Expanded Big 12 can claim KC Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Travis Kelce and others as ‘legends’
If you’ve ever watched the Big Ten Network or the SEC Network late at night on a weekday evening in the summer, you have probably come across some “classic” conference games involving “legends” from those leagues that made you do a double-take.
Missouri vs. Kansas is a classic SEC game? Nebraska vs. Oklahoma is a classic Big Ten game?
Chase Daniel and Norm Stewart are SEC legends? Eric Crouch and Tom Osborne belong to the Big Ten?
We all know those games, players and coaches existed under the Big 12 (or Big Eight) flag, before schools like Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M bolted for other conferences. But their new leagues have occasionally claimed players from those teams as their own, even though they never competed in their conference.
With that in mind, it is now time for the Big 12 to celebrate some of its newest “legends.”
There are some good ones.
The Big 12 formally invited BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to join its ranks on Friday, and all four schools accepted. That means famous players and coaches from those four teams can now be classified as “Big 12 legends.”
Two prominent members of the Kansas City Chiefs come in at the top of the list.
Andy Reid played offensive tackle for the BYU football team from 1978-80 before he got into coaching. The black-and-white picture of him wearing an old BYU uniform remains a sight to behold. He is now a Big 12 legend.
“That’s great,” Reid said about BYU joining the Big 12. “That’s phenomenal. Good people up there. They deserve that opportunity. It’s great.”
Other famous BYU alums include basketball star Jimmer Fredette, former Heisman trophy winner Ty Detmer, former Chicago Bears and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon and Super Bowl winner Steve Young.
Cincinnati also provides the Big 12 with some new Chiefs flavor. Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce played college football at Cincinnati before he became one of the NFL’s best players at his position.
The Bearcats also remind us that no head coach has worked for more Big 12 schools than Bob Huggins. He spent time at both Cincinnati and Kansas State before settling in at West Virginia.
Adding Cincinnati to the conference also means Kenyon Martin is now a Big 12 “legend.”
Houston should help boost the Big 12 on the basketball court as soon as it begins competing in the conference. It also adds to UH’s own history, because the Big 12 can now claim the “Phi Slama Jama” team that featured Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler as its own.
Other prominent Houston alums include CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, rapper Lil Wayne and 1989 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware. They are now Big 12 legends.
Central Florida probably brings the fewest number of new Big 12 legends to the conference, but it does have some prominent former athletes, such as basketball center Tacko Fall and quarterback Blake Bortles.
But former NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper is probably the best known UCF star of the bunch.
One more thing before we end this admittedly silly list of “classics” and “legends” who never actually played in the Big 12: K-State and Cincinnati once played the perfect game to air as a re-run.
In 1995, K-State quarterback Matt Miller found future Chiefs receiver Kevin Lockett to beat Cincinnati 23-21 with a touchdown pass on the final play of the game.
Talk about a classic Big 12 Conference game.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Expanded Big 12 can claim KC Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Travis Kelce and others as ‘legends’."