University of St. Francis (III.)

The primary responsibility of a defensive lineman isn't so much to make tackles as it is to secure an area so that the linebackers can step up and make the plays. That's true for most men in the trenches, but not Chris Batus, arguably the greatest defensive lineman in the history of the St. Francis program. Batus, from his defensive tackle position, often times had control of the opposing team's runner even before the secondary line of defense could fill. 233 times in his career, to be exact, to rank fifth on the all-time tackle charts and first amongst defensive linemen. Forty-one of those stops required no assistance (eighth-best), while on many of his 192 assists (fourth) he was the lead man. And don't forget all the havoc he caused in the backfield, where the career numbers read: 11 sacks (sixth-best), 17 tackles for loss (fifth) and a school-record 32 hurries. If those numbers aren't amazing enough, consider that he accrued such totals in just over three seasons. Batus missed the final six games of his freshman season and two more as a senior, or nearly one full year, due to injuries. That, however, did not stop him from earning both NAIA All-District 20 and NAIA All-America honorable mention accolades during his final two campaigns. Batus, a 3.30 student, was also a first-team choice of USA Today's NAIA All-America squad during his junior season (1989) when he authored a career-best 93 tackles and 12 hurries. One year later, he rushed the quarterback 13 times for the second-most hurries in school history for a single season. A Computer Science major who graduated in 1991.