Russell Pope was one of the constellation of stars that powered Rockford East to back-to-back undefeated seasons and the first IHSA state football championships in Rock River Valley history.
The No. 16 player on our list led the E-Rabs to a 9-0 record in 1973, the final year before the IHSA instituted the playoffs, with 893 yards on 125 carries. He was second in the conference only to Freeport's Cal Cummins, the 79th ranked player on our list. Pope also added 171 yards on 11 catches.
In 1974, Pope started in a ridiculously deep backfield that included future Oakland Raider Ira Matthews and Joe Black. Black actually led East with 819 yards rushing, Matthews had 817 and Pope, who twisted an ankle early in the season, had 709 on just 119 carries. Quarterback Dean Schlueter added 1,450 yards passing.
East stormed through the playoffs, crushing Normal to win the 4A state title. In Pope's two years on the East varsity, the E-Rabs outscored their opponents 526-93. East claimed 12 of the 24 all-conference spots in 1974. Pope was named first team all-conference as a running back in 1973 and then first team all-conference as a defensive back in 1974.
Pope was one of four E-Rabs from the 1974 team to play major college football. Matthews and lineman George Wojtowicz (No. 94) went to Wisconsin and Stuart Walker went to Colorado. Pope was hours away from committing to play for Arizona when Purdue cleared a scholarship. Pope's dream was to play in the Big Ten so he headed to West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Boilermakers under Alex Agase started Pope out as a defensive back. He played sparingly as a true freshman and sophomore, recording 21 tackles and breaking up two passes over two seasons. Purdue went 9-13 those two seasons and the Boilermakers replaced Agase with Jim Young. Young and his staff moved Pope back to running back. Pope gained 132 yards on 31 carries and added 187 yards receiving as a junior.
The pieces finally came together for Pope and Purdue in 1978. He gained 673 yards rushing and added another 292 yards receiving. He finished third in the Big Ten in combined yards from scrimmage. Behind Pope's big season, Purdue improved to 9-2-1 and was invited to the Peach Bowl, the school's first bowl appearance in 12 years.
Unlike former East teammates Walker, Matthews and Jerry Holloway, who were picked in the 1979 NFL draft, Pope's name wasn't called. Immediately after the draft, he became the fourth player from that 1974 East team to sign an NFL contract when he agreed to a free agent deal with the Buffalo Bills.
That started a frustrating pro football odyssey over four years and three leagues. The Bills released Pope in August of 1979. He signed with the British Columbia Lions of the CFL in 1980. In 1981, he got another free agent deal with the Detroit Lions. Finally, in 1982, he got one last shot with the Chicago Blitz of the USFL. In between, he starred with the Rockford Rams along with a number of former Big Nine stars.
Pope never stuck with any of the teams. If he had, he'd be up a few more spots on this top 100 list. Pope eventually settled in Denver to work for the Colorado Department of Corrections.
| No. 16 - Russell Pope, East | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Level | School | Accomplishments | Points |
| 1973 | High School | East | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Winning Record | 1 | |||
| Conference Champion | 1 | |||
| League Leader | 1 | |||
| Ranked Top 4 | 1 | |||
| 1974 | High School | East | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Winning Record | 1 | |||
| Conference Champion | 1 | |||
| Final Four | 1 | |||
| State Champion | 1 | |||
| 1975 | College | Purdue | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| 1976 | College | Purdue | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| 1977 | College | Purdue | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| 1978 | College | Purdue | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Winning Record | 1 | |||
| Bowl Game | 1 | |||
| 1979 | NFL | Buffalo | Free Agent Contract | 1 |
| 1980 | CFL | British Columbia | Free Agent Contract | 0.5 |
| 1981 | NFL | Detroit | Free Agent Contract | 1 |
| 1982 | USFL | Chicago | Free Agent Contract | 0.5 |
| Total | 34 | |||
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