowns (a record until last year). As good as Stenstrom was, the team was a disappointment. They were crushed 46-17 by Cal in the Big Game to cap off a 4-7 season. I ran into Stenstrom as I walked out of Stanford Stadium after that game. He was still in his uniform, standing and talking to someone who looked to be a family member. There had been lots of talk about the possibility of his leaving school and heading for the NFL, so this could've been his final game. I interrupted his conversation with three words: "Please come back."

He looked at me vaguely, and it seemed like all seven of that season's losses were weighing him down. He was a beaten man. "We'll see," he said. He would return for his senior season, but 1994 would be even worse than 1993 as the team would finish 3-7-1 and Stenstrom's numbers would drop precipitously.

It didn't really matter, though. He had completed one of the greatest careers in Stanford history, and that's how he should be remembered.

Previously ranked:
#13 Riall Johnson
#14 Kailee Wong
#15 Eric Heitmann
#15 Chris Marinelli
#16 John Lynch
#17 Kwame Harris
#18 Chase Beeler
#19 Willie Howard
#20 Shayne Skov
#21 DeRonnie Pitts
#22 Anthony Bookman
#23 Sione Fua
#24 Richard Sherman 
#25 John Hopkins

*My first thought was to try to come up with a list of the best Stanford football players of all-time, but I quickly realized that I'm not qualified. I've only been watching Stanford football since the fall of 1987, so I can't really comment intelligently on players who suited up before then. Sure, I know that Jim Plunkett belongs, but I know nothing about Randy Vataha. Sports Illustrated once named Ernie Nevers the greatest college football player of all-time, and that's certainly good enough for me, but how can I possibly rank him against players of a more modern era? So I decided to create a list of the best Stanford players that I've actually seen in my time as a fan, and since that's roughly twenty-five years, I'm calling it the Silver Squad. (Catchy, isn't it?) Anyway, I'd love to hear your own memories of these players, and I won't be offended if you argue about who should or should not have been included on this list. Enjoy.

[Photo Credit: Otto Greule, Jr./Getty Images]