NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players: No. 18 - Tom Linebarger, Freeport

The 18th player on our list was the baddest man on one of the greatest collections of football talent in Freeport history.

The Freeport Pretzels went 12-2 in Big Nine play and 17-3 overall in Tom Linebarger's two years on the Freeport varsity. The 1978 team tied for first with East and won the school's first playoff game. The 1979 time tied for first with Boylan and missed out on the playoffs because of a 6-0 loss to the Titans early in the season.

Linebarger was one of a number of outstanding players to take the field for the Pretzels those two seasons. Troy King, the star running back from the 1978 team, would go on to play at Wisconsin. Offensive lineman Wes Winnekins would play at Iowa State and receiver/running back Todd Jenkins would play at Northwestern.

Linebarger outdid them all. He played defensive line and fullback for the Pretzels. He was seventh in the conference in rushing as a senior, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, and blasting open holes for Jenkins, who finished fourth. On defense, he led a defense that gave up just 112 points over 20 games over two seasons.

Linebarger also was an outstanding baseball player - he was the 1979 Male Athlete of the Year for the Rockford Register Star - and he was one of the top recruits in the region for both sports. He originally chose Iowa because the Hawkeyes were going to let him play baseball as well.

Linebarger went to Iowa as a tight end and was one of only three true freshman to letter in 1980. But the Hawkeyes football staff rescinded the permission to play baseball so Linebarger transferred to Southern Methodist University, which had been turned into a national power under Ron Meyer.

Linebarger had to sit out the 1981 season and, ironically, SMU dropped baseball as a sport after he transferred there. Still, he stuck it out and played on teams in 1982, 1983, 1984 that went 31-3-1. The 1982 team finished 11-0-1, won the Cotton Bowl and finished second in the final AP Poll. 

SMU moved Linebarger to defensive line. That era of SMU football is known for the Pony Express running attack with Craig James and Eric Dickerson, but the SMU defense was tough as well. The 1982 squad allowed more than 20 points only once in 1982 and it shut down Pittsburgh and Dan Marino, 7-3, in the Cotton Bowl.

Linebarger was a second-team All-Southwest Conference player as a senior and played in two postseason bowl games, the Hula Bowl in Hawaii and the Japan Bowl in Tokyo. He wasn't drafted, but he was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He survived the first two cuts and then decided to walk away when it looked like he was going to be placed on the taxi squad rather than the 47-man roster.

Instead, Linebarger finished his SMU degree and went into finance. Today, he's a director at CIT Bank in Chicago.

No. 18 - Tom Linebarger, Freeport
Year	Level	School	Accomplishments	Points
1978	High School	Freeport	Conference Champion	1
			Playoffs	1
1979	High School	Freeport	First Team All-conference	2
			All-State	1
			Winning Team	1
			Conference Champion	1
1980	College	Iowa	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
1982	College	SMU	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Winning Team	1
			Bowl Game	1
1983	College	SMU	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
			Bowl Game	1
1984	College	SMU	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
			Winning Team	1
			Bowl Game	1
			All-Southwest Conference	1
1985	NFL	Steelers	Free Agent Contract	1
Total				33

NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players