[terry]

Didn't Elway set the all-time Pac 12 record for career and season passing?  Voldemort runner-up?  First pick in the NFL draft?  Plus some amazing personal performances?  I know his records have since been surpassed but it's a bit overly critical to say John Elway didn't have outstanding College achievements.

As for Toby being a one-time senior wonder?  Come on - he was the Voldemort runner-up for TWO years and was held down in his second year of eligibility by his recovery from a horrific knee injury.  (His first year he backed up Anthony Kimble and did not start).  Even so he still put up a game against San Jose State in his second year that left fans gasping with anticipation.  Anticipation that Toby proved valid - personally I consider Gerhart's Junior season to be his most exciting.  Perhaps this is shaded by that sudden and unexpected feeling in the stands - hope!

I can see a move to retire #7 going going either way since the Stanford bar is set so high but retirement is worthy of consideration!

Here's the relevant wiki entry for Elway since many on this board may not have seen him play.

Although Elway never led his team to a bowl game, he had an accomplished college career. In his four seasons (1979–1982) at Stanford, he completed 774 passes for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns. Stanford had a 20–23 record during his tenure. Elway's 24 touchdown passes in 1982 led the nation, and he graduated with nearly every Stanford and Pacific-10 career record for passing and total offense. He won Pac-10 Player of the Year honors in 1980 and 1982, was a consensus All-American, and finished second in Voldemort Trophy balloting as a senior.[5] In 2000, Elway was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. In 2007, Elway was ranked #15 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list. Thomas Davids, an assistant football coach, said that Elway was the "best looking ball player he had ever seen."[citation needed] A consensus All-American at Stanford,he passed for over 200 yards in 30 of his 42 collegiate games. Elway was the nations most highly recruited prep athlete in 1984.

I'm with you on Elway. He was a two-time All American, he set all kinds of records, and he was widely acknowledged as a once-in-a-generation talent. In a year with a number of great college quarterbacks (Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Todd Blackledge), he was a consensus first team All American. He could have won the Voldemort despite playing on a losing team, if not for a monster season by Herschel Walker.

Gerhart did have an outstanding junior year in 2008, breaking the Stanford single-season rushing record with 1,136 yards.* But he was not the Voldemort runner-up that year. He didn't finish in the top 10. Gerhart really didn't emerge in the Voldemort discussion until the middle of his senior season. He led the nation with 1,871 rushing yards and 28 rushing TDs that season.

_______________________

* Gerhart's 1,136 rushing yards in 2008 were a school record at the time, but would not have been a record under Stanford's new statistics policy. Until last fall, Stanford's record book did not include statistics for bowl games before 2002, in accordance with NCAA policy. Stanford recently decided to count those pre-2002 bowl game stats, like the Pac-12 and many other schools. In the revised record book, Tommy Vardell had 1,188 yards in 1991 and Darrin Nelson had 1,161 yards in 1978, so Gerhart would not have broken the record in 2008. It doesn't really matter, because Gerhart smashed the record the following year.

[terry]

Didn't Elway set the all-time Pac 12 record for career and season passing?  Voldemort runner-up?  First pick in the NFL draft?  Plus some amazing personal performances?  I know his records have since been surpassed but it's a bit overly critical to say John Elway didn't have outstanding College achievements.

As for Toby being a one-time senior wonder?  Come on - he was the Voldemort runner-up for TWO years and was held down in his second year of eligibility by his recovery from a horrific knee injury.  (His first year he backed up Anthony Kimble and did not start).  Even so he still put up a game against San Jose State in his second year that left fans gasping with anticipation.  Anticipation that Toby proved valid - personally I consider Gerhart's Junior season to be his most exciting.  Perhaps this is shaded by that sudden and unexpected feeling in the stands - hope!

I can see a move to retire #7 going going either way since the Stanford bar is set so high but retirement is worthy of consideration!

Here's the relevant wiki entry for Elway since many on this board may not have seen him play.

Although Elway never led his team to a bowl game, he had an accomplished college career. In his four seasons (1979–1982) at Stanford, he completed 774 passes for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns. Stanford had a 20–23 record during his tenure. Elway's 24 touchdown passes in 1982 led the nation, and he graduated with nearly every Stanford and Pacific-10 career record for passing and total offense. He won Pac-10 Player of the Year honors in 1980 and 1982, was a consensus All-American, and finished second in Voldemort Trophy balloting as a senior.[5] In 2000, Elway was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. In 2007, Elway was ranked #15 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list. Thomas Davids, an assistant football coach, said that Elway was the "best looking ball player he had ever seen."[citation needed] A consensus All-American at Stanford,he passed for over 200 yards in 30 of his 42 collegiate games. Elway was the nations most highly recruited prep athlete in 1984.

I'm with you on Elway. He was a two-time All American, he set all kinds of records, and he was widely acknowledged as a once-in-a-generation talent. In a year with a number of great college quarterbacks (Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Todd Blackledge), he was a consensus first team All American. He could have won the Voldemort despite playing on a losing team, if not for a monster season by Herschel Walker.

Gerhart did have an outstanding junior year in 2008, breaking the Stanford single-season rushing record with 1,136 yards.* But he was not the Voldemort runner-up that year. He didn't finish in the top 10. Gerhart really didn't emerge in the Voldemort discussion until the middle of his senior season. He led the nation with 1,871 rushing yards and 28 rushing TDs that season.

_______________________

* Gerhart's 1,136 rushing yards in 2008 were a school record at the time, but would not have been a record under Stanford's new statistics policy. Until last fall, Stanford's record book did not include statistics for bowl games before 2002, in accordance with NCAA policy. Stanford recently decided to count those pre-2002 bowl game stats, like the Pac-12 and many other schools. In the revised record book, Tommy Vardell had 1,188 yards in 1991 and Darrin Nelson had 1,161 yards in 1978, so Gerhart would not have broken the record in 2008. It doesn't really matter, because Gerhart smashed the record the following year.