Orlando Pace
College football has seen some great offensive linemen in its history and there are still three to come on our Top 100 list, but it's hard to argue that anyone was ever more dominating than Orlando Pace.
From the second he set foot on the Ohio State campus Pace was a star starting every game in his three year career as the second true freshman to ever start his opening game at OSU. Pace grew from a big kid with tremendous natural skills (he was a star high school basketball player) into a blocking machine with enough talent to be the number one pick in the NFL draft.
The Pancake: Pace was so dominating with his blocks that a term was created for the way he knocked a defensive player on his back - the Pancake Block. In his junior season, Pace was credited with 80 Pancakes. As good as he was blocking for the running game, he was equally adept at pass blocking not allowing a sack in his last two years at Ohio State. One of his greatest games was his humiliation of Illinois' Simeon Rice completely shutting down the Illini star and registering ten Pancakes that day.
The award winner: Pace was among the most decorated players of all-time as the first sophomore to ever win the Lombardi Award and the first two-time winner taking the award again as a junior. In that junior season, Pace won the Outland Trophy and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Danny Wuerffel, Troy Davis and Jake Plummer.
The perfect prospect: At 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds when he started his career, Pace was bigger than everyone else, but what was truly frightening was his speed and agility. Pace was put in the backfield on short yardage plays and was strong enough to play on the defensive line on goal line situations making two stops against Penn State. His speed at getting downfield on blocks was breathtaking with the ability to pull and devastate linebackers and defensive backs who got in his way. It could be argued that Pace was the ideal college football lineman with a massive, but not fat, body. He also had superior long and strong arms and was durable never missing a game. The only knock on Pace coming out of college as a junior was that he'd never had to deal with any adversity.
The pro: With all the hype surrounding Pace, it might have been hard to live up to the billing, but he's been everything the Rams could've hoped for. Pace was the first offensive lineman in 30 years to be selected first overall in the NFL draft and as slightly controversial as the pick was at the time, it proved to be the right move. Pace has had little trouble holding down a spot on the line of the NFL's most potent offenses starting every game over the last four years and helping the Rams win the 2000 Super Bowl. As of the end of the 2001 season, Pace has gone to the Pro Bowl three straight years.
Honors: Lombardi Award Winner - 1995, 1996, Outland Trophy Winner - 1996, Heisman Trophy - 4th in 1996, Consensus All-American - 1995, 1996, All-Big Ten - 1995, 1996, Pro Bowl (as of 2002) - 1999, 2000, 2001, Big Ten offensive player of the year - 1996, Chicago Tribune Silver Football (Big Ten MVP) - 1996, Ohio State team MVP - 1996.
