Tennessee football: Top 10 NFL careers of Vols taken in second round

We go way back in history for this one. John Gordy was part of the early group of Tennessee football players in the post-Robert Neyland era. He was recruited by Neyland but then played for Harvey Robinson in 1954 and Bowden Wyatt in 1955 and 1956, helping the Vols go 10-1 with an SEC Championship in 1956 while blocking for Johnny Majors, who should have won the Heisman.

As one of the few veterans on that 1956 team, Gordy was naturally going to be a high pick in the 1957 NFL Draft, and the Detroit Lions did indeed take him in the second round. Although this is before the Super Bowl era, by any reasonable standard, Gordy worked out in a big way. He did more than enough to be high on this list, even from that era.

Gordy spent his entire 11-year career with the Detroit Lions starting at right guard. It all began for him as a rookie, when he was an integral part of the 1957 team that won the NFL Championship and part of the key blocking schemes in the championship game, which the Lions won 59-14 against the Cleveland Browns.

That was just the beginning of his elite production. Gordy would play 10 more years, appearing in 134 games and starting in 129 games. During that time, he would make three Pro Bowl appearances, a testament to just how great of a performer he was.