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Four future All-Pro players and an NFL rookie make up the latest five standouts named to the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time team.
Players ranked 25 through 21 on the list of the 50 most remarkable players in I-Bowl history were revealed Thursday, as selected by a local media panel. The list was compiled considering a combination of their performances in the local bowl, during their college careers and in the NFL.
The top 50 has been released in six groups of five. Beginning next week, the final 20 selections will be announced individually every Monday and Thursday, said bowl officials.
The latest quintet includes a pair of star wide receivers from Nick Saban’s 1995 Michigan State team, two College Football Hall of Famers and one of the youngest members of the All-Time Team:
No. 25 – Muhsin Muhammad (WR, Michigan State, 1995) Muhammad was one of three great wideouts to play in the 1995 Independence Bowl – alongside teammate Derrick Mason and LSU’s Eddie Kennison. Muhammad lit up LSU’s defense with nine catches for 171 yards and one touchdown. The 1995 season was the best of his career in East Lansing, as he hauled in 50 catches for 867 yards for the Nick Saban-led Spartans. Muhammad was selected in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft after that breakout season, and he established himself as a star for the Carolina Panthers. He was named to two Pro Bowls (1999 and 2004) and earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2004. He was the NFL’s receptions leader in 2000, grabbing 102 passes for 1,183 yards. The premier season of his career was 2004, when he led the NFL in receiving yards (1,405) and 16 receiving TDs (16). Muhammad was also a force in the Panthers’ run to the Super Bowl in 2003. He had 352 yards receiving in four playoff games, including the longest TD reception in Super Bowl history against the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. Muhammad was inducted into the Carolina Panthers Hall of Honor in 2003.
No. 24 – Tim Krumrie (NG, Wisconsin, 1982) Krumrie is one of the many College Football Hall of Famers to make this list. He played in the Independence Bowl – before defensive statistics were recorded – and was named the 1982 Defensive Player of the Game, as he led a Wisconsin defense that held Kansas State to 192 total yards and just three points. From the day he stepped on campus in Madison, Krumrie was a star at nose tackle for the Badgers, leading Wisconsin in tackles all four seasons he played. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection, a 1981 consensus All-American and 1982 first-team All-American. Krumrie still holds the Wisconsin record for solo tackles in a career (276). A 10th-round selection in the 1983 NFL Draft, Krumrie’s success did not stop after college. Racking up over 1,000 tackles in 12 seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals, he made two Pro Bowl appearances in 1987 and 1988, and he was named first-team All-Pro in 1988 and second-team All-Pro in 1987. Krumrie is a member of the Cincinnati Bengals Ring of Honor.
No. 23 – Jacob Rodriguez (LB, Texas Tech, 2023) Rodriguez is one of the most decorated linebackers to play in the Independence Bowl, despite being one of the youngest players on the All-Time Team. After beginning his college career at Virginia in 2021 as a quarterback, Rodriguez transferred to Texas Tech in 2022 and switched to linebacker. The 2023 Independence Bowl was one of the launching points of his career. Against future Heisman Trophy-winner Fernando Mendoza and California, Rodriguez stuffed the stat sheet – recording eight total tackles, one forced fumble, one interception and one pass breakup on his way to being named 2023 Defensive Player of the Game. In 2024, he was named first-team All-Big 12, and it all came together in 2025 with one of the best seasons by a college linebacker in recent memory. Leading one of the country’s best defenses, Rodriguez compiled 63 solo tackles (leading the Big 12), 128 combined tackles, four interceptions, 11 tackles-for-loss, six PBU, two fumble recoveries and seven forced fumbles – leading the FBS in that stat. He won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award, Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, and he was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year/ A unanimous All-American, he finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Rodriguez was drafted in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.
