Tag: Rob Lytle

Rob Lytle was the best player to wear No. 41 for the Broncos

Rob Lytle was the first Broncos player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl. He rushed for 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns in 87 games.

Rob Lytle was the best player to wear jersey No. 41 for the Denver Broncos.

Lytle played college football at Michigan and was picked by the Broncos in the second round of the 1977 NFL draft. The running back went on to spend his entire seven-year career in Denver.

Lytle rushed 376 times for 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns in 87 games with the Broncos while adding 61 receptions for 562 yards and two scores. Denver reached the Super Bowl in Lytle’s rookie season and he became the first player to score a Super Bowl touchdown in franchise history.

Lytle’s one-yard score was the Broncos’ only touchdown in an eventual 27-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XII.

Before going pro, Lytle was named a Consensus All-American in 1976 after rushing for 1,402 yards and 13 touchdowns, helping the Wolverines reach the Rose Bowl. Lytle scored in the bowl game but Michigan fell to USC 14-6.

Following his death in 2010, Lytle was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

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Two former Michigan running backs in ESPN top 100

Those two were fantastic for Michigan!

Michigan has had some great running backs thru the years, and two of them cracked ESPN’s top 100 rankings from the past 60 seasons.

Bill Connerly wrote a piece that you can see on ESPN+ that ranked his top-100 running backs from the past 60 years, and boy, there sure are some good ones on that list.

Two former Michigan running backs cracked the top 100.

Connerly ranked Mike Hart at No. 64 on the list. Connerly listed Hart under ‘four-year dynamo’ which meant that the players listed there were good as freshmen and even better as seniors. Hart ran for 5,040 yards on 1,015 carries and 41 rushing touchdowns during his four-year career as a starter at Michigan.

The other Wolverine that appeared on the list was Rob Lytle at No. 54. Here is what Connerly had to say about the former Michigan star.

54. Rob Lytle, Michigan

Years: 1974-76
Career stats: 3,311 rushing yards (6.0), 158 receiving yards (11.3), 29 TDs

Known for his toughness above all else, the three-year Wolverines star also boasted standout explosiveness. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry over more than 18 carries per game as a senior, famously posting 165 yards in a runaway win over rival Ohio State.

Barry Sanders was the top-ranked running back that appeared on the list from Connerly.

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