A. J. Duhe was the hardest hitting lineman. Michael Brooks the hardest hitting linebacker. Mike Williams was the hardest hitting defensive back. Steve Rehage was the best special teams headhunter. Art Cantrelle was the hardest hitting bar room brawler.
+1 rehage had absolutley no regard for his body. I see him every once in a while in NYC and doesn't seem to have had any effect on his brain cells.
My vote goes for Clarence Leblanc, having watched LSU from about 1977 to now. I remember the Charles Alexander hit. The way he ran was always impressive and he was a favorite of mine for years. Throughout the time I have followed LSU football, I always thought LSU was known for being tough and hitting hard. When teams play LSU - good year or bad year, they are in for a fight. That is a quality I have always been proud of as a Tiger fan.
I thought Rehage too. On kick coverage the guy would knock himself and nearly the other guy completely out. Him and Michael Brooks.
I have an old school pick for the hardest hitting tiger. Leonard Marshall LB Won a ring with the NY Giants. From Franklin, LA. He is a legend in Franklin. I worked there about three years ago when I lived in Louisiana. Chinese Bandits forever baby!:geauxtige
i read this on the dude awhile back wondering where he was. Where are They Now? Leonard Marshall Defensive End ('83-'92). By Michael Eisen, Giants.com EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Leonard Marshall was one of the most accomplished players on the great Giants teams from 1984-90, an era in which the franchise won three division titles, captured five postseason berths and earned two Super Bowl rings, in 1986 and 1990. DE Leonard Marshall played for the Giants for 10 years (1983-92). A defensive end who played for the Giants for 10 years (1983-92), Marshall teamed with players such as Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson to help make the Giants’ defense one of the league’s most dominant units during that period. Marshall played in two Pro Bowls. His 79.5 sacks place him fifth in team history – second since 1982, when sacks became an official statistic, behind only Taylor and Michael Strahan. Marshall also had two sacks playing for the Jets in 1993 and two for the Washington Redskins in 1994. Marshall is proud of what he and his team accomplished during his career. But his remembrances, like those of many of his teammates, are tinged with regret. Those Giants, who powered one of the most successful periods in the 80-year history of the franchise, believe they should have more fingers with championship rings on them. The players strike that gutted the 1987 season effectively ruined their chances to repeat after the great run to Super Bowl XXI the previous year. The Giants failed to make the playoffs in 1988 after suffering a last-minute loss to the Jets in the season finale. And some players, including Phil Simms, are convinced that the Giants had the NFL’s best team in 1989. But they lost an NFC Divisional Playoff Game at home in overtime to the Los Angeles Rams. “People talk to me about the (1985) Chicago Bears (who went 15-1 and routed three postseason opponents),” Marshall said. “To me, the Chicago Bears were a one-year wonder. My team, our team, if you go back and look at our team from `85 on, we should have won the Super Bowl three or four times. We were just that good. We should have won it in `89, we should have contended for it in `87 had there not been a strike, and we won it again in `90 and `86.” The Giants employed some great offensive players in those seasons, including Joe Morris, Mark Bavaro and Simms. But it was the punishing, stifling, take-no-prisoners defense that fueled the championships runs. When the Giants, their opponents, or fans recall those teams, it is the defense that comes to mind first. “I look back on our teams, and Phil Simms will tell you this, because we had this conversation a couple times,” Marshall said. “We should be remembered, without a doubt, as one of the best, if not the best defense, to come out of the NFC East in a long time.” Marshall was a big part of that stellar unit, particularly in the postseason. He had a sack in the 1986 NFC Championship Game victory over Washington and twice sacked John Elway in Super Bowl XXI. Four years later, Marshall made the signature play of his career, chasing down Joe Montana and knocking the future Hall of Famer out of the conference title game in San Francisco with a fractured hand. He was named Defensive Player of the Week after finishing the game with four tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles. A week later, Marshall had the Giants’ only sack of Buffalo’s Jim Kelly in the Super Bowl XXV victory over the Bills.” “When you have an opportunity to play and showcase your talents to the world, you should do so,” Marshall said. “Every weekend was an opportunity for me to do that, though the Super Bowl gave me a much bigger audience. It gives any athlete a bigger audience; that’s why you see guys play better in championship games. So one thing (the coach Bill) Parcells would say to me all the time was ‘Leonard, you show up big time in big games. Big-time athletes show up in big time games.’ And if you go back and look at the history of any game that we’ve ever had of that caliber I’ve always outplayed guys at my position.” If you’re going to ask Marshall for a career highlight or a game that stands out in his mind, you’d better leave yourself plenty of time. He’ll talk about the 1984 season, when the Giants made the playoffs for the first time under Parcells. “We arrived as a football team that season,” Marshall said. There was the return to playoffs in 1985 and the first Super Bowl season in `86. But it’s that 1990 season, when the Giants’ ended the 49ers’ bid for a third consecutive championship with an unforgettable victory in Candlestick Park, then won another Vince Lombardi Trophy, that truly seems to be Marshall’s favorite. “We were a team of destiny that year,” Marshall said. “I held out the whole summer – I missed training camp (as did Taylor). I knew that the Giants needed to have myself and Lawrence Taylor back in order to challenge for a title that year. I knew we were good enough, because that was the last time where a team really stayed together as a team. There was no free agency, none of that crap. “I knew that chance would favor us to play a team like San Francisco in the championship. When we played them on a Monday night we lost, 7-3, and it was a game of disappointment. We got another chance in the championship and I knew that I needed to step up. And the series before the play happened, where Jim Burt took a shot at Jeff Hostetler and it really, it looked like it was a bad football play to begin with. But when I went and re-looked at it, he just tried to make a play to help his team win. Hitting Montana in the championship game was the same thing for me. I just wanted to make a play to help my team win. I was hoping to hit him, cause a fumble and have L.T. grab the ball out of the air and run it in, and have a glamorous touchdown over it. That’s what was going through my mind.” "I love that organization for giving me the opportunity, the chance to make a name for myself and build a reputation both as an athlete and as an individual in probably the greatest city in the world." - Leonard Marshall It didn’t quite work out that way on that particular play, but there’s no question Marshall and Taylor worked well together for a full decade. Marshall joined the Giants as a second-round draft choice in 1983 (the 37th overall pick) after a stellar career at LSU. Taylor was entering his third season. The Giants then played a 3-4 defense and Marshall and Taylor often lined up next to each other on the right side. In the decade they played together, the two stalwarts combined for 198.5 sacks. Marshall still relishes the fact that he played with not only Taylor, but Carson (whom Marshall adamantly believes should be in the Hall of Fame) and George Martin. “I had a chance to play with two guys that were definitely bona-fide Hall of Famers,” Marshall said. “They definitely helped me elevate my game to another level, and make me bring my A-game every Sunday. And I think I did that. That’s why Super Bowl XXI was so special. I got a chance to see two guys who helped me develop as an athlete get championship rings - Harry Carson and George Martin.” As you’ve probably noticed by now, Marshall enjoys recalling games and players from his career. “The best offensive player I played against without a doubt was Walter Payton,” he said. “The best quarterback to ever play the game was Joe Montana. The best tackle I played against was probably (Washington’s) Jim Lachey, who became a friend of mine when I played for the Redskins. The best guard probably Russ Grimm (also a Redskin). The most competitive athlete I’ve ever seen on the football field without a doubt was my teammate Lawrence Taylor.” Marshall played in a lot of big games against a lot of great teams: San Francisco, Washington, the Rams, plus the Super Bowls against Denver and Buffalo. So which team did he most enjoy beating? “I think the St. Louis Cardinals, because I had a personal vendetta against (tackle) Luis Sharpe,” Marshall said. “I liked beating on the Redskins as well, but I had a personal thing with Luis Sharpe.” And why would that be? “It’s tough to explain,” Marshall said. “I just think he hated the fact that I owned him every week.” Today, Marshall owns a mortgage company, Capital Source Mortgage, in Boca Raton, Fla. He is also in the ATM business. “When I played for the Giants I got my degree there from Fairleigh Dickinson,” Marshall said. “That enabled me to have the means to formulate a plan, so that life after football and making the transition from playing to conducting business and conducting myself socially, it made it much easier.” Marshall keeps close tabs on the Giants, watching as many games as he can in Florida and visiting Giants Stadium when he is in New Jersey. After playing two seasons in different uniforms, he signed a contract with the Giants just so he could retire from the team that meant so much to him. “I love that organization for giving me the opportunity, the chance to make a name for myself and build a reputation both as an athlete and as an individual in probably the greatest city in the world,” Marshall said. “I thank them for that.” For Leonard Marshall, the stroll down his career’s memory lane is a pleasant one. “I only things I wish we could have done was win another championship, have Phil Simms be a Hall of Fame quarterback, and probably see myself in the Hall of Fame with Harry and Lawrence,” Marshall said. “I’m in the history books with the organization, I put a lot of time, effort and energy in doing that. I prided myself on being one of the best players to ever play there, so I’m happy about that. I’m happy about the career I had and I just hope that whatever I did, I didn’t offend anybody and that I affected somebody in a positive way.” Consider it done.
Tommy Casanova 1971 Alabama came to Tiger Stadium averaging 42 points a game running the wishbone. Johnny Musso was the featured back. He broke loose down the sidelines. Tommy Casanova hit him on the dead run. Musso was five yards inbounds when contacted and landed 5 yards out of bounds! Biggest hit i've ever seen in Tiger Stadium. L.S.U. only gave up 14 points that night. Unfortunatly we only scored 7.
