Since Louisiana Tech played its first football game in 1901, numerous Bulldogs have gone on from Tech to find success at the next level, from greats like Pat Tilley and Mike Barber in the 1970s, to names like Willie Roaf, who will likely end up in the Hall of Fame, and Terry Bradshaw, who is already there.

Dating back to the start of the National Football League, over 50 Bulldogs have seen action in the NFL, with five players currently active in the league today.

First on the list, and perhaps the most prosperous of the current pro Bulldogs, is the kicking duo of Josh Scobee and Matt Stover.

Scobee, who played at Tech from 2000-03, is the current school record holder in career field goals with 65, career extra points with 144 and extra points in a season, making 44 in 2001.

Since leaving for the NFL, he has spent three seasons as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting kicking, making 54 of 71 field goal attempts and 67-68 extra points.

Stover, who wore the Bulldog uniform form 1986-89, is second in the record books at Tech with 64 career field goals, just one behind Scobee, and has the schools longest field goal completion, a 57-yard kick against Texas A&M in 1987.

Stover has been in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens organization for 16 years now, and has been a regular in the kicking game throughout his career.

Since his start with the Ravens (who were then the Cleveland Browns), Stover has made 83.5% of his field goal attempts, and is a stellar 461-464 on extra points.

So far this year, he is a perfect 9-9 on field goals, and 7-7 on extra points.

Two other former Bulldogs now in the NFL are quarterbacks Tim Rattay and Luck McCown, both of whom are with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Collectively, the two hold all but one Tech passing record.

Rattay, who played at Tech from 1997-99, holds school career records for touchdowns with 115 and yards with 12,746. His three seasons behind center are also the top three records for yards in a season, and his 590 yard performance against Nebraska in 1997 is a the single-game record.

He spent five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, where he started in 12 games before being traded to Tampa Bay. He opened the 2005 season as the Buccaneers starter, playing the role in the first four games before being sidelined. Currently, he sits second on the Bucs depth chart.

McCown, Tech’s signal caller from 2000-03, is the Tech current record holder career completions with 1,063, single-game completions with 47, and is second in career yardage and touchdowns.

Originally drafted by the Browns, McCown played one season in Cleveland before making the move to Tampa Bay.

As a rookie with the Browns, he started in four games and appeared in one more, throwing for 608 yards and four touchdowns.

He has yet to play a down in Tampa, and is currently on the injured reserve due to a knee injury.

Perhaps the most well known of the pro Bulldogs is Philadelphia Eagles running back Ryan Moats, who wore the Tech blue from 2002-04.

Moats’ 2004 season at Tech was the most successful of any running back in school history, claiming him the single season records for carries, yards and touchdowns.

As a rookie last year, Moats played in seven games and accumulated 278 yards, including a 114-yard, two touchdown performance against the Giants.

To date in ’06, Moats has carried the ball nine times for 38 yards as an understudy to All-Pro back Brian Westbrook. Though he hasn’t had a breakout season, few would argue that the best for Moats is yet to come.

 

Matt Dearman is a senior journalism major from Baton Rouge and serves as sports editor for The Tech Talk. E-mail comments to mwd004@latech.edu