No. 22 – Garrison Hearst (RB, Georgia, 1991) Hearst, the Independence Bowl’s newest member of the College Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2026, carried the ball nine times for 21 yards in the 1991 Independence Bowl against Arkansas. He also added two catches for 24 yards in the Bulldogs’ 24-15 victory over the Razorbacks. He rushed for 968 yards that 1991 season, earning second-team All-SEC honors, before a breakout year the following season. Racking up an SEC-leading 1,547 rushing yards and an FBS-leading 19 TDs, Hearst won the Doak Walker Award as the best running back in the nation, and he was also named a unanimous All-American, first-team All-SEC and SEC Player of the Year. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting. Drafted with the third-overall pick in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft, Hearst topped 1,000 yards rushing four times as a pro. His best season was in 1998 as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, when he compiled 1,570 rushing yards and 535 receiving yards – earning his first Pro Bowl nod and first-team All-Pro. After missing two full seasons in 1999 and 2000, Hearst returned in 2001 and had the second-best season of his career. On his way to being named to his second Pro Bowl team and earning the 2001 Comeback Player of the Year Award, Hearst rushed for 1,206 yards and collected 41 passes for 347 yards receiving.
No. 21 – Derrick Mason (WR, Michigan State, 1995) The second Michigan State wide receiver in this group, Mason, alongside teammate Muhammad, went toe-to-toe with LSU’s Kennison in 1995. Mason hauled in six passes for 74 yards, but the most memorable moments of that game came in the second quarter. After Kennison returned a kickoff for a TD to tie the game at 14 at the 14:30 mark of the second frame, Mason returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a TD to put the Spartans back on top. In two seasons under Saban in 1995 and 1996, Mason compiled 1,652 yards receiving. He also set the Michigan State school record for kickoff return yards (2,384). He was named second-team All-Big Ten in 1996. A fourth-round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, Mason became one of the NFL’s constants over the next 15 seasons. Spending most of his career with the Tennessee Oilers/Titans and Baltimore Ravens, he earned two Pro Bowl appearances (2000 and 2003) and was named first-team All-Pro in 2000 after leading the NFL in punt return yards that season. Mason is the only player in NFL history to record over 10,000 yards receiving and 5,000 return yards.
The first 25 players on the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, as previously announced:
No. 26 – Ja’Mar Toombs (RB, Texas A&M, 2000)
No. 27 – Otis Wilson (LB, Louisville, 1977)
No. 28 – A.J. Green (WR, Georgia, 2009)
No. 29 – Rocky Calmus (LB, Oklahoma, 1999)
No. 30 – Flozell Adams (OT, Michigan State, 1995)
No. 31 – Willie Blade (DT, Mississippi State, 2000)
No. 32 – Scott Thomas (S, Air Force, 1983 & 1984)
No. 33 – Chad Hennings (DT, Air Force, 1984)
No. 34 – Dameyune Craig (QB, Auburn, 1996)
No. 35 – Geno Atkins (DT. Georgia, 2009
No. 36 – Rondell Mealey (RB, LSU, 1997)
No. 37 – Rolando McClain (LB, Alabama, 2007)
No. 38 – Weldon Brown (CB, Louisiana Tech, 2008)
No. 39 – Andre Smith (OT, Alabama, 2006 & 2007)
No. 40 – Tiki Barber (RB, Virginia, 1994)
No. 41 – Puka Nacua (WR, BYU, 2021)
No. 42 – Gary Kubiak (QB, Texas A&M, 1981)
No. 43 – Seneca Wallace (QB, Iowa State, 2001)
No. 44 – Todd McClure (C, LSU, 1995 & 1997)
No. 45 – Gary Anderson (K, Syracuse, 1979)
No. 46 – Booger McFarland (LB, LSU, 1995 & 1997)
No. 47 – Tremaine Edmunds (LB, Virginia Tech, 2015)
No. 48 – Bill Musgrave (QB, Oregon, 1989)
No. 49 – Larry Anderson (DB, Louisiana Tech, 1977)
No. 50 – Lorenza Baker (LB, Louisiana Tech, 1990)
The team has been selected to commemorate the half-century of local bowl history. The 50th edition of the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl is Dec. 22.