The Greatest Spartans Of All Time

I’ve recently been asked who the greatest Spartan athletes of all time were. No, I did not come up with a top ten, nor a top five. To be honest, I felt it too difficult to rank and thus compare the careers of the likes of Charles “Bubba” Smith, Scott Skiles, Andre Rison, Steve Smith, Lorenzo White, Percy Snow, and even Kip Miller among others. Instead, I narrowed it down to two. While you may have beef with my runner-up, I don’t think anyone’s arguing with my leader of the pack.

Though he would have been unfit to take over Gerard Butler’s role as King Leonidas in the movie 300, Earvin Johnson is indeed the unquestionable leader of all Spartan greats. Living up to his nickname, “Magic” did things with a basketball never seen before by Spartan and basketball fans alike. Jenison Fieldhouse (MSU’s basketball facility prior to the Breslin Center’s existence) became not only a place to watch basketball games, but also a place to watch Magic.

Johnson’s 1979 team defeated Larry Bird and Indiana State to win the program’s first ever NCAA national championship in basketball. It was that year that he solidified himself as an iconic figure in the land of green and white, and it was then that he put the school’s basketball program on the map.

As evident by his success in the NBA following a career at MSU, winning one title wasn’t enough for the 6’9 point guard. He had to go and win five more, and unanimously categorized himself as an all-time great in the process. And as if his 1979 Big Ten MVP and NCAA tournament MVP were not enough, he proceeded to mess around in the League and earn himself three regular season MVP’s and three NBA Finals MVP’s to go along with five rings, twelve all-star appearances, 9 all-NBA first team selections, four NBA assists titles, and two NBA steals titles among many other things (such as gold medals, a retired jersey number, two statues in his honor, and consideration for being the greatest point guard to ever pick up a ball). It isn’t just Magic’s resume, moreover, that makes him the greatest Spartan athlete to ever live. His personality is what puts him over the top.

Magic has a personality that has allowed him to transcend time and keep himself a consistent poster child of the NBA despite retiring 17 years ago. Whether you know him for advocating for AIDS, intensifying the most fervent chapter to the NBA’s fiercest rivalry (Celtics vs. Lakers), his wide-sized smile, or his dazzling ball handling skills and sky hook (which he stole from Kareem after the big man tried it in a game of H-O-R-S-E against Johnson), you certainly know who he is. He’s an iconic figure, who will forever be remembered by the basketball gods, Lakerland, and most importantly, Spartan Nation. He is without a doubt, the greatest Spartan athlete of all-time.

Who trails Magic, you ask? Well, to answer that, we have to leap sports and consider the pigskin. For me, I simply need to meander across my family tree to find the answer.

Brad Van Pelt is your man.

He was not only one of the greatest Michigan State athletes to ever compete, but he was also the busiest. Brad earned seven varsity letters while playing football, basketball, and baseball at MSU. He did not just participate in each sport, but flourished in all three. He did not coast, but he worked his tail off and wound up an All-American or honorable mention All-American in all three of America’s favorite sports.

Brad Van Pelt was described by many as all business come game time, and did not have the boisterous personality to transcend the game like Magic has done with basketball. The unfortunate part about the career of my father’s cousin is that it’s often forgotten or ignored by the younger generation. If he would have played in the ESPN era, however, then his name would surely be remembered by sports fans of all generations. While a number of people my age have never heard of Brad, a number of people twice my age won’t stop asking me about him. This is because the Owosso, Michigan native played at State from 1969-72, which is certainly before my time. I did, however, get to meet the man and have also been fortunate enough to hear plenty of Brad-based stories from my Dad, who seems to admire the former man of steel.

Brad was great on and off the field. While he was a light-hearted, easy-going person when the pads were off, he was as tough as nails under the lights. He excelled in three sports (which played an intricate role in me putting him #2 to Magic), but ultimately made the football field his domain, as well as the platform for which he would make a career out of.

After being the first defensive back to ever win the Maxwell Award (which goes to College Football’s best player nationwide), he was selected in the first round of the 1973 NFL draft and went on to enjoy a 14-year NFL career in which he was voted to five Pro Bowls. He was a man-among-boys, standing about 6’5 and 230 pounds (which was more significant in the 70s and 80s than it is today). BVP was also the hardest-hitting safety in college football when he wore the Spartan helmet, and an even harder hitting linebacker when he played for the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants in the NFL.

Brad spent most of his professional years with the G-Men in New York, an organization that didn’t take his talents for granted. In 2011, just six years after he was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, The Giants honored their former linebacker at halftime of a game against the Packers by inducting him into the New York Giants Ring of Honor.

He’s my second greatest Spartan, moreover, not for what he did in the NFL but for what he did while still a Spartan. And he certainly did a lot. Brad Van Pelt is currently in the College Football Hall of Fame as well as the Sports Hall of Fame at Michigan State. It’s safe to say such honors are well deserved. Though Brad is no longer with us today, his legacy lives on with the Michigan State University football program, who’s current dominating defense surely would have made him proud.  I am honored to say I am related to the greatest Spartan football player who ever lived.