George Webster, Defensive Back
Michigan State, 1964-1966

George Webster was slightly overshadowed by being on the same team with All-Everything defensive lineman Bubba Smith, but that didn't stop Webster from being one of the great defensive backs of all-time and revolutionize the safety position.

Michigan State head coach Duffy Daugherty invented a new defensive position: The roverback. The roverback was a combination of a safety and a linebacker requiring a player who could run with any wide receiver and tackle any running back. The position needed a player smart enough to sniff out running plays and help out in pass coverage and make plays. Nowadays, every team has a version of this position, but George Webster was the model that everyone else patterned themselves after.

Webster looked the part of a player playing a hybrid position wearing the No. 90 like a defensive lineman, using a wide receiver's helmet and face mask and held the official position of defensive back. He started his career as a defensive end and was good, but when he moved to the roverback position as a junior he became a legend.

The team: Michigan State was a middling program with decent, but unspectacular teams before the 1965 season. Daugherty was somewhat of a social pioneer fielding a team after the 1964 season with a group of black players including Jimmy Raye, one of the first blacks to quarterback a major college team. After going 4-5 in 1964, the Spartans needed to turn around their fortunes. Boy did they as Michigan State went 19-0-1 over the 1965 and 1966 seasons only losing the 1966 Rose Bowl 14-12 to UCLA (oddly enough, the Spartans beat the Bruins 13-3 in the season opener.) Over those two years, the Spartans won two Big Ten titles and were named national champions by several outfits. The one tie would be among the greatest games of all-time in the famous 10-10 Game of the Century (and No. 3 on our list of Top 100 Games of All-Time) against Notre Dame. Smith cleaned up everything up front for these teams while Webster took care of anyone who got by the line.

The tackler: From his roverback position, the 6-4, 220 pound Webster was a devastating hitter making 93 stops in 1966 and 10 tackles for loss. Webster was a menace in run support and still covered receivers as well as any defensive back. His speed was peerless for a player of his size. 

The NFL star: Taken with the 5th overall pick by the Houston Oilers, Webster was an All-Pro linebacker in 1968 and 1969 displaying his speed as the premier pass defending linebacker in professional football. After Houston joined the NFL in 1970, Webster went down with a knee injury and lost his high-end speed and was never the same player traded to Pittsburgh and finishing his career with the New England Patriots.

Honors:

• College Football Hall of Fame - 1987
• All-America - 1965, 1966
• All-Big Ten - 1965, 1966
• Michigan Sports Hall of Fame - 1998