The 2022-2023 season of the NFL has gone so fast! It will be playoff season soon, and we are all biting our nails at the odds. However, let us not forget that the NFL is not the only thing that is hot to trot this season.
We cannot ignore the NCAAF odds, because the NCAAF is just about as heated as the NFL these days, and college sports take over a lot of the action when the pro sports die down.
The NCAAF is still pretty hot right now, and there are so many teams all performing at the top of their game at the moment, it is hard not to be impressed with the talent coming out of it at the moment.
Of all of these, we have to think of the Cowboys. Now, we cannot tell you what they are saying so far this year, however, the Wyoming Cowboys have a rich history and a lot of success, and we want to share their story with you, because they have had quite the draft success in the past too!
Let’s check them out!
The Basics
The Wyoming Cowboys are a college football team that plays for the University of Wyoming. You will find them competing in the Mountain West Conference, and the FBS of NCAA Division I.
They have won a total of 15 conference titles as well.
They played their first season in 1893 and play their home games at War Memorial Stadium. In the past they played in the Independent conference from 1893 until 1909, then the RMAC from 1910 until 1937, the MSC from 1938 until 1961, and the WAC from 1962 until 1998.
Their Bowl record stands at 9-8, and they have 3 very well-known rivalries we will get to later.
Their all-time record sits at 486-520-28. You will find them playing in the colors of gold and brown, with Cowboy Joe (a pony) as their mascot.
Wyoming Cowboys Rivalries
While the team has quite a few hot rivalries, none is quite so hot as the Bronze Boot rivalry.
The Bronze Boot is the prize awarded to the winner of the game between Colorado and Wyoming States in Fort Collins. This annual match-up has become one of the most bitter contests in college football history of the course of time.
Since these two teams have been playing, from 1899, they have had this Border War over 100 times, having played against each other every year with the exception of years 1901, 1902, 1906, 1907, 1918, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1943, 1944, and 1945.
This rivalry is one of the oldest rivalries west of the Mississippi and is the oldest on the Western side of Lawrence, Kansas.
It is such an old rivalry, it has been ongoing through 3 different centuries!
Notable Players From The Cowboys
There are 4 players well worth noting from the Wyoming Cowboys. These include:
Mike Dirks, who played tackle, was one of the NCAAF’s best defensive players from 1966 until 1967. He was selected as an All-Western Athletic Conference performer and an All-American.
He ended up co-captaining the ‘67 WAC Championship team and finished 5th in the nation. He led the Cowboys to an incredible 10-1 record in the 1968 Sugar Bowl as well.
He led the line for the nation’s best rushing defense two seasons in a row as well. He made 71 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 30 unassisted tackles as well!
Jerry Hill, who played running back was noted as Football Player of the Century for Wyoming in 1992 ballots. He was also selected as the All-Skyline Conference running back in ‘59 and ‘60.
In the time of Jerry Hill, the team posted an awesome 25-6 record, and was a member of the team that won the Sun Bowl in 58. He then finished his career with 1,374 rushing yards! Impressive!
Jim Kiick, played running back and was the leading rusher in Wyoming from 1965 until 1967. He managed 1,714 yards, and made 10 touchdowns for 431 carries and 261 yards for 5 touchdowns to pass 52 receptions.
He was the first ever college footballer to gain the First-Team All-Western Athletic Conference Honors on 3 occasions.
He co-captained the team in his senior year, and was named MVP in the Sun Bowl of 1966 when they won against Florida state, he rushed for 135 yards 25 times, and made 2 touchdowns, and made 42 yards with 4 catch passes.
Jay Novacek played tight end, but was much more than this as a man of many sports at Wyoming. He excelled at track but also held records in pole vaulting and decathlons. But, as a football player he was selected in 1984 for the Kodak All-American football team.
This was thanks to him setting a record in the NCAAF for receiving yards per reception by a tight end.
He finished with the Cowboys having made 1,536 yards for 10 touchdowns and 83 receptions. He was another legendary Wyoming Hall of Famer as well!
NFL & AFL Draft
Want to know which epic players from Wyoming made it into NFL and AFL teams? There are some you may recognize!
Only one player was drafted into the AFL from Wyoming and that was Jerry Hill in 1961, when he was the 9th overall pick and was chosen by the Broncos.
As for the other notable players, Jim Kiick was selected 118th overall by the Miami Dolphins in 1968, and Miek Dirks was selected as 122nd by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1968 as well.
Finally, Jay Novacek was selected in 1984 with the 158th pick by the St. Louis Cardinals.
More recent draft picks from the Wyoming Cowboys include Derrick Martin in 2006, selected 208th by the Baltimore Ravens. Then John Wendling in 2007, picked 184th by the Buffalo Bills, and finally, Chris Prosinski in 2011, picked 121st by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In 2022, Chad Muma was picked 70th by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and in 2020 Logan Wilson was picked by the Bengals.
Other players have found themselves with some more successful NFL franchises, such as Cassh Maluia in 2020 who went to the New England Patriots, and Josh Allen in 2018 who went to the Buffalo Bills
Out of all of these, we have to say Josh Allen has had the most success, he was selected 7th overall and has been watched closely this season as the Bills look to be one of the most likely franchises to make it to the Super Bowl in the 2022-2023 season.
We can safely say that the Wyoming Cowboys do produce some really legendary players, let’s just see if Josh Allen will prove that to us in this year’s season finale!