Harlon Hill was such a great player at the University of North Alabama that the MVP of Division II receives the Harlon Hill Trophy.  But this isn't about college now, is it?

Drafted in the 15^th Round by the Chicago Bears in 1954, Harlon Hill made an immediate impact and set a (since broken) franchise record of 1,124 Receiving Yards and led the National Football League in Touchdown Receptions (12) and Yards per Reception (25.0).  Hill remained one of the game’s top receivers over the next two seasons, winning the inaugural Jim Thorpe Award as the Newspaper Enterprise Association MVP in 1955, though he had a better 1956 season.  That year he beat his own record with 1,128 Yards and again led the NFL in Yards per Reception (24.0).  To this day, he is still third all-time in the NFL in Yards per Reception with 20.2.

Hill would pile up injuries, especially a serious one involving a torn Achilles, and he was only dominant for those three seasons.  He would retire after the 1960 campaign.

Art Powell played in the Canadian Football League for two seasons before the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in 1959.  As an NFL rookie, Powell played returner and defensive back but later joined the New York Titans (later renamed the Jets) of the American Football League.  With the Titans, Powell would lead the AFL in Receiving Touchdowns (14) in the league's first year of existence, and in 1962 he would finish first in Receiving Yards (1,130).

He joined the Oakland Raiders, where he stayed for four years, and was named an AFL All-Star each season.  In his first season there (1963), he would lead the AFL in Receiving Yards (1,304) and Touchdown Receptions (16) and was a First Team All-Pro.  Powell also exceeded his yardage in 1964 (1,361) and again had a four-digit output in yardage in 1966 (1,026).  He would also never have fewer than 11 TDs in a season as a Raider.  Powell finished his career with one season each in Buffalo and Minnesota.

Powell would accumulate 8,046 Receiving Yards and 81 Touchdowns over his 177 Game career in American Football, and in 2024, it looked like he was going to get his bust in Canton.  The Senior Committee put him forward as a Finalist, but along with Buddy Parker, the main committee passed on Powell.  This does not bode well for him in the future.

Nate Newton was so big that he was called the “Kitchen," in reference to the fact that he was a more massive player than William "The Refrigerator" Perry.  Newton went undrafted out of Florida A&M but found a home in the USFL, where he played two years with the Tampa Bay Bandits and earned All-USFL Honors.

Now a seasoned professional, Newton signed with the Dallas Cowboys but continued to struggle with his weight.  In his 30s, Newton was at his best, going to six Pro Bowls and earning two First Team All-Pro selections, and he was a large (literally) part of the superb O-Line that helped Emmitt Smith rush his way to the Hall of Fame.  Big Nate would win three Super Bowl Rings with the Cowboys, and we are guessing that his ring size may have been the largest one ever created.

An exceptionally popular player in Cleveland (local McDonald’s franchises even had a sandwich named after him for a time), Michael Dean Perry was a defensive beast who, with the Browns, led a strong defense.  MDP would go to five Pro Bowls as a Brown (his sixth coming with Denver), and he was a First Team All-Pro and Second Team All-Pro twice.  He was also named the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1989.  Not too bad for someone considered a little undersized, but nobody doubted his quickness off the snap.