Who is Delaware's all-time best high school football player? VOTE now

Delaware has had no shortage of football players who excelled at the high school level, sparking their teams and earning fans’ admiration.

The best of them went on to collegiate and pro success.

With the United States nearing its 250th anniversary of gaining independence, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time.

The Dallas Cowboys got a Pro Football Hall of Famer when they drafted Randy White—the "Manster"—out of Maryland. White was a Super Bowl MVP and champ and nine-time Pro Bowler. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

At the root of that are the high school athletes who became familiar names in their schools, communities and the state of Delaware while making headlines with their athletic exploits. The USA TODAY Network hopes to first spotlight those individuals.

Here in Delaware, we’re compiling lists of the best players in several sports. We begin with football, which has long garnered the most attention.

These are our choices for Delaware’s 10 greatest football players, listed alphabetically:

Jamie Duncan while playing for the St. Louis Rams in 2002.

Jamie Duncan, Christiana

Duncan was a central figure in Christiana’s rise to power. He was 1992 state Defensive Player of the Year after also being first-team All-State at linebacker as a junior in 1991. He also starred as a tight end and running back. At Vanderbilt, he was a second-team All-American linebacker in 1997 and made 425 career tackles while earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Duncan then appeared in 96 NFL games with 56 starts over seven seasons.

Middletown's Chris Godwin takes off against Salesianum in a November 2013 game. Middletown lost the game 24-13.

Chris Godwin, Middletown

The wide receiver sparked Middletown to the 2011 and 2012 state titles and was a state Player of the Year honoree. He then starred at Penn State, catching 154 passes for 2,421 yards and 18 TDs. He was a third-round 2017 draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Godwin was All-Pro in 2019 and won the Super Bowl after the 2020 season. He’s caught 612 passes for 7,626 yards and 41 touchdowns in nine NFL seasons, all with the Bucs.

Duron Harmon, Caesar Rodney HS, New England Patriots, Super Bowl XLIX (won), Super Bowl LI

Duron Harmon, Caesar Rodney

Harmon was state Defensive Player of the Year while sparking the Riders to the 2008 state championship. He then played in 50 games at Rutgers, starting his last two seasons and intercepting six passes while earning All-Big East at safety. Harmon was then a key part of the New England Patriots’ secondary, spending seven of his 11 seasons there and winning three Super Bowls. He played in 168 NFL games and had 24 interceptions.

San Francisco tackle Kwame Harris prepares for a game against Jacksonville in 2005.

Kwame Harris, Newark

Harris was the state’s most heavily recruited high school football player ever while being a three-time first-team All-Stater and Lineman of the Year. He went to Stanford and was a three-year starter and first-team All-Pac 10 choice as a senior. Harris was a first-round draft pick, 26th overall, by the 49ers and played 86 games with 55 starts in six NFL seasons.

Bilal Nichols. Hodgson

Nichols was All-State as both a defensive lineman and tight end for the Silver Eagles. He then was a three-time All-Colonial Athletic Association choice at Delaware, making 104 career tackles, with 17½ for lost yardage, in 44 games, along with three forced fumbles, two interceptions and several blocked kicks. The Bears chose him in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. Nichols has now played in 104 NFL games with 88 starts for Chicago, Las Vegas and Arizona.

Brian O’Neill, Salesianum

O’Neill was a first-team All-State defensive end at Salesianum and recruited to Pittsburgh as a tight end, which he also played at Sallies. O’Neill moved to offensive tackle as a red-shirt freshman and ended up starting 37 games from 2015-17 and was first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference as a senior. A second-round 2018 draft choice, O’Neill has been the Vikings’ starting right tackle ever since.

Luke Petitgout, Sussex Central HS, New York Giants, Super Bowl XXXV (lost)

Luke Petitgout, Sussex Central

Petitgout parlayed his stellar career with the Golden Knights into a scholarship to Notre Dame, where he started his last two years at offensive tackle. Chosen 19th overall by the Giants in the 1999 NFL Draft, Petitgout played in 117 NFL games with 110 starts over eight years with New York and another with Tampa Bay.

Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage (26) celebrates after making a special teams tackle on a kick off return by the New Orleans Saints during their football game Sunday, September 24, 2023, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.

Darnell Savage, Caravel

Savage bounced back from a broken leg that cost him most of his junior season to rush for 1,298 yards and 13 touchdowns and make 54 tackles as a Caravel senior. He then started every game in the Maryland secondary from the season finale of his freshman year through his senior season, intercepting eight passes and making 182 tackles. He was then a first-round pick, 21st overall, in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. Savage has played in 97 NFL games with 83 starts in seven seasons, the first five with the Packers, and intercepted 10 passes.

Denver Broncos receiver Steve Watson.

Steve Watson, Saint Mark's

Watson was a first-team All-State wide receiver for the Spartans’ 12-0 1974 state championship team. He then starred at Temple, catching 98 passes for a then-school-record 1,629 yards from 1975-78. The free-agent signee then had a prolific pro career with the Denver Broncos, making the Pro Bowl after the 1981 season, when his 13 touchdown catches led the NFL, and winning the Super Bowl after the 1987 season. Watson’s 353 career catches netted 6,112 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Randy White #54 of the Dallas Cowboys waits for action during a 1985 game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Randy White, McKean

White was just a second-team All-State running back at McKean High, though he also excelled on defense for the Highlanders. He then became a College Football Hall of Famer at Maryland and a Pro Football Hall of Famer with the Dallas Cowboys. The defensive end won the Outland Trophy as college football’s top lineman in 1974. Drafted second overall by Dallas, he was a 9-time Pro Bowl pick in 14 NFL seasons, getting 111 sacks in 209 games. White was MVP of the Cowboys’ Super Bowl XII win.

USA TODAY 250 for 250: Who do you think is the best of the best?

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Who is Delaware's all-time best high school football player? VOTE now