A Good Year for the Outlaw

As a lifelong fan of any and all of the athletic programs at the University of Minnesota, you can imagine how frustrating and embarrassing the football season was this season: 1-11, quite possibly the worst team fielded in the Big 10 in many years, and that includes some ugly Illinois, Indiana, and Northwestern teams.

Prior to this season, the Gophers had appeared in bowls for six straight years behind the leadership of Glen Mason. But as with many programs, with wins eventually come even higher expectations, and Mason was canned for not quite winning enough. I was not happy with the firing. After 30 years of mediocrity since the last Minnesota Big 10 title (1968), Mason came in in the late 90’s and turned the program around. He did it by building the most awesome running attack in college football, a record-setting show that featured a succession of solid running backs. The best of them were Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III.

So, with no enjoyment in the new Gophers under Tim Brewster (he’d better turn it around QUICK, but that’s for another time), Gopher fans have to find solace in watching Maroney and Barber exceed expectations in the NFL. Well, after today’s New England victory, the Patriots (Maroney’s team) and Barber’s Dallas Cowboys have played a total of 3 postseaosn games. New England is going to the Super Bowl, of course, and Dallas was upset in their first playoff game last week by the New York Giants, but in those three games, Maroney and Barber have run for over 120 yards in EACH of them.

That’s right, the leading rushers in the postseason are BOTH ex-Minnesota Gophers, and they were record-setting teammates for Glen Mason. Somewhere, Glen Mason is sitting in a recliner smoking a big cigar, wondering if the University of Minnesota realizes yet the mistake it made in letting him and his vaunted running game (and obvious recruiting ability FOR that running game) go away.  

I’m including pictures of both on them not from their pro teams, but from a few years back, in the Maroon and Gold, when they were terrorizing Big 10 opponents.

Mr. Maroney

Mr. Barber