One of the positions that has featured some of the most dynamic athletes in Wyoming history is the safety position. This week we highlight the
Greatest Safeties in Wyoming Football history. Wyoming fans have this week to vote for their favorite Cowboy safeties through Wyoming Greats Fan Poll.
Each week a featured position group will include a 16-player bracket, with voting available for a four-player group each day throughout the week until a Cowboy is named as the winner of the Wyoming Greats Fan Poll at week's end. To cast your vote go to the Wyoming Football's Official Twitter account @wyo_football. Voting updates will be provided during the week @wyo_football. At the end of each week, we'll announce on social media the former Cowboy great receiving the most fan votes and we'll have each week's voting summary at GoWyo.com/WyoGreats
We hope you enjoy looking back at the greatest Pokes. We've included all UW Athletics Hall of Famers, along with All-Americans and some of the top All-Conference honorees at each position from all eras of Wyoming Football.
Here are the candidates for Wyoming's Greatest Safeties in history. The Safety Bracket (Launches Monday, April 20, 2020)
Safeties
1950s-1970s
Mike Dennis (1978-79), 1978 First Team All-WAC
Al Duyn (1972-74), 1973 First Team All-WAC
Kevin McClain (1974-76), 1976 First Team All-WAC
Selmer Pederson (1949-51), 1950 First Team All-Skyline, 2012 UW Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee
End of the WAC Era
Pete Benedetti (1982-85), 1984 First Team All-WAC
Brian Lee (1994-97), 1997 Consensus All-American, 1997 First Team All-WAC, UW's Career Interception Leader, 2008 UW Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee
Al Rich (1997-01), 1998 First Team All-WAC
John Salley (1979-82), 1980 Second Team All-WAC, 5th on UW Career Tackle List
Beginning of the Mountain West
Matt Lehning (1998-99), 1999 Second Team All-MW
Chris Prosinski (2007-10), 2009 and 2010 Second Team All-MW, 6th on UW Career Tackle List
Luke Ruff (2009-12), 2011 Second Team All-MW
John Wendling (2003-06), 2006 First Team All-MW
Recent Cowboys
Marqueston Huff (2010-13), 2013 Second Team All-MW
Marcus Epps (2015-18), 2016-18 Three-time team captain, 12th on UW Career Tackle List
Alijah Halliburton (2016-19), 2019 First Team All-MW
Andrew Wingard (2015-18), 2016, 17 and 18 First Team All-MW, No. 1 on MW Career Tackle List and No. 2 on UW Career Tackle List
Throughout the spring, we will include bios of each week's winner in the Wyoming Greats Fan Poll. See the fan selections below.
Jay Novacek
Wyoming Fans' Choice as the Greatest Cowboy Tight End
Jay Novacek was the NCAA's Consensus All-America tight end in 1984, meaning he was selected to more First Team All-America teams than any other tight end in the country for that season. Novacek still holds the NCAA record for average yards gained per reception by a tight end in a single season. In 1984, he averaged 22.6 yards per reception to set that NCAA record as he caught 33 passes for 745 yards. He also earned First Team All-Western Athletic Conference honors in 1984. Novacek was one of 10 members in the inaugural UW Athletics Hall of Fame class in 1993. In 2008, he was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame.
He went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL where he was a starter on Super Bowl Championship teams following the 1992, '93 and '95 seasons. He was selected to the NFL Pro Bowl for five consecutive seasons from 1991-95.
Not only was Novacek a football All-American at Wyoming, but he also earned All-America honors in track and field, placing fourth in the decathlon at the 1984 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. To this day, Novacek still holds the University of Wyoming school record for points scored in the decathlon (7,762 points). He also still ranks No. 2 on the UW Top 10 list in the Indoor pole vault (16' 3") and No. 4 in the outdoor pole vault (16' 4").
Mitch Donahue
Wyoming Fans' Choice as the Greatest Cowboy Defensive Lineman
Mitch Donahue's is one of the most decorated players in Wyoming Football history. His senior season of 1990, Donahue earned First Team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News and NFL Draft Report. He finished fourth in voting for the 1990 Outland Trophy Award, which honors the nation's top linemen.
In both 1989 and '90, Donahue was honored as the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and for three consecutive seasons (1988, '89 and '90) he was named First Team All-WAC. He owns the Wyoming school records for career sacks (49.0) and sacks in a single-season (22.0).
Donahue was a leader on Wyoming teams that won back-to-back WAC titles in 1987 and '88, going a perfect 16-0 in league play over that two-year span. The Cowboys also earned three bowl bids during his career -- the 1987 and '88 Holiday Bowls and 1990 Copper Bowl.
In 2002, he earned the highest honor from the University of Wyoming Athletics Department when he was inducted into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame.
Chase Roullier
Wyoming Fans' Choice as the Greatest Cowboy Offensive Lineman
Chase Roullier was named a 2016 Second Team All-American by USA Today Sports as a center. He capped off his college career by being selected in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. Since joining Washington, he has started 37 of 43 games at center for the Redskins over the past three seasons. Roullier was invited to and participated in the 2016 East-West Shrine All-Star Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., and was also invited to and participated in the 2017 NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis, Ind.
A native of Savage, Minn., Roullier was a national semifinalist for the 2016 National Football Foundation William V. Campbell Scholar-Athlete Award. He was also selected First Team All-Mountain West Conference in voting by conference head coaches and media as a senior, and was named to both the 2016 Outland Trophy Watch List and the 2016 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List. During his career, he played in 48 games at Wyoming, starting 42 of those games. That included starting all 14 games at center in 2016. His senior season he was asked to move to center by the Cowboy coaching staff after playing guard his previous three seasons at Wyoming.
Roullier was voted a team captain both his junior and senior seasons. He helped the Cowboys win the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference in 2016, earning the Cowboys the right to host the 2016 Mountain West Football Championship Game. Roullier and his teammates also earned a berth in the 2016 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl and ended the season with an 8-6 overall record and a 6-2 conference mark. He earned Academic All-Conference honors all four years of his college career and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.
