The All-Time Indiana NFL Team

Indiana may be a basketball school but not all its guards are found on the court.

All-Americas Slick Leonard, Quinn Buckner, Isiah Thomas, Randy Wittman, Calbert Cheaney and Victor Oladipo all left the Indiana campus for NBA careers. But the Hoosiers have also sent another army of guards off to lengthy careers in the NFL.

Indiana has produced two Pro Bowlers at the position and seven who have spent at least eight seasons blocking in the NFL. Kris Dieman went to four Pro Bowls with the San Diego Chargers and Charley Leo one with the AFL Boston Patriots.

Randy Biesler played 10 NFL seasons in the NFL and Dielman, Ian Beckles, Chris Liewinski and Ted Karras nine apiece. Eric Moore and Mike Rabold played eight seasons each. Beckles started 121 games, Dielman 97, Liewinski 94, Karras 88, Moore 74, Biesler 70 and Rabold 63.

One other Indiana guard was drafted by the NFL. The Washington Redskins selected basketball guard Quinn Buckner in the sixth round in 1976 and projected him as a safety. But Buckner also was a first-round pick by the NBA Milwaukee Bucks and opted wisely to stick with basketball. He played 10 seasons and won a championship with the Boston Celtics.

So pencil in Dielman and Beckles at the guard spots on the all-time Indiana NFL team. There is one Hall of Famer on this team, end Pete Pihos, plus 11 Pro Bowlers.

Here is the all-time Indiana NFL team:

QB—Trent Green, 2 Pro Bowls, 11 seasons, 162 TD passes

HB—George Taliaferro, 3 Pro Bowls, 7 seasons, 2,266 yards, 28 TDs

FB—Bob “Hunchy” Hoernschemeyer, 2 Pro Bowls, 10 seasons, 38 TDs, 2 NFL titles

WR—Pete Pihos, Hall of Fame

WR—Ernie Jones, 8 seasons, 215 receptions, 20 touchdowns

TE—Duke Hanny, 8 seasons, 88 starts (1920s)

T—Rodger Saffold, Pro Bowl, 12 seasons, 157 starts

T—Bob Skoronski, Pro Bowl, 11 seasons, 124 starts, 5 NFL titles

G—Kris Dielman, 4 Pro Bowls, 9 seasons, 97 starts

G—Ian Beckles, 9 seasons, 121 starts

C—Art Bultman, 4 seasons (1930s), 28 starts

DE—Earl Faison, 5 Pro Bowls, 6 seasons, 31 sacks

DE—Adewale Ogunleye, 10 seasons, 119 starts, 67 sacks

DT—Nolan Harrison, 10 seasons, 83 starts, 22 sacks

DT—Carl Barzilauskas, 6 seasons, 69 starts, 16 ½ sacks

OLB—John Cannady, Pro Bowl, 8 seasons, 14 interceptions

MLB—Jim Sniadecki, 5 seasons, 9 takeaways

OLB—Van Waiters, 5 seasons, 21 starts

CB—Marv Woodson, Pro Bowl, 6 seasons, 18 interceptions

CB—Tracy Porter, 9 seasons, 88 starts, 13 interceptions, Super Bowl ring

S—Dave Whitsell, Pro Bowl, 12 seasons, 36 interceptions, NFL title

S—Nate Ramsey, 11 seasons, 121 starts, 21 interceptions

K—Pete Stoyanovich, 12 seasons, 272 field goals, 1,236 points

P—Dan Stryzinski, 14 seasons, 1,055 punts, 39.9-yard average

KR—Antwaan Randle-El, 9 seasons, 390 kick & punt returns, 6 touchdowns

ST—Bill Malinchak, 10 seasons, one of the NFL’s original ST aces for the George Allen Redskins