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GOAT Defensive line, Purple People Eaters!
JoeBanzai
Posts: 11,223 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Sports Talk
With all the GOAT discussions, I thought I would throw this one out there.
Alan Page, 9X All-Pro every year from 1968-75
Carl Eller, 6X All-Pro every year 1968-73
Jim Marshall 2X All-Pro 1968-69
Gary Larson 2X All-Pro 1969-1970
As a unit played together from 1967-1974, the "Big Three" Page, Eller and Marshall were together from 1967-1977.
Can't find sack totals, but seem to remember that those three were all high on the all time sack list.
All four were All-Pro in 1969, has that ever happened before or after?
Any "Steel Curtain", "Fearsome Foursome" or "Doomsday Defense" fans care to chime in? Any others?
GO VIKINGS!
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
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Found "unofficial" sack list. Page 148.5, Eller 133.5 Marshall 127. All three would be in the top 20 all time.
They were great...……..so were the other 3 you listed. I don't know how it would be possible to rate them against each other.
It’s hard to argue against the Purple People Eaters!
Hard to believe with that defense and a Hall of Fame QB in Fran Tarkenton, that they never won a Super Bowl.
Steel curtain was the best of all time.
IT CAN'T BE A TRUE PLAYOFF UNLESS THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONS ARE INCLUDED
I agree. They certainly should have beaten the Raiders. Miami crushed us with Csonka and the Pittsburgh's defense was just fantastic, although I think we could have won that one.
The Vikings simply could not run the ball AT ALL in the Super Bowls, and really didn't have great receivers either.
Is there any other all-time-great QB (except Otto Graham), who you can not immediately think of any receiver they were associated with?
Steve
I remember the late 1980's-early 1990's Philadelphia eagles d line being dominant. they had Reggie white, Clyde Simmons and Jerome Brown.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Dub Jones and Mac Speedie were great receivers for Graham especially during that time period. As far as Those Vikings I cannot think of 1 receiver
Yes and more. They were called "Gang Green" but never got to a Super Bowl, so outside of Philly they are mostly forgotten.
That 1990/1991 Eagles team with Randall Cunningham was a phenomenal group that really should have won a Super Bowl
yes, those were great teams. I would match Reggie White up with anyone. He was the greatest D lineman I ever saw.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Yea, it's weird in a way, sometimes ya think your team is almost a lock to eventually win a championship such as that era of Gang Green, and they can't even get to a Super Bowl...and yet the 2017 Eagles who nobody at the beginning of that season picked to even sniff a Super Bowl, winds up winning it all with a second string quarterback winning both playoff games and the Super Bowl.
If anyone can figure all that out, then you are probably capable of curing all disease, solving world hunger, and creating lasting peace on earth. LOL
I thought Gang Green was the nickname for The Jets defense back years ago.
Dallas had some great defenses. Doomsday was great. Landry came up with the flex defense. Too Tall Jones was great and was always knocking balls down. Randy White was a monster. And before these guys Bob Lilly played D for the Cowboys and is considered one of the best ever.
Two words my friend........Alan Page.
while I did not see page play, stats wise, from what I was able to find, he was credited with 148 sacks. that puts him around 50 shy of Reggie. While sacks are not the be all end all, that is a significant number. I know Reggie was usually double teamed and I would assume a player like Page also would have had to deal with that as well
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I would probably break this down to greatest defensive line in one season and then over a span of time.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, delivering championships should outweigh all else. Vikings & Rams had the best units not to win a championship, over an extended period of time. I would argue the Rams had more all-pro players that ran through their team from 1967 to 1977 in Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy, Jack Youngblood, Fred Dryer, and Coy Bacon.
For that reason, I would give the nod to the Steelers with Joe Greene, LC Greenwood, Dwight White and Ernie Holmes. They were bolstered by Jack Ham and Jack Lambert at linebacker, along with the hard hitting Mel Blount at safety.
The Cowboys unit of Ed Jones, Harvey Martin, Randy White and Jethro Pugh in the latter half of the 70s and early 80s were also hard to beat.
I will say that in one franchise's history the Vikings may have more HOF players than any franchise in Alan Page, Carl Eller, Chris Doleman, John Randle, and future HOF'ers in Kevin WIlliams and Jared Allen. Keith Millard would be there with them, had he not tore up his knees.
Erik
Six foot seven inch, 270 lb. Buck Buchanan was the reason you couldn't run the ball in Super Bowl 4 against the Chiefs.
And his other fellow defensive lineman. Which means since they went head to head with the Purple puppy petters
and came out on top maybe they were better? HaHa.
Don't forget Bobby Bell! The Chiefs were a great team. Stram outcoached Grant that day.
I was checking last night and 6 Chiefs on that team ended up in the Hall of Fame.
Len Dawson
Buck Buchanan
Curly Culp
Bobby Bell
Willie Lanier
Emmit Thomas
And I believe Johnny Robinson at safety and Ed Budde and Jim Tyrer on the O line possibly should
be in the Hall of Fame.
Forgot Jan Stenerud, hall of fame field goal kicker.
Loved him on that's incredible or was it real people?
Funny story, we go over our neighbors house who happen to be huge Vikings fans, I never talked cards or collectibles with them but when we went into their office I saw all this signed Purple People Eaters stuff and it made me think of this thread!
That is awesome! I have never seen one of those black border screw downs that holds 9.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Beyond sacks, how about fumble recoveries and blocked kicks?
I couldn't find the numbers, but the Vikings used to block a lot of kicks. I found an article on the best defensive tackles that said; "Page was also one of the best, if not the placekick blocker ever with over 25 career blocks."