Donald and Fitzgerald Ranked Among College Football’s Top Players of the 2000s
5/20/2025 11:39:00 AM | Football
PITTSBURGH – Pitt Football legends Aaron Donald and Larry Fitzgerald have been honored by The Athletic as two of the top 25 college football players of the 2000s.
Donald, who came in at No. 20 on the list, dominated at defensive tackle for the Panthers. His 2013 campaign was one of the most decorated ever by a defensive lineman, earning him the Outland Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and the Lombardi Award. He finished his career with 67 TFL, the most by any defensive tackle in the 2000s, and redefined what interior defensive line play could be. Donald will be formally enshrined in the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame later this September as a member of the 2025 induction class.
Fitzgerald earned the No. 11 ranking, following a legendary two-year career at wide receiver. In 2003, the College Football Hall of Famer caught 92 passes for 1,672 yards and 22 touchdowns en route to becoming the first sophomore ever to win the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. His career total of 34 touchdown receptions remains one of the highest two-year totals in college football history.
Pitt is one of just seven schools to have multiple players featured in the ranking, a testament to the greatness that has come through the program. Among current ACC teams, only Pitt and Miami had multiple players make the list.
The full list, compiled by senior writer Bruce Feldman, is part of The Athletic's multi-part series celebrating the best of the first 25 years of the 2000s in college football. To read the full article, visit The Athletic.