USC football was the king of college football in 1967. John McKay’s Trojans won the national championship, beating Indiana in the Rose Bowl to finish the job. That USC team beat UCLA in the 1967 Battle of LA, the greatest installment of the USC-UCLA football series. It’s not a surprise that a USC team as good as the 1967 roster was able to own the 1968 NFL draft.
Ron Yary
The No. 1 pick in the 1968 NFL draft became a four-time Super Bowl participant and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Ron Yary was a lockdown offensive lineman who gave the Minnesota Vikings their greatest era. The Vikings haven’t been to the Super Bowl since Yary played for them.
Mike Taylor
This pick did not have an elite pro career, but Taylor was a top-10 pick at No. 10 in the 1968 NFL draft.
Tim Rossovich
The USC linebacker went at No. 14 to the Philadelphia Eagles. He made the Pro Bowl in 1969 and played nearly a decade in the NFL, a solid pro career.
Mike Hull
Going at 16 to the Chicago Bears, Mike Hull played in the NFL for several seasons — more than half a decade — and played in Super Bowl VII for the Washington Redskins in January of 1973. That Super Bowl was played in USC’s home stadium, the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Earl McCollouch
Earl McCullouch went at 24 to the Detroit Lions in the 1968 NFL draft. He played seven seasons in the NFL, another respectable professional career for a Trojan.
1969
Following the five first-round-pick haul of 1968, USC produced the No. 1 pick in the 1969 NFL draft, OJ Simpson. USC earned first-round selections in back-to-back NFL drafts for the only time in program history.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: John McKay’s 1967 national champion USC team ruled the 1968 NFL draft
Reporting by Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
