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Remember Braylon Webb? He was awesome.
That great David Roth – no, not that one – developed a bit while working at Deadspin where he would open packs of 80s and 90s baseball cards on camera and remember the guys. There are a lot of guys to remember from that era of baseball – Chili Davis, for instance – so it is no surprise that Remembering Some Guys was a viral smash.
The format has also been a reliable engagement farm on Twitter, as posts like these tend to make the rounds every few months.
https://x.com/DeferredWalkOn/status/1522666203470340103
I have two thoughts about this tweet. Firstly, mental health is important. Take care of yourself, talk to your loved ones, seek the assistance of a professional. And also: Xzavie Jackson.
Last week we were inspired to remember some guys on offense, leaving this week for the defensive side of the ball. But some of you jumped the gun and started remembering defensive guys already! I understand, it’s exciting.
We are going to revisit a guy MIZ Portlandia already remembered in the comments last week, because I remember him too. Harold Brantley was a favorite of mine, who had one of our coolest plays of the Pinkel era, a fake punt run for a first down at Ole Miss. This was during the Hugh Freeze era, with the “land sharks” defense; Brantley popped up after getting run out of bounds beyond the sticks and hit the Ole Miss defenders with their own helmet-fin celebration. Always a fun time, the Uno reverse celebration.
Brantley came at the tail end of the decade of D-Line Zou dominance. I remember Craig Kuligowski, the coach who helped make a lot of that era click. If you don’t, I don’t recommend googling him. Doesn’t seem like he is doing so hot these days. There were some fun guys behind all the blue-chippers on the D-Line – of course you remember the Shane Rays, Michael Sams, and Aldon Smiths. But don’t forget Ziggy Hood. Don’t forget Matt “Don’t Call Me Dan” Hoch. And of course there was Stryker Sulak, a man with a Star Wars-ass name if I ever heard one.
We’ve had lots of great defensive ends named Smith, yeah? Aldon Smith, of course, who we already remembered. Jacquies Smith, who played longer in the NFL than you remember. Some guy named Justin Smith – ever heard of him? Don’t forget Brian Smith, of course, #39 in your programs, and the reason why Brad Smith had to wear the awkward “Bd Smith” nameplate jersey.
Let’s move up a level and remember some linebackers. I remember James Kinney, because I was on campus in the fall of 2003, which means I remember him turning into some combination of Ray Lewis, Dick Butkus and Lawrence Taylor and single-handedly wrecking Nebraska on a rainy night. I remember Zaviar Gooden, underrated in the annals of great Mizzou LB. I remember Van Alexander, a big recruiting win and a Columbia native, who overcame the injury bug to star on the Chase Daniel teams.
Missouri hasn’t always had great defensive backs. Pass defense was legitimately concerning in the early years of the Pinkel era, and always felt like the weakest points of even the good teams. I remember David Overstreet. I also remember Ian Simon. I remember Akayleb Evans and Allie Green, a pair of Tulsa transfer cornerbacks. Evans is still in the NFL. These two arrived entering the 2021 season and were early proof of concept of Eli Drinkwitz’ ability to get veteran contributors from the transfer portal.
I also remember Aarion Maxey-Penton, who started as a freshman at corner, and only got better. And of course I remember Aarion’s younger brother, George, who was the subject of the greatest Mizzou gif of all time!
Who do you remember?
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