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VOTE: Who was the best Northwestern center over the last 25 years?

It's been 25 years since Northwestern's magical run to the Rose Bowl in 1995 revitalized the program. WildcatReport is celebrating that Silver Anniversary by finding out who's been the best player during that span at each position.


BEST IN 25 YEARS SERIES: QB Dan Persa l RB Justin Jackson l WR D'Wayne Bates l TE Drake Dunsmore l OT Zach Strief l G Ryan Padgett


The bar of entry to get considered for the best Northwestern center over the last 25 years is pretty high.

Each of our four candidates was a four-year starter who started more than 40 games in Purple, and one of them started 50. All of them were named captains, one of them for two years. All of them received at least honorable mention All-Big Ten honors, with one being named first team.

In other words, the Wildcats have had some pretty good players handling snaps over the last quarter century.

Read about the careers of each of the four candidates below, and then vote for your the best one on the WildcatReport Football Board. You'll find the link at the end of this story.


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ROB JOHNSON (1992-95)

Rob Johnson (with ball)
Rob Johnson (with ball)

Reason he deserves it: He was a first-team All-Big Ten pick and captain of the 1995 Rose Bowl team.


The skinny: Johnson came to Northwestern as a linebacker and then moved to nose guard while redshirting during his freshman year.

He moved to the offensive line in Gary Barnett's first year, in 1992, and found a home, starting 45 straight games.

Johnson lived a fairy-tale senior season as captain of the 1995 Northwestern team that won the school's first Big Ten title in 59 years and appeared in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 47 years.

Johnson was a first-team All-Big Ten center in 1995 and the only first- or second-teamer on this list.


AUSTIN KING (1999-02)

Unfortunately, this was the best picture we could find of Austin King.
Unfortunately, this was the best picture we could find of Austin King.

Reason he deserves it: He was a Big Ten champion and the only candidate on this list who was drafted.


The skinny: Think about this: King made 43 starts in 45 games over his career, and that's the fewest among this elite quartet of centers.

King made his first start as a true freshman in 1999 — a rare feat in the Big Ten — and then made honorable mention All-Big Ten the following season, in 2000, when the Wildcats claimed a share of the Big Ten championship and an Alamo Bowl berth. He helped Damien Anderson rush for more than 2,000 yards as Northwestern scored a whopping 38.5 points per game and led the Big Ten in total offense.

King made 43 starts in all and was named honorable mention all-conference and a Wildcat Warrior three times apiece. He was also a team captain as a senior.

He was a fourth-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2003 NFL Draft.


TREVOR REES (2003-04, 2006-07)

Trevor Rees
Trevor Rees

Reason he deserves it: He was a Freshman All-American who started two years, missed one year, and then came back to start two more.


The skinny: Talk about a fast starter. Rees took over the starting job as a redshirt freshman in 2003 and was named to the Freshman All-America team.

He started 21 games in a row over two years and then found out he was academically ineligible for 2005. So he went back home to Pearland, Texas, and took classes at two local schools to get his grades back in order.

Rees came back to start 23 more games -- a total of 44 over his career -- and was named both a team captain and honorable mention All-Big Ten as a senior in 2007.


BRANDON VITABILE (2011-14)

Brandon Vitabile
Brandon Vitabile

Reason he deserves it: The guy made 50 straight starts and was both a two-time captain and a two-time honorable mention All-Big Ten pick.


The skinny: You knew Vitabile was special when he came in as a redshirt freshman and made coaches move three-year starter Brian Burkett over to guard to make room for him.

VItabile started every game of his Wildcat career, 50 in all. He was the starting center on the 2012 team that won the Gator Bowl and broke Northwestern's 64-year bowl losing streak.

He was named a captain as both a junior and senior, in 2013 and 2014, when Vitabile was also recognized as an honorable mention all-conference selection.


VOTING

Go to our Football Board to cast your vote. You can vote for any of the four centers we picked, or you can vote for "Other" and identify your write-in candidate in your reply the message.

Hurry! The poll will close on Sunday night.


Ready? CLICK HERE TO VOTE

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