NC State Wolfpack

The ESPN gurus have spoken: Michael Jordan is the #1 athlete of the 20th century. I can buy that, although my first choice would have been Babe Ruth.

There's no disputing, however, that Jordan is the number one athlete the state of North Carolina has produced over the last 100 years. Even those of you (and I know there are many) who have an inbred bias against MJ's alma mater would have a tough time arguing that point.

I bring this up because Sports Illustrated recently listed the top 50 sports figures produced by each state during the 1900's. In North Carolina, Jordan was #1, followed by NASCAR great Richard Petty, baseball hall of famer Buck Leonard, former NC State basketball great David Thompson and ex Maryland hoops star and Durham native John Lucas.

That's just the top five.

Noticibly absent from the top 50 was Ted Brown. In my mind, that is a glaring omission.

It's been 21 years since Brown wore an NC State uniform, yet he is still the ACC's all-time rushing leader with 4,602 yards. He's also the ACC's career touchdown leader with 51. No other back in league history has had more 100-yard rushing games. Brown finished his career with 27.

The High Point Native, who was a Consensus 1st Team All-American in 1978, rushed for over 1-thousand yards in three of his four college seasons. And he didn't miss by much when he ran for 913 yards his freshman year.

I'll never forget the day Brown shredded Penn State's highly ranked defense to the tune of 251 yards back in 1977.

Brown was also a workhorse at NC State. He still holds school records for rushing attempts in a game (37), a season (302) and career (860).

So how could Sports Illustrated have left Ted Brown out of its list of top 50 sports figures from North Carolina?

That's hard to say. The magazine certainly can't use his NFL career as an excuse. In eight seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Brown ran for a respectible 4,546 yards-a figure that still ranks third in club history. He led Minnesota three times in rushing and twice in receiving.

Ted Brown is arguably the greatest running back in ACC history and he is a North Carolina native. Isn't that at least good enough for a spot in the top 50?