The list is long. There are dozens we could talk about. It's a four-hour conversation over beers and barbecue, an endless debate of the best variety. But here are five Oregon football players that will be remembered forever and advanced the program.
1. Marcus Mariota
The Goat. Oregon's only Heisman winner graced Autzen Stadium for three seasons, 2012-2014, redshirting in 2011.
Mariota was a marvelous college football player who still holds the Oregon records for career passing yards, touchdowns and quarterback wins. He led the Ducks to a 36-5 record over his three seasons, one better than Dan Lanning.
But what sets the Hawaii native apart was the class and humility he brought to Oregon, the gratitude and consistency. Mariota on the field was something else. Off the field, he's never stopped giving back.
2. LaMichael James
Royce Freeman ran for more yards and De'Anthony Thomas was a shade faster, but no Oregon running back produced the thrills and big moments that LMJ did in his three seasons as a Duck, 2009-2011. His teams won three PAC-10/12 Championships. He scored 53 rushing touchdowns, including an electric cutback touchdown against Tennessee and a three-touchdwon, 257-yard game against Stanford, both in 2010.
James was plucky, explosive, determined.
3. Joey Harrington
Captain Comeback was 25-3 as an Oregon starter and won three bowl games. His 2001 team brought Oregon into the national spotlight, finishing 11-1 and No. 2 in the country.
A graduate of Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon, his father John was a QB at Oregon in the '60s. Joey gained fame for an 11-2 record in games where the Ducks were tied or behind in the fourth quarter.
He's maintained ties to the program as a commentator on the "Talkin' Ducks" podcast and through the activities of the Joey Harrington Foundation. On the field as a collegian, Harrington was a battler, one of the first players to popularize the "O" symbol that fans and players throw as a salute.
4. Bo Nix
Many players could go in this spot. Justin Herbert. Pat Chung. Keenan Howry. Bill Musgrave. Dan Fouts. Ahmad Rashad. Kenyon Barner. Jackson Powers-Johnson. Penei Sewell. Haloti Ngata. George Shaw. Dennis Dixon. Jeff Maehl. It's a four-hour argument over a pitcher and a pizza at Track Town.
But Bo takes it for his resourcefulness and calm in the pocket. He won 22 games in two seasons despite finishing 2022 on one leg. The play was never over. He'd find somebody. Third in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 2023 the Pinson, Alabama native and Auburn transfer threw for a school-record 4,508 yards and 45 touchdowns as a senior, setting an NCAA record for completion percentage at 77.4 percent.
Nix shot up the all-time likability rankings by opting in for the 2024 Fiesta Bowl against Liberty, leading the Webfoots to a 45-6 win with 363 yards passing and five touchdowns. In his first year as a pro he took Denver to the playoffs, finishing second in NFL Rookie of the Year balloting to Washington's Jayden Daniels.
5. Cliff Harris
A list like this is absolutely and necessarily subjective, and this last entry makes me sad. Harris was lightning and smoke, the most instinctive cover corner in a long line of great ones at UO that includes Rashad Bauman, Ifo Ekpre-Olumu, Jairus Byrd and many others.
What made Harris a fan favorite was his brashness and quotability, his knack for making huge plays in big games. In 2010 he had five interceptions and four punt return touchdowns, spidery, electric, a jazz saxophonist in the secondary as troubled away from the stage as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane or Art Pepper.
Harris struggled with drug issues and legal trouble, kicked off the Ducks in 2011 and out of football by 2013.