NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players: No. 6 - Mike Junkin, Belvidere

The greatest player to come out of the Belvidere football factory under Verne Pottinger wasn't there very long, but he was there long enough to set a standard that lifted the program for years to come.

Mike Junkin's father was a United Airlines pilot and his family didn't move to Belvidere until he was a sophomore. The Bucs became known for relentless winning under Pottinger, but that wasn't the case when the Junkins came to town.

In 1981, Junkin's first year in the starting lineup as a linebacker and offensive guard, Belvidere went 2-7. At that point, the Bucs were just 15-30 under Pottinger. In 1982, Junkin was the only Belvidere defensive player named to the first team All-Conference team as the Bucs improved to 6-3. It was the first of 15 straight winning seasons, that included three IHSA titles games and two state titles.

Junkin was tall enough (6-3) for big time NCAA football, but he was too skinny (190 pounds). But he also had an older brother, Trey, who played at Louisiana Tech and later spent 15 years in the NFL as a special teams player. That pedigree intrigued college coaches and Junkin ended up playing at Duke.

Then, as now, the Blue Devils were a basketball school in serious need of football talent. New Duke coach Steve Sloan plugged him into the lineup right away. Junkin had 58 tackles for loss as a freshman, 105 as a sophomore, 162 as a junior and 188 as a senior. His total of 513 remains a record for any NIC-10 player at the highest level of college football. The next closest on the list is Brock Spack with 384. Junkin's 31 tackles for loss is only surpassed by Guilford's Carlos Polk when he was at Nebraska.

The production certainly caught the eye of NFL evaluators. Marty Schottenheimer, who compiled a 200-126 record in the NFL from 1986 to 2006, was so impressed with Junkin that he traded up in the 1987 draft to take Junkin fifth overall, ahead of players such as Shane Conlan (Bills at No. 8), Jerome Brown (Eagles at No. 9) and Rod Woodson (Steelers at No. 10).

Junkin remains the only NIC-10 player to ever be taken in the first round of the NFL draft.

Unfortunately, the draft was Junkin's NFL highlight. Curiously, the Browns decided to turn a middle linebacker tackling machine into an pass rushing outside linebacker. Plus, he had bad luck with injuries. His rookie season was ended by a wrist injury. His 1988 season was hampered by a knee injury. Before the 1989 season, the Browns traded Junkin to the Chiefs for a fifth-round pick. Junkin suffered through an ankle injury and a shoulder injury in what would be his final NFL season.

Still, he ended up playing 21 games in the NFL, including the playoffs, starting seven. Only eight former Big Eight/NIC-10 players from the Rockford area have played more.

No. 6 - Mike Junkin, Belvidere
Year	Level	Team	Accomplishments	Points
1981	High School	Belvidere	Losing Team	0
1982	High School	Belvidere	First Team All-Conference	2
			Winning Team	1
1983	College	Duke	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
1984	College	Duke	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
1985	College	Duke	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
			All-ACC	1
			Honorable Mention All-American	0.5
1986	College	Duke	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
			All-ACC	1
			All-American	1
			Career Record Holder (Tackles)	1
1987	NFL	Cleveland	First Round Draft Pick	10
			Played in NFL	3
1988	NFL	Cleveland	Played in NFL	3
			Starter	1
			Playoff Team	1
1989	NFL	Kansas City	Played in NFL	3
Totals				48.5

NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players