If the Green Bay Packers hope to win a fifth Super Bowl, they may want to find Aaron Rodgers a wide receiver from Virginia Tech.
The Packers have started a receiver from Virginia Tech on three of their four Super Bowl championship teams. Carroll Dale started on the first two Super Bowl champions in 1966-67 and Antonio Freeman started on the third champ in 1996.
Dale caught passes from Bart Starr and Freeman from Brett Favre. Dale led the Packers in receiving in 1967 and Freeman led them in 1996. Dale went to three Pro Bowls in his 14-year career and Freeman went to one in his nine-year career.
Dale and Freeman would line up at wide receiver on the all-time Virginia Tech NFL team. They would be joined by two of the most dynamic players in NFL history, one on the offensive side of the ball and the other on the defensive side – Michael Vick and Bruce Smith.
Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading sacker with 200 and is the only Hokie in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Vick was a four-time Pro Bowler who holds the NFL rushing record for quarterbacks with 6,109 career yards. He passed for 133 touchdowns and rushed for 36 more in his 13-year career. Vick finished as the runnerup for NFL MVP honors in 2004 when the took the Atlanta Falcons to the NFC title game.
Here’s the all-time Virginia Tech NFL team:
QB—Michael Vick, 4 Pro Bowls, 2004 NFL MVP runnerup
HB—Kevin Jones, 5 seasons, 3,176 yards, 27 touchdowns
FB—Tony Paige, 9 seasons, 197 catches, 29 touchdowns
WR—Carroll Dale, 3 Pro Bowls, 438 catches, 52 touchdowns
WR—Antonio Freeman, Pro Bowl, 477 catches, 61 touchdowns
TE—Jeff King, 7 seasons, 156 catches, 12 touchdowns
*-T—Duane Brown, 5 Pro Bowls, 14 seasons, 203 starts
T—George Preas, Pro Bowl, 11 seasons, 126 starts
G—Buzz Nutter, Pro Bowl, 12 seasons, 135 starts
*-G—Wyatt Teller, Pro Bowl, 4 seasons, 44 starts
C—Jim Pyne, 7 seasons, 73 starts
DE—Bruce Smith, Hall of Fame
DE—Robert Brown, 11 seasons, 112 starts, 26 sacks
DT—Tom Beasley, 9 seasons, 2 Super Bowl rings (Steelers)
DT—Tim Settle, 4 seasons, 7 sacks
*-OLB—Tremaine Edwards, Pro Bowl, 4 seasons, 463 tackles
MLB—Mike Johnson, 2 Pro Bowls, 10 seasons, 1,224 tackles
OLB—James Anderson, 10 seasons, 579 tackles
CB—DeAngelo Hall, 3 Pro Bowls, 14 seasons, 43 interceptions
*-CB—Kyle Fuller, 2 Pro Bowls, 7 seasons, 19 interceptions
S—Kam Chancellor, 4 Pro Bowls, 8 seasons, 12 interceptions
S—Pierson Prioleau, 12 seasons, 13 interceptions
K—Shayne Graham, NFL’s 40th all-time scorer (1,260 points)
P—George Roberts, 5 seasons, 41.0-yard average
KR—Eddie Royal, 188 career punt & kickoff returns, 4 touchdowns
ST—Cornell Brown, 7 seasons, 66 ST tackles, Super Bowl ring
*-Still active
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