JOURNAL SPORTS
The Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team enters the top 10 with a linebacker from the Plains, as 1996 Co-Defensive Player of the Game Takeo Spikes is named the number 10 player on the list.
Spikes helped lead his Auburn Tigers to a victory in the 1996 Independence Bowl against the Army West Point Black Knights, 32-29. He was all over the field throughout his Co-Defensive Player of the Game performance, tallying eight solo tackles and 12 total tackles.
A standout for the Tigers, Spikes earned first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American honors in 1996, and he topped that in 1997, earning first-team All-SEC and first-team All-American honors. He topped the Auburn defense in 1997 with 136 tackles, helping lead the Tigers to the SEC Championship Game. Despite falling to Peyton Manning and Tennessee, 30-29, Spikes was named game MVP.
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Spikes in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft with the 13th overall pick. He contributed immensely as soon as he stepped on the field, starting every game his rookie year and leading the Bengals in tackles (112). He earned All-Rookie Team honors from the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) in 1998.
His second season in the NFL, Spikes recorded 103 combined tackles and career highs in forced fumbles and fumbles recovered – collecting four apiece. In 2000, he racked up his career highs in solo tackles (109) and combined tackles (128).
The best two-year stretch of his career came in 2003 and 2004 – his first two seasons in Buffalo. He made his only two Pro Bowls those seasons and earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2004. He recorded 126 total tackles in 2003, then followed that up in 2004 with 96 total tackles and career highs in interceptions (five), touchdowns (two), and pass deflections (16).
Spikes was the picture of consistency over his 15-year NFL career, which spanned stops with the Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers.
He is one of just seven linebackers in NFL history to start more than 200 games in his career, and he only finished under 70 combined tackles one time in 15 years – the 2005 season with the Bills when he only played in three games due to injury. In all, he played in 219 games, collected 1,423 combined tackles, 29 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries, 19 interceptions and three touchdowns. He was named a team captain in all but two seasons throughout his career.
The next player on the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, No. 9, will be released on Monday, October 12. Players will be unveiled individually every week, with No. 1 being announced on Monday, December 7.
The previously announced players chosen for the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (with position, school and years played in the I-Bowl):
No. 11 – Brett Favre (QB, Southern Miss, 1988); No. 12 – Roy Williams (S, Oklahoma, 1999); No. 13 – Josh Heupel (QB, Oklahoma, 1999); No. 14 – Art Monk (WR, Syracuse, 1979); No. 15 – Von Miller (OLB, Texas A&M, 2009); No. 16 — Wesley Walls (DE/TE, Ole Miss, 1986); No. 17 – Joe Morris (RB, Syracuse, 1979); No. 18 – Ray Childress (DT, Texas A&M, 1981); No. 19 – Sidney Rice (WR, South Carolina, 2005);
No. 20 – Brad Smith (QB, Missouri, 2003 and 2005); No. 21 – Derrick Mason (WR, Michigan State, 1995); No. 22 – Garrison Hearst (RB, Georgia, 1991); No. 23 – Jacob Rodriguez (LB, Texas Tech, 2023); No. 24 – Tim Krumrie (NG, Wisconsin, 1982); No. 25 – Muhsin Muhammad (WR, Michigan State, 1995); 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).