DeRose, Heard named to RMAC all-century team

Related: RMAC All-Century Football Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Former University of Southern Colorado standout football players Herman Heard and Dan DeRose were named to the RMAC's all-century football squad Thursday.

Heard and DeRose were named part of the 24-member team, which included such named as NFL Hall of Famer Dutch Clark, a Colorado College alum, and Byron "Whizzer" White, a former University of Colorado standout who was a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

Heard, a running back who enjoyed success professionally with the Kansas City Chiefs, playing in the NFL from 1984-89, was a two-time all-RMAC selection at the University of Southern Colorado.  He scored 28 touchdowns in just two seasons at USC from 1982-83, and holds the RMAC record for the longest touchdown reception (99 yards). 

DeRose, a two-time first-team all-RMAC selection at linebacker, is the ThunderWolves' all-time leader in tackles with 415 in three seasons from 1981-83.  He was an academic all-American in 1983, and played one season for the New York Giants in 1987 as a replacement player during the 1987 NFL strike.  He was the defensive captain of the then-defending Super Bowl champions.  DeRose is still involved with the football program at CSU-Pueblo today, having paved the way for the return of football in 2008. 

The top 24 players and head coach in RMAC football history have been selected to help celebrate the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's 100th anniversary in 2009. The RMAC is the fourth oldest conference in the country, and the most historic in the western U.S.

The RMAC All-Time Football Team was selected by representatives from the conference's schools that currently participate in the sport of football. The first ever football season in RMAC history was played in the fall of 1909.

For the RMAC Centennial Celebration, all-time teams have been selected in 19 sports. The RMAC's Centennial Celebration will take place on July 11, 2009 at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs. For more information, go to www.rmacsports.org.