[Red80]

My recollection about Toi was that he repeatedly got burned as a freshman, was average as a sophomore and was a star his last two years. Along with Darrien Gordon, one of the two All-American caliber corners we've had. (Adebo could have been a third had he stayed another year and flourished.)

CB is a tough position. The guy I remember who seemed to improve the most from frosh to senior year was Vaughn Bryant, backfield mate of Darrien Gordon - but a year behind. I have a distinct memory of a particular play where frosh Bryant followied a receiver into the end zone, got completely turned around, then fell as the ball came in for a TD. Ouch. But he ended up as one of our best ever. Bryant holds the Stanford records for pass break ups (18) and passes defended (22) from 1993, with Darrien Gordon one behind on each from 1992. He had a couple of years with the Lions, but not the NFL career of some others.

Nobody came farther than Gordon, who began his Stanford career as a WR. I remember Game 2 in '90 vs UCLA. Gordon was terribly torched in the second half for a couple of TDs during the Bruins comeback win. When asked about his young DB's readiness to play by a sportswriter, Willie Shaw said that he wouldn't have been out there if he wasn't capable. Gordon improved rapidly during that season, which included a big time pick vs Cal. By '92 he was an elite defender who often baited QBs into throwing picks because of his tremendous closing speed. Gordon clocked 4.36 for NFL scouts. He was also a great NFL punt returner, but never had that job at Stanford because of some guy named Glynn Milburn.

[Red80]

My recollection about Toi was that he repeatedly got burned as a freshman, was average as a sophomore and was a star his last two years. Along with Darrien Gordon, one of the two All-American caliber corners we've had. (Adebo could have been a third had he stayed another year and flourished.)

CB is a tough position. The guy I remember who seemed to improve the most from frosh to senior year was Vaughn Bryant, backfield mate of Darrien Gordon - but a year behind. I have a distinct memory of a particular play where frosh Bryant followied a receiver into the end zone, got completely turned around, then fell as the ball came in for a TD. Ouch. But he ended up as one of our best ever. Bryant holds the Stanford records for pass break ups (18) and passes defended (22) from 1993, with Darrien Gordon one behind on each from 1992. He had a couple of years with the Lions, but not the NFL career of some others.

Nobody came farther than Gordon, who began his Stanford career as a WR. I remember Game 2 in '90 vs UCLA. Gordon was terribly torched in the second half for a couple of TDs during the Bruins comeback win. When asked about his young DB's readiness to play by a sportswriter, Willie Shaw said that he wouldn't have been out there if he wasn't capable. Gordon improved rapidly during that season, which included a big time pick vs Cal. By '92 he was an elite defender who often baited QBs into throwing picks because of his tremendous closing speed. Gordon clocked 4.36 for NFL scouts. He was also a great NFL punt returner, but never had that job at Stanford because of some guy named Glynn Milburn.