Best Athlete to ever play at UT

I immediately thought of two players.....Eric Berry and Deon Grant. Personally, I think both players were great athletes as well as great players.

Eric Berry probably could have been All-SEC at WR, PR, KR, S, CB, and maybe even LB and RB. Hell, we might've won more games during his career if he had played QB.
 
I think I would have to go with Reggie white. His quickness, speed and agility for his size was beyond elite. Not to mention he could take a 300 OL to the ground with a backhand swim move. He was a very strong man.
 
Probably all the older ones since not much was illegal then.

My son and I visited a D1 school on an unoffical visit several years ago. While there, the AD had a cookout for the dept and someone offered us a hamburger off the grill, which we accepted. About 30 minutes later the baseball coach embarassed, came by to ask if we'd mind paying for the burger due to NCAA rules. Evidently the NCAA has a major thing about cookouts so the level of "improper benefits" would probably cover every athlete to ever play intercollegiate athletics.
 
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Condredge Holloway was very successful in two college sports (baseball & football).He was a great athlete and would have been a 1st rd draft pick MLB
Doug Atkins was 6'8", 270 lbs and came to UT as a basketball player and was also a high jumper. Most dominant football player ever at UT
Ron Widby was a punter and a very good basketball player at UT. Apparently good at several sports
Carl Pickens was an athletic freak who could have been an AA at WR and Safety
Josh Dobbs came to UT to play football and baseball and was a very underrated athlete at QB

But, I will go with Richmond Flowers. A standout player for the Vols from 1965-68, he was named first team All American as a wingback his Jr year and then moved to tailback as a Sr and was a star there as well. But in track, he was a 3 time All American and was the best hurdler in the world in the 120m high hurdles in 1968 and the odds on favorite to win Gold in the Mexico City Olympics. He injured his hamstring prior to the Olympics and was unable to compete.
 
Condredge Holloway was very successful in two college sports (baseball & football).He was a great athlete and would have been a 1st rd draft pick MLB
Doug Atkins was 6'8", 270 lbs and came to UT as a basketball player and was also a high jumper. Most dominant football player ever at UT
Ron Widby was a punter and a very good basketball player at UT. Apparently good at several sports
Carl Pickens was an athletic freak who could have been an AA at WR and Safety
Josh Dobbs came to UT to play football and baseball and was a very underrated athlete at QB

But, I will go with Richmond Flowers. A standout player for the Vols from 1965-68, he was named first team All American as a wingback his Jr year and then moved to tailback as a Sr and was a star there as well. But in track, he was a 3 time All American and was the best hurdler in the world in the 120m high hurdles in 1968 and the odds on favorite to win Gold in the Mexico City Olympics. He injured his hamstring prior to the Olympics and was unable to compete.
I am a fan of Richmond Flowers and watched him play in high school at Sidney Lanier. But I would not put him in the top three. His talent was pure speed and was brought into football at a time that speed was not a forte of the sport. Teams began to recognize this later but Doug Dickey and I think Stan Huntsman knew how to take advantage of his talent at a time when his speed was exceptional. I just do not remember other SEC teams being that progressive during that era.
 
Tony Robinson was a freak of nature...... I just had to come back to add. He beat about half the starting Dallas Cowboys team during the 1987 scab year pretty much by himself. Entertaining game. They had the same problems with him the SEC did back in the day. He was a bad dude.
 
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I would say JG is the best athlete OF ALL TIME. Not just at Tennessee. But anywhere really.

This kid is something SPECIAL! This kid, after several years of starting for the VOLS, has amazing arm strength! He throws with so much power its unreal! He over throws his receivers just about everytime! Why? POWER! It's not his fault the receivers aren't fast enough to catch up to something thrown with that much strength and velocity!

He's so good he always finds a way to be our starting QB. Doesn't matter who the coach is. They know a God when they see one.

He's such a complete specimen. Just watch next time he runs through the T. Everything about him just screams greatness. You can't bench him. He's the face of the University. And for good reason.

This was a hard decision though as I'm sure all of you know. It was between him and Justin Worley.
Outrageous answer. I don't know what to say. It's obviously Steven Pearl đź’Ż
 
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Someone mentioned Pons which I think is fairly premature, but the rationale and comparison immediately brings to mind Kelly Washington.
 
Evan Berry, in my opinion was one hell of an athlete, just because of his return game. Any time your a threat to break one off, you have to be an athlete. Patterson had that ability also...
 
Except for Bill Anderson. Anyone ever hear Bill Anderson tell the story of his tryouts with the Redskins and how he and Doug Atkins conspired to make Bill Anderson look like the only man who could block Doug Atkins?
Heard that on the Host of Volunteers podcast. Funny as hell.
 
I am a fan of Richmond Flowers and watched him play in high school at Sidney Lanier. But I would not put him in the top three. His talent was pure speed and was brought into football at a time that speed was not a forte of the sport. Teams began to recognize this later but Doug Dickey and I think Stan Huntsman knew how to take advantage of his talent at a time when his speed was exceptional. I just do not remember other SEC teams being that progressive during that era.

I can respect what you say on this but Flowers was the fastest man in the world in the 120m high hurdles. Also, he made All American as a wingback and then moved to running back his Sr year to help the team. With that said, there is could definitely be an argument made for Doug Atkins and Condredge Holloway. Not sure who else would be above those three.
 

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