CNY's 50 greatest HS players ever | Syracusefan.com

CNY's 50 greatest HS players ever

jr4750 said:
Good look at area players over the past 50 years.

CNY's 50 all-time greatest high school football players, in order
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Good list but you can't omit Vic Hanson, who attended Central HS in Syracuse and was an AA end at Syracuse. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame...probably the only player from CNY to gain that honor (though Hart will probably join him some day).

Bill Horr was an AA lineman for Syracuse circa 1908 who was from Munnsville. He also won medals in the Olympics in throwing events.

James Williams was a great athlete from Henninger who went on to play at Wyoming. He was drafted by the Pats in 1983

Paul Tripoli was a star at Liverpool, went on to play at Alabama.

Trent Patterson was a great OL at Henninger and started for a couple of years for Alabama at OG in the late 1980s.
 
NFW Mike Hart, or anyone, should be ahead of Dorsey.

He was a man amongst boys. Parade All American and a dominant bball player (All State I believe).

Go Mighty Bulldogs!!
 
Where is Vic Hansen? He went to Syracuse central in the 30's and was an All American at Syracuse in both football and basketball. Jim Brown was the only other 2 sport all American at Syracuse. Football and lacrosse
 
The 1970s were a strange time. Like how is this a 17-18 year old kid?

49. Brian Lasda, Tully

21818149-standard.jpg
 
My error He played at central in the 20's and coached SU in the 30's. I wore Vic Hanson leather shoulder pads when I played for central in the late 40's
 
Paulus at 7? Really? He's the best HS QB in NY's history.
 
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OrangeDB said:
Paulus at 7? Really? He's the best HS QB in NY's history.
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I don't know about that. He was relatively small, relatively weak, quite slow and had a weak arm.

You can argue he was the most over-rated QB in the history of New York State but when you have multiple players who were major stars in the NFL, winners or near winners of the Heisman Trophy, etc. to compete with, Paulus can't win, at least not in my opinion. A big part of his success was the system he had a chance to run and the top notch OL and WRs he had to play with.

I would rate Boomer Esiason, Vinnie Testaverde, Ron Jaworski, Don McPherson and now Jack Coan higher.

That being said, I would certainly include Paulus in the top 10 players from CNY. While he wasn't blessed with much in terms of physical skills, he was very smart and a great competitor. He did amazing things considering how limited he was as an athlete.
 
sutomcat said:
I don't know about that. He was relatively small, relatively weak, quite slow and had a weak arm.

You can argue he was the most over-rated QB in the history of New York State but when you have multiple players who were major stars in the NFL, winners or near winners of the Heisman Trophy, etc. to compete with, Paulus can't win, at least not in my opinion. A big part of his success was the system he had a chance to run and the top notch OL and WRs he had to play with.

I would rate Boomer Esiason, Vinnie Testaverde, Ron Jaworski, Don McPherson and now Jack Coan higher.

That being said, I would certainly include Paulus in the top 10 players from CNY. While he wasn't blessed with much in terms of physical skills, he was very smart and a great competitor. He did amazing things considering how limited he was as an athlete.
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The argument was far 50 greatest HS players from CNY. Winning a heisman, super bowl, all irrelevant. Either change the headline - or rework the numbers. Most passing yards and touchdowns in NYS HS history. You can't say oh he had top notch OL and WR's because then I'll need every roster of every one of these guys.

I just think syracuse dot com does a poor job on this. The headline is misleading if the reason player x is ranked y is because of what he did at the next level.
 
OrangeDB said:
The argument was far 50 greatest HS players from CNY. Winning a heisman, super bowl, all irrelevant. Either change the headline - or rework the numbers. Most passing yards and touchdowns in NYS HS history. You can't say oh he had top notch OL and WR's because then I'll need every roster of every one of these guys.

I just think syracuse dot com does a poor job on this. The headline is misleading if the reason player x is ranked y is because of what he did at the next level.
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The statement is issue was your claim that Greg Paulus is the best QB in NYS HS history.

He might have thrown for the best yards in state history but he also played far more games and threw far more passes than the others. If you compare apples to apples, he wasn't as good as the guys I referenced and that is why he failed to become a star football (or basketball) player in college (and of course in the pro ranks). Looking at what these players did after high school helps to determine how good they really were.

Mike Hart dominated HS ball at the small school level at an unprecedented level but proved he was legitimately great with his level of play at RB at Michigan.

Paulus didn't and that should be taken into account when evaluating him.

