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The best MAC football player of all-time.

So, here's the deal, I'm too young to have witnessed the violent collisions of Jack Lambert and Phil Villapiano. This unfortunate time of birth leaves me with a choice between these future NFL Hall of Famers - Randy Moss, Antonio Gates and Ben Roethlisberger. Great; I love a challenge. Legitimate cases could be made for any of them, but to become specific we'd have to edit out their NFL tenures and place the majority of focus on their college careers. If this is all we're to judge them by, I'd have to say Roethlisberger wins out over the 1-year Moss, and the basketball minded Gates.

Even as a freshman, the Big Ben located in Miami of Ohio took hold of the starting role right away, hurtling the pigskin downfield for 3,105 yards on 241 completions and 25 touchdowns pushing the RedHawks to a 7-5 record. If there's such a thing as a sophomore slump, Roethlisberger pushed it away from his 6'5" frame like a tiny, blitzing defensive back. While their record mirrored the previous year, Big Ben's stats only upped his future NFL stock - chucking the ball for 3,238 yards on 271 completions and finding the end zone 22 times with only 11 interceptions. And then came the final year as a RedHawk for our spotlight athlete. Miami of Ohio finished with a magnificent 13-1 record, winning the GMAC Bowl against Louisville. As for Ben himself, he only finished as the MAC Offensive Player of the Year. Roethlisberger completed 342 out of 495 passes for 4,486 yards, also add in 37 touchdowns through the air and another 3 with his legs. And just what would you get for the trouble of combing through his stats, well, not much more than the 11th overall draft pick in the 2004 NFL draft, a two time Super Bowl champion and a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee four years after he retires. For those not aware of his college prowess; by now you've surely seen it in a Steelers uniform. If not (why?), try checking out YouTube for a compendium of highlights from his playing career.

This post was submitted by one of our esteemed readers and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or thoughts of Hustle Belt or SB Nation.