Editor’s note: In the final 50 days before Chip Kelly and the Ducks return to the field to defend their status as Pac-12 Champions, the Emerald sports desk will take a look back at one Oregon alum each day whose jersey number corresponds to the amount of days left before the season opener against Arkansas State.
Believe it or not, the University of Oregon football team used to recruit and deploy fullbacks. After Chip Kelly arrived on campus in 2007, the position went by the wayside in Eugene and it’s easy to forget how important the fullback was to vaunted Oregon offenses in the past, including the ones led by Heisman finalist Joey Harrington.
During the 2000 and 2001 seasons, Josh Line was the unsung hero of a backfield that included two future NFL rushers in Maurice Morris and Onterrio Smith, along with Harrington. A local kid out of Springfield High School, Line didn’t have stellar years statistically – his best season was 2000 with 32 yards rushing and 95 yards receiving – but it’s fair sentiment that without Line, Oregon doesn’t have their breakout 2001 campaign that started the program on the trajectory it’s at today.
When looking at Line’s career, it’s important to consider that he didn’t begin his career as a fullback. Line joined the ducks as a quarterback out of the College of the Siskiyous, but injuries to fullbacks Chad Chance and and Matt Floberg opened the door for Line to practice at fullback, and eventually gain the starting job.
“I thought (Line) did some good things,” head coach Mike Bellotti said after a spring 2000 practice.  “I’ve said before that he’s shown up, and I’m impressed and pleased with that.
After his playing career ended at Oregon, Line began his life as an educator, including a number of years spent at Marshfield High School as a social studies teacher and assistant football coach.  It’s important to recognize the under-the-radar contributors to great Oregon teams of the past, even if the fullback is an extinct species inside Autzen Stadium.