79 Days Until the College Football Season Kicks Off

Welcome to the trenches.

Woohoo, we’ve made it to the offensive line portion of this countdown and today for day 79, we get to highlight one of the best offensive line prospects ever that turned into one of the biggest busts in NFL history. 

The Incredible Bulk, Tony Mandarich was HUGE! Mandarich stood at 6’6, 315 pounds at Michigan State University where he made a name for himself as “The Best Offensive Line Prospect Ever”.

Mandarich never panned out and is regarded as one of the leagues biggest busts of all time. With that being said, he was a tremendously dominant offensive tackle for the Spartans.

He was recruited to East Lansing by the Spartans defensive back coach, Nick Saban. Seems like he’s always had an eye for talent. While at Michigan State, Mandarich was named the 1987 and 1988 BIG Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and was an All American in 1988.

Part of the reason that Mandarich was touted as the best offensive line prospect ever was his insane measurable’s. He ran a 4.65 40 yard dash, had a 10 foot, 3 inch broad jump, a 30 inch vertical, and repped 225 on bench press 39 times.

Mandarich was looked at as a “larger than life” figure in college because of his colorful personality. He challenged Mike Tyson to a fight, was a diehard Guns N’ Roses fan, and would miss public events due to raging hangovers and being blackout drunk.

While many believed the Incredible Bulk was using steroids in college, it was never proven until 2008 when he admitted to using them prior to the 1988 Rose Bowl and falsified a drug test.

The thing that really hangs the bust label on Mandarich is that he was the only top five pick in the 1989 draft to not make the Hall of Fame. Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders were the other four selected in the top five. Yikes.

Tomorrow we get to look at one of my favorite offensive lineman in the league and a guy who anchored the Irish offensive line.