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Rutgers fans have voted on the four faces of the football program: Ray Rice, Brian Leonard, Paul Robeson and Greg Schiano.

(L-R, Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger, Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger, Rutgers University, Frances Micklow/The Star-Ledger)

After 5,500 votes, there are four clear-cut choices for the Mount Rushmore of Rutgers football: Ray Rice, Brian Leonard, Paul Robeson and Greg Schiano.

The voting clearly skewed toward Rutgers' successful run in the past decade, with Schiano, the coach during the program's turnaround, and two of his star running backs, Rice and Leonard, representing that era. Robeson was recognized for his pioneering role in Rutgers' history, as he was the program's first black player and a two-time All-American.

Rice, who has gone on to star for the Baltimore Ravens, was the overwhelming top choice with 20.6 percent of the votes. Leonard, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back and a backfield mate of Rice's for two seasons at Rutgers, finished second with 14.3 percent of the votes.

Robeson (13.5 percent) earned the third most votes by a narrow margin over Schiano (13.4 percent).

Those four were the undisputed choices, as only two other nominees garnered more than five percent of the votes – defensive tackle Eric LeGrand (8.3 percent) and quarterback/coach Frank Burns (7.1 percent).

In all, 14 influential figures from the program's 144-year history were included in the poll after fans made nominations on Monday. Some fans felt earlier contributors were snubbed, with the exclusion of Homer Hazel the main gripe. The team's MVP award is named after Hazel, an All-American in 1923-24 and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

I hope everyone had fun with this and maybe the topic will need to be revisited in the coming years to account for Rutgers' next stars.