For the next couple weeks we will be counting down the top 15 Colorado football players since the 2005-2006 season. Of course, it’s not the most fun decade to be looking at, but I think the down period created an interesting challenge when creating this list.
As it always goes with these lists, there is not an exact formula to determine the top 15, I tried to weigh a player’s success at CU over all other factors, but of course things like NFL success and fan favorite status creeped into the decision making process.
I’m sure people will disagree with placement, or certain players being left off, but that’s part of the fun of these, so as we work down the list, let me know where you disagree!
#11 – Cody Hawkins
Man, in 2009 if I would have told you that Cody Hawkins would be anywhere near this list, you would have been outraged. Now that the dust has cleared, I think any reasonable fan can look back and admit that Cody was a damn good Colorado Buffalo. Did he have all the physical tools? No. Did he make his fair share of mistakes? Yes. Did he leaves his heart on the field every game, and truly care about the two interlocking letters on his helmet, absolutely. And in the process, he had himself a pretty impressive career.
Not quite a four-year starter, but a four-year contributor, Cody holds all of the major career passing records at CU. Most touchdown passes (60), most passing yards (7,409), and most completions (667). Now full disclosure he also holds the record for most attempts (1,214) and most interceptions (41). He is one of just two quarterbacks in CU history to start a game in 4 different seasons (Steve Vogel).
While, other than being named a freshman All-American at one point, Cody didn’t receive much national recognition, you can get a better idea of the type of player he was by looking at the team awards he received.
- The Derek Singleton Award, selected by his teammates, for spirit, dedication and enthusiasm (Freshman, Sophomore and Senior year.)
- The Gold Group Commitment Award, given by the coaches to those players committed to all-around excellence (Soph and Junior year.)
- The (QB) Iron Buffalo Award for hard work, dedication, toughness and progress in the weight room (Soph.)
- The Tom McMahon Award for dedication and work ethic (Junior.)
- The Eddie Crowder Award for outstanding leadership.
- The inaugural Kordell Stewart Career Achievement Award, which he shared with Scotty McKnight, for outstanding career achievement (Senior).
- The Hang Tough Award, for overcoming the most adversity.
- The Buffalo Heart Award, selected by the fans, for who they believe has best exemplified heart, grit, determination and desire during their CU career.
You don’t get all that recognition from teammates, coaches and fans when you are a bum. Cody was a heck of a leader, and never (visibly) showed the effects of the harsh words being spewed about his family regularly. He simply strapped it up everyday and went about his business. If you can’t respect that, then that’s on you.
Since graduating from Colorado, Cody has played for the Stockholm Mean Machines in Sweeden, and also led the 2011 US National Team to the gold medal in the IFAF World Cup. Hawkins spent last year as a grad assistant at Ohio State, and recently accepted the offensive coordinator position at Oregon’s Westview High School. He also will coach quarterbacks for this years IFAF World Cup Team, alongside head coach Dan Hawkins.
2 Comments (1 conversation)
I’m sorry but in spite of the stats I cannot agree that a player who was force fed stats, often to the detriment of the team, should be on a top anything list of any period of time. I understand that he did some nice things in his time at CU, calling him a top player of the decade is nearly akin to identifying the most influential Sox from the ’19 world series. I appreciate your work, but disagree with this name being added to the list for highly relevant technical reasons.
Thanks for the comment Brett, and thanks for disagreeing in a respectful manner. Sorry it took so long to get back to this, I didn’t see it until now.
I totally understand where you are coming from, but in my opinion, this pick was about more than success on the field. On top of setting all the records (and yes I understand that the stats are somewhat skewed due to play calling, and the style of the offense) Cody was a great representative of the university, and went through a lot during his time at CU. He could have easily have developed animosity towards the school and the fans, but instead he just kept showing up everyday and working his tail off. Even after his dad was fired, he was all about the team.
Mentally he was a coaches dream, physically he had a lot holding him back and at times it showed. I’ve always said that if you put his head on Tyler Hansen’s body you’d have head one hell of a QB. I think because it was the first time CU had been that bad in a while, peoples view of Cody as a player got a little bit skewed, and maybe if you were to go back and watch film of him now, you might think he was better than you thought at the time. Then again, maybe not. Anyway, in my opinion, he is a top 15 Buff of the decade, he led the team to some of the biggest wins in the decade, and cared about his teammates and the university above all else.
As always, thanks for reading!