The second round of the Sun Devil Legends Tournament kicked off earlier today with the Sparky Regional final match-up between John Jefferson and Derek Hagan. Now, the Kush Region will have a champion, as this Elite 8 battle between No. 1 seed Woody Green and No. 2 seed Pat Tillman kicks off.
Both players had little trouble in the first round.
Green faced off against tight end Zach Miller. Despite Miller's exceeding productive and record setting career, Green ran to an early advantage and coasted to a victory by capturing 82% of the votes.
Tillman had an even easier time against Luis Zendejas. Some may argue that Zendejas was at an extreme positional disadvantage by being a kicker, and while that played a role, it's hard to argue with Tillman's crushing win in which he received 87% of your votes.
Let's now get to the action and decide a Kush Region champion.
The Case for Woody Green
The argument for voting for Woody Green may be as simple as taking a look at the ASU record book. Sharing a backfield with fellow Sun Devil legend Danny White from 1971-1973, Green was the focal point of the Sun Devil attack. He ran for over 1,300 in each of those seasons, highlighted by a school-record 1,565 yards in 1972. The 18 rushing touchdowns he had in that season are still tied for the most in school history.
By the time his two-time consensus All-American career ended with a first round selection by the Kansas City Chiefs, Green was the ASU leader in rushing attempts (675), rushing yards (4,388) and rushing touchdowns (43), marks he still owns nearly 40 years later.
The Case for Woody Green
Clearly, Tillman is a true American hero for his service and sacrifice for America. However, for this vote, we will only (or at least try to) consider his career at ASU.
Tillman was an undersized linebacker with an oversized heart. He steadily improved over his first two seasons before breaking out as a key force in ASU's magical 1996 Rose Bowl team. With his long blonde hair flowing behind him, he registered 91 tackles and made four interceptions while earning second team All Pac-10 honors.
As a senior in 1997, he was simply magnificent. With 97 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, four sacks and three interceptions, he easily took home the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year award.
Vote now for your pick to represent the Kush Region in the Final Four. Polls close Wednesday at 11:59pm PST