Lou the best defensive player to ever play at Kentucky I heard he was a bad ass player just a little before my time heard my father talk about him and read about him in voice of the wildcats Claude Sullivan awesome read
Lou michaels
- Thread starter jeffky
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Michaels was a great player, very versatile, excellent kicker(straight on FG/PAT/KO kicker, none of that sissy soccer style stuff for Lou!) who had a long, productive NFL career. UK moved him around on D, DT one play, MLB the next, maybe DE the next and he was destructive. Old time, blue collar, pine knot tough baller. Look up "football player" in the dictionary and there will likely be a picture of Michaels.
As for "best defensive player to ever play at UK"......my money's on Art Still but Michaels would be on any All Time Great UK Team.
My older brother was a UK student when Michaels was playing. In those days UK always played Xavier right before the Tennessee game because the Musketeers ran the single wing just like Tennessee. In Michaels senior year, Xavier was actually making a game of it until Michaels hit a Xavier ball carrier so hard that he swallowed his tongue. The next week Michaels beat Tennessee virtually by himself. His brother Walt Michaels was a very fine NFL player as well and I believe was a short term Head Coach for the Jets. Lou Michaels was a dominant defender.
He wasn't just a bad ass player, he was a bad ass period. The story I heard was that his older brother that played for the Browns used to have to come down and straighten him out at times. My high school coach got tickets to the Tennessee game one year and took three of us up to watch the game. UK won 23-20 IIRC and he made tackles all over the field. One play in particular I remember him making a tackle for about a two yard gain from his DT position on the opposite sideline, and he was in their backfield all day. He was a left footed kicker and he also kicked the winning field goal.
Not sure how true it was but the rumor is that he beat up three of the players from Corbin's state championship team (No playoff then) and sent them home. Calvin Bird was a year behind them and went to UK the next year, I read that they wanted Calvin to run for the track team but the football coaches thought they would change his stride and nixed that. Calvin was super fast and was really great in high school, probably the fastest back I remember ever seeing, and I saw two All Pros (One WR and one RB) play high school ball later on.
Did you see Art Still play? I saw both. Both really good - but Art Still was as coach Morrow says - " A grown ass man"! Art Still was the best defensive player I saw, I have seen every UK team play the last 55 years. Josh was/is really good also. Never saw Lou play - but he stories are all consistent and he could be the best. All three really great players for UK!
Go Big Blue!
As the fanbases age, the "Best ever" plays later and later. Art Still was damn near unblockable and too fast too run away from. Josh Allen is great, but you could scheme around him, Art Still just destroyed the LOS and went for the ball.
But it's the same with every fanbase. UGA has had some great RBs and S over the years, but we have a few fans who don't list Hershele as our best back, or Jake Scott at S. It's like football wasn't played until 2010.
But it's the same with every fanbase. UGA has had some great RBs and S over the years, but we have a few fans who don't list Hershele as our best back, or Jake Scott at S. It's like football wasn't played until 2010.
Art was a teammate of mine at Kentucky. That was my senior year when we played in Athens and Prince Charles attended.
Art would be a wealthy college student in todays game, was he paid much in '77? BTW I agree he was one great player!
I was there 74-78 and I think the 74 recruits were our strongest class. I would even argue the 78 team was the best team in UK history. Just my opinion.
Lou Michaels, All-American 1956, 1957, SEC Player of the Year, 4th in Heisman voting.
Tough dude...
Tough dude...
pretty decent in those days but a bargain, if we could buy him today for that amount we would jump all over it!
Sure. But as I’m sure you know (and as your post implies), five grand bought a new car in ‘74.
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