At least in my opinion. I have been known to be wrong.
 
sutomcat said:
I don't know about that. He was relatively small, relatively weak, quite slow and had a weak arm.

You can argue he was the most over-rated QB in the history of New York State but when you have multiple players who were major stars in the NFL, winners or near winners of the Heisman Trophy, etc. to compete with, Paulus can't win, at least not in my opinion. A big part of his success was the system he had a chance to run and the top notch OL and WRs he had to play with.

I would rate Boomer Esiason, Vinnie Testaverde, Ron Jaworski, Don McPherson and now Jack Coan higher.

That being said, I would certainly include Paulus in the top 10 players from CNY. While he wasn't blessed with much in terms of physical skills, he was very smart and a great competitor. He did amazing things considering how limited he was as an athlete.
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You forgot Don Majkowski from Buffalo.

Btw, Re: Paul Tripoli: I know he briefly played for the Tampa Bay Bucs but I think he got his start with the Tampa Bay Bandits USFL.

EDIT: I just looked it up...Paul played in Canada before Tampa Bay.
 
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sutomcat said:
The statement is issue was your claim that Greg Paulus is the best QB in NYS HS history.

He might have thrown for the best yards in state history but he also played far more games and threw far more passes than the others. If you compare apples to apples, he wasn't as good as the guys I referenced and that is why he failed to become a star football (or basketball) player in college (and of course in the pro ranks). Looking at what these players did after high school helps to determine how good they really were.

Mike Hart dominated HS ball at the small school level at an unprecedented level but proved he was legitimately great with his level of play at RB at Michigan.

Paulus didn't and that should be taken into account when evaluating him.

At least in my opinion. I have been known to be wrong.
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I guess my original argument was him at 7 wasn't high (low? Whichever is closer to 1) enough.

I don't truly buy into the 'what they did after 'x' level justifies their greatness' because that's an inexact science. Also, Paulus decided to play basketball and not football in college. What he did at Syracuse in 1 season was impressive to me for someone who hadn't played football in 4 years.

To each their own though! I just would have put him higher (lower? lol)
 
Trivia time: who's the player on other side of the coach?

21804178-standard.jpg
 
sutomcat said:
I don't know about that. He was relatively small, relatively weak, quite slow and had a weak arm.

You can argue he was the most over-rated QB in the history of New York State but when you have multiple players who were major stars in the NFL, winners or near winners of the Heisman Trophy, etc. to compete with, Paulus can't win, at least not in my opinion. A big part of his success was the system he had a chance to run and the top notch OL and WRs he had to play with.

I would rate Boomer Esiason, Vinnie Testaverde, Ron Jaworski, Don McPherson and now Jack Coan higher.

That being said, I would certainly include Paulus in the top 10 players from CNY. While he wasn't blessed with much in terms of physical skills, he was very smart and a great competitor. He did amazing things considering how limited he was as an athlete.
Expand...

Paulus could have been an awesome collegiate QB. What he did at SU was nothing short of remarkable. He hadn't touched a football in 4 years!


His arm strength would have gotten better with adequate strength and conditioning. Maybe he wouldn't have been an NFL prospect, but he had the smarts of an NFL player.

Too bad.
 
Who was the QB from Liverpool in the 70s who played at Alabama? I remember Frank tried to get him to Syracuse but admissions was like the Berlin wall in his way. Plus the kid wanted to go south.
 
CIL said:
Paulus could have been an awesome collegiate QB. What he did at SU was nothing short of remarkable. He hadn't touched a football in 4 years!


His arm strength would have gotten better with adequate strength and conditioning. Maybe he wouldn't have been an NFL prospect, but he had the smarts of an NFL player.

Too bad.
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Agreed. Off the charts with his decision making and competitiveness. He did a great job getting the most out of what he was given to work with...
 
Would love to see a basketball list. The names would be much more impressive.
 
Damien Mallory from Henninger was a parade all-American I believe. And he might have been the top rated Defensive end in the country that year.He signed with syracuse.
 
Ringostar57 said:
Who was the QB from Liverpool in the 70s who played at Alabama? I remember Frank tried to get him to Syracuse but admissions was like the Berlin wall in his way. Plus the kid wanted to go south.
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Pete Holihan I think
 
Eric15 said:
The 1970s were a strange time. Like how is this a 17-18 year old kid?

49. Brian Lasda, Tully

View attachment 86875
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I saw yearbook photos from Auburn High mid 70s to early 80s and every guy looked like they were 30 year old men. Amazing what a mustache can do
 
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