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GoldandBlack.com's 20-year Purdue player Draft: Pick No. 85

To help commemorate the 20-year anniversary of Purdue's magical turnaround 1997 season, GoldandBlack.com's staff will break up the rosters and select the best players to wear a Boilermaker uniform since Coach Joe Tiller's first season on the sidelines.

GoldandBlack.com's 20-year Purdue player draft will have 100 players chosen — two picks each weekday over 10 weeks. Boilermakers who were on Purdue rosters between 1997-2017 are eligible for selection. The draft order is Alan Karpick, Stacy Clardie, Kyle Charters and Brian Neubert.

Pleased to get this guy as my last pick. Always liked him as a player, especially in 1997!

Linebacker Mike Rose had one of the most productive seasons of any linebacker in school history in 1997.
Linebacker Mike Rose had one of the most productive seasons of any linebacker in school history in 1997. (Tom Campbell)
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Draft ticker: Nos. 1-84

Well, my team is complete.

And I really like this pick. I liked Mike Rose as a player, because he made plays. Simple.

He readily admits he drove the coaches crazy with his attitude and colored hair, but he also was a big reason that the '97 defense proved good enough to get by.

And Rose's 1997 season was amazing. First, he had three interceptions in the conference opener against two-time defending Big Ten champ Northwestern, and one of those was a pick-six in a 21-9 win. He also scored two other times on defense in '97, with a scoop and score in a 48-3 win at Illinois and then another interception returned for a score in the Old Oaken Bucket Game.

As a senior, he tag-teamed with Brian Dinkins to sack a confused Jarious Jackson for a big loss to seal the Boilermakers' 28-23 win over Notre Dame in 1999.

I don't think any linebacker in Purdue history has scored three times in one season.

My defense is undersized, and Rose fits that bill, but I like the playmakers on it.

Here's another thing I like about Rose: I spoke with him last week for a story we are doing for the print magazine, and he was mature enough to admit to behaving poorly at times at Purdue. He has turned things around, coaching his daughter and living in the Dayton area. Really impressed by where his life is.

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