There was a time long ago when top football players were also great in at least two other sports spread across a school year. They were the Ironmen in high school sports, and they became names everybody got to know as the men for three seasons.

Here’s a look at my top 10 Arizona’s all-time greatest 3-sport athletes., in no particular order. 

No. 1 Danny White, Mesa Westwood, 1970

Add track and field while he did baseball, and White was a four-sport star in high school, before he earned his football fame as a record-breaking quarterback at Arizona State and leading the Dallas Cowboys NFC championship games. White was named The Arizona Republic‘s Athlete of the Century in 1999. While he was an All-State infielder in baseball his senior year at Westwood, he placed second at state in the long jump in track and field. He was All-State in basketball as a point guard. During an interview with the Republic for a story on him being chosen Arizona’s Athlete of the Century, White quipped, “I wasn’t the best athlete in my family.” His dad Wilford “Whizzer” White, he felt, owned that title.

No. 2 Randall McDaniel, Avondale Agua Fria, 1982

He played tight end in high school, before becoming a dominant offensive lineman at Arizona State, where he helped pave a Rose Bowl path. That led to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career in the NFL, playing for the Minnesota Vikings. But if you saw him play basketball and run down the track, he dropped jaws with powerful low-post moves and his 10.64-second speed in the 100-meter dash.

No. 3 Rodney Peete, Tucson Sahuaro, 1984

He finished his high school career in Kansas City, following his dad, who got a coaching job with the Chiefs. But what he did his first three years at Sahuaro was phenomenal. His main sport was football, where he transitioned from wide receiver to quarterback. He was a star infielder on a baseball team that won two state championships, and a guard on the basketball team that won state in 1982 when he was a sophomore. He went on to star in both football and baseball at USC, before having a nice, long NFL career.

No. 4 James Dugan, Flagstaff, 1964

Stories in Flagstaff are still being told about his legendary high school career that spanned from 1960 to ’64 in football, basketball and baseball, making All-State in all three sports. He was a three-time All-Arizona basketball player. He was a wrecking ball at running back on the football field at 6-1, 215 pounds, bowling over defenders on his way to the end zone. One year, he made All-State at defensive back, and another year made All-State at both running back and defensive back. Winslow’s Isaac Bonds’ set a state record in ’64, averaging more than 40 points. But in a game against Bonds, Dugan scored 54 points. He hit over .500 in baseball his last year.

No. 5 Nathan LaDuke, Phoenix Alhambra, 1987

Is he really 50 now? Seems like yesterday he was a dominant force at Alhambra as an option quarterback in football, a champion wrestler and an all-state baseball player who played football (a Jim Thorpe finalist as a top defensive back) at Arizona State and baseball at Grand Canyon in college. He came out of an era that included future NFL standouts Phillippi Sparks and Darren Woodson and wowed in all three sports.

No. 6 Mike Nixon, Phoenix Sunnyslope, 2002

He was the state’s Player of the Year in football as a quarterback and safety, a 6-foot-3 starting post player on a state championship basketball team his senior year, and a top catcher in baseball, where he was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Major League Baseball draft and signed out of high school. After four years in the Dodgers’  organization, he left baseball and enrolled at ASU, where he became a standout linebacker.

No. 7 Mike Salmon, Phoenix Greenway, 1989

He was not only named the Football Player of the Year his senior year, but the Male Athlete of the Year by The Arizona Republic. In football, he was a master of several positions. In one half of one game, he threw two TD passes, caught a TD pass, and kicked two field goals. He was recruited in basketball and baseball, as well, and ended up signing with USC, where he stood out both in football and baseball.

No. 8 Jon Volpe, Tucson Amphitheater, 1986

At 5-foot-7 and build like a bull, Volpe was one the most explosive, quickest, fastest running backs in Arizona. He also was an All-American wrestler, and, he was a tenacious sprinter who helped lead Amphi to a track title. His story was the stuff of storybooks, going from being homeless to an honor student who gained a football scholarship to Stanford.

No. 9 Tim Salmon, Greenway, 1986 

He’s among the state’s all-time greatest three-sport athletes, but he probably wasn’t the best athlete in his home. His brother Mike had more high school fame. But Tim, after a brilliant high school career in football, basketball and baseball, took his baseball talents to Anaheim and became a fixture in right field for the Angels from 1993-2006. He won the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2002 during the Angels’ World Series run.

No. 10 Wilford “Whizzer” White, Mesa, 1947

Like his son Danny, Wilford excelled in four sports at Mesa. This was the 1940s, and he did some amazing things just to get to events. Danny said his dad once hitch-hiked to the Luke-Greenway track meet because he was the only athlete from Mesa to qualify for it. He also played on a Mesa basketball team that was the 16th team to fill out a playoff bracket and they won the state title, Danny said. But his claim to fame came in football, running circles around defenders as a halfback, before having an All-American career at ASU, playing from 1947-50.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at [email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.