At the University of Nebraska, Glenn Presnell first played for the semi-pro Ironton Yanks in 1929.  The Yanks were not part of the NFL but played games against NFL teams, sometimes emerging as the victor.  Presnell would sing with the NFL's Portsmouth Spartans, where he would be a bona fide triple threat in terms of passing, running and kicking and would be an All-Pro in 1933.  Presnell would then join the Detroit Lions and was a key member of their 1935 Championship Team. 

While this era is a little hard to quantify, historians and sportswriters of his day were high on Presnell and his offensive skills.

Tom Nalen played his entire career in the National Football League with the Denver Broncos, where he started all 187 Games at Center.  Early in his career, Nalen would win two Super Bowls with John Elway as his Quarterback, and during those ring acquisitions, he was in the midst of a four-year streak of Pro Bowls with two First Team All-Pros.  Nalen earned his fifth Pro Bowl and third First Team All-Pro in 2003, and he played at Mile-High until his retirement in 2009.  Considering how many non-Terrell Davis Running Backs he helped exceed expectations, Nalen's value can be easily quantified.  

Jack Ferrante had a unique path to the National Football League because he wasn’t drafted and never played college football.  In fact, he never even finished high school. 

Let that sink in for a minute.   If you were like us,  you might have automatically thought about the Mark Wahlberg film about Vince Papale, which is an excellent story in itself, but Papale was not nearly as good as Jack Ferrante.

Let’s continue…

Ferrante would play semi-pro football and impressed the Eagles brass enough at a tryout to latch onto their farm team (The Wilmington Clippers), played a couple of games in 1941, and made the team for good in 1944; by 1945, he was one of the better Ends on the team. He would finish in the top ten in Yards per Reception five times and would help the Eagles win the NFL Championship in 1948 and 1949.  Ferrante scored 31 Touchdowns and caught 16 passes for 2,884 Yards in a career that would only transpire in Philadelphia.

He was named to the 1940s All-Decade Team, which, again, when you remember where he came from, is an incredible accomplishment.

Drafted 5^th overall out of the University of Tennessee, Jamal Lewis was an immediate offensive force for the Baltimore Ravens, rushing for 1,364 Yards in his rookie season.  More importantly, the Ravens went to the Super Bowl, and Lewis rushed for over 100 Yards and a TD in their Super Bowl XXXV win.  A knee injury took him out of his sophomore season, but he came back in 2002 with another 1,300-yard season, though it was his 2003 year that places him on this list.  He rushed for 2,066 Yards, which, as of this writing, is the third-best in history.  That year, Lewis was named the AP Offensive Player of the Year.

Lewis would have four more seasons where he exceeded 1,000 Rushing Yards (two with Baltimore and two with the Cleveland Browns), and he finished his career with 10,607 Rushing Yards with 58 TDs.