The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1285691
40 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Draft. He was moved again, from center to left guard, then spent a remarkable 16 years blocking in the ever- growing NFL, including four starts with the Bills in the Super Bowl. The two-time Pro Bowl selection is a member of the Buffalo Bills' Wall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame and the NC State Ath- letics Hall of Fame. WR Mike Quick; Phila- delphia Eagles (1982-90): No one celebrated the Phila- delphia Eagles' recent Su- per Bowl victory more than Quick, the former Wolfpack wide receiver who has spent the entirety of his playing and broadcasting career with the franchise. A sur- prise first-round pick by the Eagles in 1982, the native of Hamlet, N.C., quickly estab- lished himself as a two-time All-Pro (1983, '85) and five-time Pro Bowl (1983-87) receiver. He led the NFL in receiv- ing in 1983 and was second in 1985. Before retiring because of knee problems, Quick caught 363 passes for 6,464 yards and 61 touchdowns. He is a member of the Eagles' Hall of Fame and the only former NC State player besides Mario Williams to be named first-team All-Pro more than once. LB Vaughan Johnson; USFL's Jack- sonville Bulls, NFL's New Orleans Saints (1984-94): Among the best linebackers in NC State history, Johnson established him- self as a dominant player in the New Orleans defense. How dominant? In his first season as a starter with the Saints, he helped the team to the franchise's first-ever playoff ap- pearance and New Orleans never had another losing season with him in the lineup. The Morehead City, N.C., native spent eight years in the NFL as part of the Saints' Dome Patrol, a set of dominant linebackers. He earned five All-Pro honors — the most of any NC State product in the NFL — and four Pro Bowl Selections. He retired in 1994 with 669 career tackles, 12 sacks and four interceptions; has been inducted into both the Saints' and Louisiana Sports Halls of Fame; and unfortunately passed away last December. DB Perry Williams; New York Giants (1984-93): The first former NC State player to ever start for a Super Bowl winner, Wil- liams was in the defensive backfield for the Giants in both Super Bowl XXI and XXV. The Rockingham, N.C., native spent his entire career with the Giants, notching 18 interceptions and eight fumble recoveries. DB Dewayne Washington; Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs (1994-2005): After leading NC State as the 1994 team captain and interception leader, Washington was the first-round pick (18th overall) of the Minnesota Vikings in 1994 and was named among the league's best rookies in his first year. He played in the maximum of 16 games in all but one of his 12 seasons in the NFL, posting 31 career interceptions (five returned for touchdowns) and eight fumble recoveries. Washington and his wife, Adama, have worked hard to give back to his hometown of Durham and to NC State. He is currently a member of the NC State Board of Trustees. S Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals (2001-12): It was a surprise to many when the High Point, N.C., native declared for the NFL Draft after only three seasons with the Wolfpack, but his 12-year NFL career indicates it was a pretty good decision. He started 162 of his 181 games with the Cards, including Super Bowl XLIII. In his career, the 2009 first-team All-Pro recorded 903 tackles, 81 tackles for loss, 25.5 sacks, 27 interceptions and 16 forced fumbles. DE Mario Williams; Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins (2006-16): The first ACC player to be taken No. 1 in the NFL Draft, Williams followed his All-Amer- ica, record-setting career with the Wolfpack with All-Pro performances in Houston and Buffalo. He was a first-team All-Pro selection in his second and third pro seasons and was selected to appear in the Pro Bowl six times. In 158 games, Williams notched 97.5 sacks (tied for 36th in NFL history) as one of the league's most dominant pass rushers. QB Russell Wilson, Seattle (2012-pres- ent): Entering his ninth season as the starter for former NC State assistant coach Pete Car- roll with Seattle, Wilson is a seven-time Pro Bowl selection who has taken the Seahawks to a pair of Super Bowls. He doesn't rack up the statistical numbers the same way Rivers does — Wilson has led the NFL exactly twice in statistical categories in his first eight years — but the fleet-footed star has always been about the intangibles, even when he was a two-sport star at NC State and, yes, in his one year as a graduate student at Wisconsin. It would be a miracle if Wilson lasted lon- ger than Rivers or Gabriel in NFL longevity — but, really, is anyone going to doubt that he might? QB Philip Rivers; San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts (2004-present) For a guy whose funny throwing motion will never allow him to be successful in the NFL — as some of his critics said prior to the 2004 draft in which the New York Giants took him with the No. 4 overall pick, then traded him minutes later to the San Diego Chargers — Rivers has done pretty well for himself as he heads into season No. 17 in the league, matching the jersey number he wore at Athens (Ala.) High School, NC State, and with both the Chargers and the Colts. In his first game with the Colts, he will surpass Gabriel and Ritcher as NC State's longest-tenured NFL player, but he seems to be just as spry now as he was when he left Raleigh following his record-breaking career with the Wolfpack. As a pro, Rivers helped establish NC State as "Quarterback U," leading the league at least one season in 16 different statistical categories. He enters 2020 just three touchdown passes shy of 400 and 729 yards short of 60,000 passing yards, totals only five other quarterbacks in league his- tory have ever reached. PHOTO COURTESY INDIANAPOLIS COLTS