VOTE: Who was the best Northwestern guard 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

If offensive linemen are the unsung heroes of football, then guards are the most unsung of the unsung. More like no sung.

Most people know their team's center, who handles the ball on every play. The tackles are the rock stars of the line; left tackles, especially, get paid accordingly in the NFL.

But guards are the guys that do the dirty work inside, toiling in anonymity. They have to have the brute strength to wrestle with defensive tackles inside, and the nimbleness to pull and reach linebackers or defensive backs.

It's not an easy job, and very few people outside of the locker room recognize it.

Northwestern has had some good ones over the years, but chances are most fans don't know them. We're here to change that.

We've identified the best four guards at Northwestern over the last 25 years, and two of them were teammates on the greatest team of them all.

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

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

The skinny: Padgett earned a starting guard job as a redshirt freshman in 1992 and didn't let it go. As a senior, he was a captain of the Wildcat team that claimed the school's first Big Ten title in 59 years.

With Padgett clearing the way, Darnell Autry rushed for a then-school record 1,785 yards and 17 touchdowns in 1995 to earn himself an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony, finishing fourth.

Big, strong and nasty, Padgett exemplified the pounding, physical style of Northwestern's offense during the Rose Bowl year.

Now an emergency room doctor, Padgett was in the news recently after almost losing his life in a battle with COVID-19.

Reason he deserves it: He's got two Big Ten rings and was an All-Big Ten first team pick.

The skinny: Lining up at guard opposite Padgett was Chabot, then a junior. He followed up the Rose Bowl run with another Big Ten championship in 1996, when he was a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior.

Chabot, who was Gary Barnett's very first recruit in 1992, was a stalwart for a group of players that changed the trajectory of Northwestern football. He started 41 games in all in his Wildcat career, including two New Year's Day bowl games.

As if that wasn't enough, Chabot spent five years as the director of football operations for Northwestern, from 1999-2004. He has been a scout for the San Francisco 49ers for the last 16 years.

Reason he deserves it: He took home Big Ten honors in all three of his seasons in Evanston, honorable mention twice and second-team once.

The skinny: Roehl, who came out of the same Orland Park (Ill.) Sandburg program that produced Pat Fitzgerald, spent a year at Notre Dame before transferring to Northwestern. He sat out the 1999 season and then was a starter on the 2000 team that unleashed the spread offense and took home a share of the Big Ten title.

Roehl was a key blocker up front as running back Damien Anderson rushed for a school-record 2,063 yards and quarterback Zak Kustok, another Notre Dame transfer, threw for a then-school record 20 touchdowns.

Roehl started every one of the 35 games in his Northwestern career and was a second-team All-Big Ten pick as a senior in 2002.

Reason he deserves it: He was a captain and second-team All-Big Ten pick on the 2012 team that was NU's best of the decade.

The skinny: Mulroe got his first career start in the 2010 Outback Bowl as a redshirt freshman and went on to start the next 39 in a row at NU.

A strong, physical mauler, Mulroe was an honorable mention All-Big Ten pick as a junior in 2011 and a second-team selection in 2012, when he was the co-captain of the team that went 10-3 and snapped Northwestern's 64-year streak without a bowl win by beating Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

Mulroe also won the 2012 Randy Walker Wildcat Warrior Award, presented to the player who demonstrates the work ethic, toughness and attitude of a warrior.

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

Hurry! The poll will close on Sunday night.

Ready? CLICK HERE TO VOTE