JOURNAL SPORTS
One of just three Independence Bowl participants in both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame, Louisiana Tech offensive tackle Willie Roaf was announced Monday as No. 7 among 50 standouts on the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Roaf starred for the Bulldogs in the 1990 Independence Bowl, the first game sponsored by Poulan/Weed Eater, and the only tie in the game’s first 49 editions. In a 34-34 lockup against the Maryland Terrapins, Roaf helped lead a Louisiana Tech offense that ran for 191 yards.
A native of Pine Bluff, Ark., Roaf played for head coach Joe Raymond Peace and was developed by offensive line coach Petey Perot, an NFL veteran with the Eagles and Saints. He blossomed during his four years in Ruston from 1989 to 1992. He earned first-team All-South Independent honors in 1991 and consensus All-American honors in 1992. He was also a finalist for the Outland Trophy, given to college football’s best offensive lineman, in 1992.
After taking part in the Hula Bowl, the East-West Shrine Game and the NFL Combine, Roaf went to the New Orleans Saints with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played 13 seasons in the NFL, nine for the Saints and four for the Kansas City Chiefs, and was one of the league’s elite offensive linemen for most of his career. He was also named to both the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team and 2000s All-Decade Team.
Roaf was selected to 11 Pro Bowls and named All-Pro nine times, starting in his second season in 1994, when he made his first Pro Bowl and earned his first of four first-team All-Pro nods. He made the Pro Bowl every season from 1994 to 2000, and after a one-year hiatus in 2001, he made the Pro Bowl every year from 2002 to 2005, the final season of his career.
The 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman has been inducted into almost every Hall of Fame imaginable, including the two most illustrious. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014. In addition to
those, he has also been elected or inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame, Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame and East West Shrine Hall of Fame.
The next player on the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, No. 6, will be released on Monday, November 2. Players will be unveiled individually every week, with No. 1 being announced on Monday, December 7.
Players previously announced on the Independence Bowl’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (Name, position, school, year played in I-Bowl):
No. 8 – Eddie Kennison (WR, LSU, 1995); No. 9 – Fernando Mendoza (QB, California, 2023);
No. 10 – Takeo Spikes (LB, Auburn, 1996); 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).