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

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

BEST IN 25 YEARS SERIES

OFFENSE: QB Dan Persa l RB Justin Jackson l WR D'Wayne Bates l TE Drake Dunsmore l T Zach Strief l G Ryan Padgett l C Rob Johnson

DEFENSE: DE Corey Wootton l DT Matt Rice

While we have a pretty good idea how this one will end up, but what a ballot we have assembled at middle linebacker. It might be more loaded than any other position.

There's the most decorated player in school history. There's a walkon who wound up in the NFL. There's college football's all-time leading tackler. There's one of the most athletically gifted players who ever wore Purple. And, finally, there's a guy who still has a year left but has already cemented his spot in NU history.

Maybe there's just something about Chicago and middle linebackers. Just like the Bears, the Wildcats have had quite a history at the position -- especially over the last 25 years we're looking at for this vote.

You know the drill. Read about the careers of each of our candidates below, and then vote for the player you think has been the best over the last 25 years on the WildcatReport Football Board. You'll find the link at the end of this story.

Reason he deserves it: Really? Let's see. Fitz was a two-time All-America who won two Nagurski and Bednarik awards, and two Big Ten titles. Oh, he's in the College Football Hall of Fame, too.

The skinny: To put it in simple terms, Fitz IS Northwestern football.

Fitzgerald was the leader of a ferocious Northwestern defense that led the nation in scoring defense in 1995, when the Wildcats claimed their first Big Ten title in 59 years and second-ever trip to the Rose Bowl. Despite breaking his leg in the 10th game of the season, he won both the Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik awards as the nation's top defensive player and was also the Big Ten, Chevrolet and Sports Illustrated Defensive Player of the Year. He was a first-team All-Big Ten and All-America honoree.

No. 51 came back in 1996 and led the Wildcat to a second straight Big Ten title. He became the first player to win the Nagurski and Bednarik awards twice, and again was a consensus All-America and first-team All-Big Ten pick.

Fitzgerald started 23 games at Northwestern and totaled 299 tackles, including 20 for loss, with five forced fumbles and three interceptions. More than his numbers, though -- he doesn't appear among the all-time NU leaders in any defensive category -- it was Fitzgerald's instinctive nose for the ball, leadership and ability to make plays that made him a star.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Reason he deserves it: Fitz always says that Gardner, a walkon who wound up as a two-time first-team All-Big Ten pick and played in the NFL, was a better LB than he was.

The skinny: Gardner entered Northwestern as an unknown walkon offensive lineman and left as one of the best linebackers in school history. He finished with 468 career tackles, third-most all-time at Northwestern, as well as seven fumble recoveries, tied for most in school history.

Gardner was primarily a backup during Northwestern's 1995-96, back-to-back Big Ten title years, but he still managed to recover four fumbles in 1996, tied for the most in a season in Northwestern history.

When he took over the middle LB spot after Fitzgerald graduated, Gardner racked up 174 tackles in 1997 and 175 in 1998, the fourth- and fifth-most in a single season in school history. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors both seasons. He made 20 or more tackles in a game six times, more than any other Wildcat, and his 175 stops as a senior also led the nation in 1998.

A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1999 NFL draft, Gardner played eight seasons in the NFL.

Maybe Fitzgerald was on to something.

Reason he deserves it: Nobody made more tackles in NCAA history than McGarigle. Nobody.

The skinny: The NCAA didn't start tracking tackles until 2001, and since that time, McGarigle is the all-time tackling king of college football.

"The Mad Irishman" was just a two-star prospect out of Chicago St. Patrick in 2002 but he played right away, racking up 98 tackles as a true freshman. He then went on to make at least 140 tackles for the next three seasons.

He made 151 tackles as a junior in 2004 and was named first-team All-Big Ten. In 2005, McGarigle had his best season for the Wildcats' Sun Bowl squad. He collected a career-best 156 tackles, including 25 in a single-game against Wisconsin, and was named a finalist for both the Bednarik Award and the Dick Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker. He was a second-team all-conference pick that season.

McGarigle was a seventh-round draft choice of the St. Louis Rams in 2006 and played two seasons in the NFL.

Reason he deserves it: A genetic freak, Walker was a rare combination of strength and speed who ranks third all-time at NU with 38 TFL despite playing just three years.

The skinny: Talk about announcing your presence with authority: Walker had a team-high eight tackles and a pick-six in his first start as a redshirt freshman at Penn State in 2014. Later that year he had an interception he returned 65 yards in the Wildcats' upset of Notre Dame, and he finished the season with seven starts, 51 tackles and a team-high 9 TFL.

That was just an appetizer for Walker's breakout redshirt sophomore campaign in 2015, when he was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten pick. He finished the year with a team-high 122 tackles and 20.5 TFL, fourth-most in the country and second-most in Northwestern annals, as the Wildcats posted 10 wins and made the Outback Bowl. Walker was also named an All-American by AP and Sports Illustrated that year.

As a redshirt junior in 2016, Walker battled injuries and still wound up as a second-team All-Big Ten selection. He finished second on the team with 105 tackles and 10 TFL. He also wore the coveted No. 1 jersey that season as the player who embodied the values and character of the Northwestern program.

Walker skipped his senior year to enter the NFL Draft and was a fifth-round draft choice of the Indianapolis Colts. He is entering his fourth season with the club.

Reason he deserves it: A starter from Day 1, Fisher has been a tackling machine. He was a Freshman All-American, All-Big Ten as a sophomore, and a captain as a junior. And he still has a year to go.

The skinny: If Walker's debut wasn't good enough for you, how about Fisher's?

He was named a Freshman All-America and to the All-Big Ten second team after leading NU and all FBS freshman with 113 tackles. He led the conference with four forced fumbles and ranked fourth in tackles.

Fisher followed that up by being named to the All-Big Ten first team in 2018 after finishing second on the team and eighth in the conference with 116 stops. He led NU and the Big Ten with four forced fumbles and racked up a team-high 11 tackles in the Big Ten championship game.

Last season, Fisher was named a captain as a junior and finished the season with 89 tackles, again second-most on the team.

After just three seasons, Fisher has 315 tackles and a school-record nine forced fumbles. Another average season would put the Texan in the Top 5 all-time in tackles at Northwestern.

Go to our Football Board to cast your vote. You can vote for any of the five middle linebackers listed on our ballot, 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