Who is the "last great App State player"?

[APPdiesel]

I was thinking about the portal and the lack of legacy these players leave behind when they come and go so quickly...and it got me thinking: Until something changes or until some unicorn comes along and gives us an amazing season, who will go down as the last great App State player / App State guy? Zac Thomas? Akeem Davis-Gather? Darrynton Evans? Jalen Moore? Demetrius Taylor? Thomas Hennigan? John Law? Corey Sutton? Jalen Virgil? Who is it *for you*?

[Bigdaddyg1]

Great question. Unless something drastic changes with college football 20 years from now will there have been a player added to our HOF who played from 2020 to 2045? We can get that guy who has an incredible season but surely we won’t enshrine a guy who only spent one season in Boone. Very sad to think but it’s an absolute reality. Same situation will happen at many other schools.

[AppStFan1]

Great question. Unless something drastic changes with college football 20 years from now will there have been a player added to our HOF who played from 2020 to 2045? We can get that guy who has an incredible season but surely we won’t enshrine a guy who only spent one season in Boone. Very sad to think but it’s an absolute reality. Same situation will happen at many other schools.

I think Shemar Jean-Charles, Nick Hampton, D'Marco Jackson, and Cooper Hodges all would be candidates.

[AppStFan1]

I was thinking about the portal and the lack of legacy these players leave behind when they come and go so quickly...and it got me thinking: Until something changes or until some unicorn comes along and gives us an amazing season, who will go down as the last great App State player / App State guy? Zac Thomas? Akeem Davis-Gather? Darrynton Evans? Jalen Moore? Demetrius Taylor? Thomas Hennigan? John Law? Corey Sutton? Jalen Virgil? Who is it *for you*?

I would say that D'Marco Jackson and Cooper Hodges should be. Jackson was an All-American and 2-time All-Sun Belt player along with getting drafted and still in the NFL. Hodges was a 4-year starter, 4-time All-Sun Belt, 1-time All-American, got drafted and is still in the NFL. Both of them would have been 2-3 time All-Americans at the FCS level easily.

[APPdiesel]

I was thinking about schools' various version of a "ring of honor"...whatever apparatus they have in-stadium to recognize great players and how an entire generation will go by without adding anyone new.

[EastHallApp]

Good question. Answer depends somewhat on your definition of great, but the larger, sadder point is that we have a lot of football players willing to wear our logo for a few months but not many Mountaineers left. That, of course, goes for pretty much every other school too.

I did enjoy David Larkins' comments with Bret Strelow that they shared on the App social accounts. Nice to know there are still a few guys around for whom App State means something.

[appdaze]

This is kind of tough.

I kind of have a standard for these things. Even before the portal I felt like you needed to be a big contributor for 3 or more years. Remember we are talking the Greats, not just the really goods. A lot of HoF and Honor rings have become the Halls of the really good instead of just the truly greats.

I think that narrows it down some as well. I enjoyed watching guys like Bryce, Joey, and others but they didn't have the long term impact to be one of the greats. Part of it too is when I think about the eras of App football, who are the first ones to come to mind? Can you tell the story of Appalachian football and not mention their names?

Guys like Virgil, Peoples, Gaither etc .. set records for App. Its gotta be the cream of the crop who put in the time.

[BambooRdApp]

T Heni would be on my list.

Ended career with App State record for career catches (242) while ranking No. 2 in career receiving yards (3,124) and No. 4 in career receiving TDs (23)

[t4pizza]

T Heni would be on my list.

Ended career with App State record for career catches (242) while ranking No. 2 in career receiving yards (3,124) and No. 4 in career receiving TDs (23)

He is definitely up there, but remember he did have an extra year. The dude was a starter for 5 years, I would hope he owned some records in that amount of time.

[BambooRdApp]

T Heni would be on my list.

Ended career with App State record for career catches (242) while ranking No. 2 in career receiving yards (3,124) and No. 4 in career receiving TDs (23)

He is definitely up there, but remember he did have an extra year. The dude was a starter for 5 years, I would hope he owned some records in that amount of time.

I realize that. He stayed at App the whole time. A novelty. I reward loyalty

[AppStFan1]

T Heni would be on my list.

Ended career with App State record for career catches (242) while ranking No. 2 in career receiving yards (3,124) and No. 4 in career receiving TDs (23)

He is definitely up there, but remember he did have an extra year. The dude was a starter for 5 years, I would hope he owned some records in that amount of time.

He was really good. If someone argues his talent then sure but I am with you on the records. I would hope players who are on the field for 5 full seasons would break records. Even with the year extra coming to everyone soon I still don't see us having a great one stay for 5 years anymore. Too many agents are in the ears and trying to get these guys in the portal to leech off them for money.

[appstate24]

T Heni would be on my list.

Ended career with App State record for career catches (242) while ranking No. 2 in career receiving yards (3,124) and No. 4 in career receiving TDs (23)

T Henni was a dude. A great player and Black & Gold to the core. One of my all time favorites.

GO APPS!!

[Yosef84]

T Heni would be on my list.

Ended career with App State record for career catches (242) while ranking No. 2 in career receiving yards (3,124) and No. 4 in career receiving TDs (23)

He is definitely up there, but remember he did have an extra year. The dude was a starter for 5 years, I would hope he owned some records in that amount of time.

It's true that he had an extra year but he was also part of a receiver corps that was pretty deep and talented. Others who rank highly probably didn't have to share the spotlight as much. I would think his percentage of catches to targets is pretty highly ranked. Hennigan was about as reliable as they come

[Saint3333]

Joey

[Yosefgal96]

This is kind of tough.

I kind of have a standard for these things. Even before the portal I felt like you needed to be a big contributor for 3 or more years. Remember we are talking the Greats, not just the really goods. A lot of HoF and Honor rings have become the Halls of the really good instead of just the truly greats.

I think that narrows it down some as well. I enjoyed watching guys like Bryce, Joey, and others but they didn't have the long term impact to be one of the greats. Part of it too is when I think about the eras of App football, who are the first ones to come to mind? Can you tell the story of Appalachian football and not mention their names?

Guys like Virgil, Peoples, Gaither etc .. set records for App. Its gotta be the cream of the crop who put in the time.

Don’t forget Marcus Cox!

[t4pizza]

This is kind of tough.

I kind of have a standard for these things. Even before the portal I felt like you needed to be a big contributor for 3 or more years. Remember we are talking the Greats, not just the really goods. A lot of HoF and Honor rings have become the Halls of the really good instead of just the truly greats.

I think that narrows it down some as well. I enjoyed watching guys like Bryce, Joey, and others but they didn't have the long term impact to be one of the greats. Part of it too is when I think about the eras of App football, who are the first ones to come to mind? Can you tell the story of Appalachian football and not mention their names?

Guys like Virgil, Peoples, Gaither etc .. set records for App. Its gotta be the cream of the crop who put in the time.

Don’t forget Marcus Cox!

This is probably the call as his career rushing record will likely never be touched in today's game. He was a complete stud for his entire career, no way a guy like that last past year 2 at App nowadays.

[Bootsy]

Would Zac be in the mix here?