New Jersey: Art Weiner

The golden era of football at North Carolina is easily the four-year period from 1946-49 when Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice was terrorizing opposing defenses in leading the Tar Heels to three major New Year’s Day bowl games and four spots in the final national rankings with three top-10 finishes.

Carolina was real good, even registering its only No.1 ranking in program history during that time, so football was on fire among the pines.

While Justice was deservedly as ballyhooed as any football player to regularly grace the Kenan Stadium turf – he came in second in the Heisman Trophy balloting twice – another Heel was generating legendary status at the time. Art Weiner also earned that distinction, though he wasn’t as popular as Justice.

Weiner, whose No. 50 jersey has long been retired by UNC, was a two-time first-team All-America in 1948 and 1949, three-time first-team All-Southern Conference and he earned the Most Outstanding Lineman award at the Senior Bowl, which was a very big deal at the time.

The Newark, NJ's native's 106 career receptions and 18 career touchdown receptions were UNC career records for 36 years after he stopped playing. And for his efforts, Weiner is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

“Everybody still talks about Charlie, but (Weiner) was almost as good. He just played a different position, didn’t touch the ball as much and nobody wrote a song about him,” UNC offensive lineman and teammate Joe Austin said in the early 2000s. “But I’ll tell you, they were both great. They were both great.”

Weiner played both ways at end, led the nation in receiving as a senior with 52 receptions and 762 yards and was called the “best pass catcher I ever saw” by then-Georgia head coach Wally Butts, who is also in the College Football Hall of Fame.

In addition, Weiner made perhaps the most famous defensive play in Carolina history when he blocked a Duke field goal attempt as time expired preserving a 21-20 UNC victory sending the Tar Heels to the Cotton Bowl.

“Duke didn’t assign anyone to block me,” Weiner told the Greensboro News & Record in 2001. “I got through the line so fast that I almost overran the play. I just kind of sat on the ball, and (Duke’s kicker) wound up kicking me in the rear end.”

Weiner’s greatness may have been overshadowed some by Justice, but he remains one of Carolina’s all-time greats.