Nevada honors All-Century team by Chad Hartley, Outpost contributor In this package Wolf Pack treasures past, builds future  Marion Motley, portrait of a champion Marion Motley video On the Web Official Wolf Pack athletic site On Oct. 15, 1898, Coach F.F. Ellis produced the first athletic team in the history of the University of Nevada. His football squad defeated the Stewart Indian School 34-6 to register the university's first ever win. One hundred years later, Nevada fields men's and women's teams in 14 collegiate sports. The school boasts national-level facilities: Mackay Stadium, Lawlor Events Center, the Old Gym and Peccole Field.   Linebacker Henry Rolling played for Tampa Bay, San Diego and the Rams after leading Nevada defense from 1983-86. Photo courtesy of Nevada Athletics Department The football program has accumulated over 400 wins, most recently the 63-0 stomp of Cal Poly. Wolf Pack football fields one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, ranking in the top five in total offense for five years straight. The program , the most well-known sport at the university, unveiled the "Team of the Century" at a banquet during Homecoming Week in October that honored the all-time greats and celebrated 100 years of Nevada athletics. "We felt the need to commemorate the outstanding student-athletes that the University of Nevada has produced," Athletic Director Chris Ault said. Of the 30 selected, every living member of the Team of the Century was in attendance except NFL players James Cannida, Alex Van Dyke and DeShone Myles, and All-American and NFL Hall-of-Famer Marion Motley. He was ill and unable to travel from his Ohio home. Cannida said earlier this year that being named to the team was one of the highlights of his life.   Buster McClure, 1943-46 defensive and offensive line, comes at you on his way to UPI All-American, two East-West Shrine games and a professional stint with the Boston Yanks. Photo courtesy of Nevada Athletics Department "I really didn't think I would be considered but when I heard I was chosen, man, that meant so much," Cannida said. "It was like my dedication to making myself a better player was all worth it. All the practices, all the work in the weight room, everything, it is all worth it now." The Century team's quarterback, Stan Heath, was an All-American in 1949 and finished fourth in the Heisman trophy balloting that year. It was the only time a Pack player was considered for the award, which is given to the best player every season. Myles finished a stellar four-year career as Nevada's all-time leader in tackles. But his career almost didn't happen. A three-sport star at Cheyenne High in Las Vegas, Myles was recruited by many schools but not one Division I institution offered him a scholarship during his senior year. As Myles graduated from Cheyenne in June 1993, former Nevada head coach Jeff Horton realized he had one scholarship left to give. He remembered Myles from a scouting trip as an energetic, hard-nosed player and decided to give the youngster a chance. After redshirting in 1995, Myles started the first game of the 1995 season and every other game in the rest of his career. An NFL team, Seattle Seahawks, drafted Myles this spring. As a rookie, Myles has started a few games for the Seahawks this season and seems to have a promising future. Nevada fires a long one against the Aggies in 1959. Image courtesy of UNR archives. Of the 30 players selected to the All-Century team, 18 are past or present professional football players. Eleven of the players are not in the Nevada Hall of Fame, mostly because the honor is usually bestowed a decade or two after the player leaves the school. Criteria for selection ranged from overall dominance to postseason honors and longevity. "The players who came out of this process were all members of outstanding teams or were outstanding individual players," Jeff Ardito, the selection committee chairman, said. "They were instrumental to the success of the teams that they played on, and I think that this group of players is truly representative of a team of the century." One member of the team, running back Frank Hawkins, is still involved with the university as a television color commentator for the Pack football games. Hawkins, who was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame last year, was named all-American three times and enjoyed a successful NFL career with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders.     Posted Dec. 2, 1998 Copyright 1998 Nevada Outpost TOP | PREVIOUS | NEXT Nevada Outpost is produced by students at the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost