Greatest NFL Players of All Time

2dueces

Let’s put together the list by position.
There are no wrong or right answers. Just opinions and discussion. I’ll start with a few. Remember there are no right or wrong choices. Just your thoughts
.
QB Tom Brady
RB Jim Brown
RB2 Gayle Sayers
WR Jerry Rice
WR2 Don Hudson
TE Tony Gonzales
T Ron Mix
T2 Anthony Munoz
G Billy Shaw
G2 Gene Upshaw
C Jim Otto

DE Reggie White
DE2 Bruce Smith
DT Aaron Darnold
DT2 Joe Greene
OLB Lawrence Taylor
OLB2 Junior Seau
ML Dick Butkus
CB Deion Sanders
CB2 Charles Woodson
S Troy Polamalu
S2 Ed Reed

Return Special Devon Hester
K Adam Vinatieri

Greatest football player of all time. Jerry Rice

thisistheshow

dallasactuary

I'll stick with the OP's list 'cause it's as good as anything I could come up with, but I want to add Earl Campbell at RB and move Sayers to return specialist. I also want to add Bruce Matthews to the offensive line; since he played every position on the line, I'm not sure where to add him, but I'll bump Billy Shaw and play him at G.

2dueces

@dallasactuary I had to add a few AFL players because they are most often overlooked in discussions. I wish I could have added more old timers besides Don Hudson as there are some well deserving candidates.

doubledragon

That's a solid list, I would agree with Earl Campbell or Barry Sanders for running back. I think Randy Moss would be a good choice at wide receiver also, he had ridiculous speed, great hands, and was tall, his work ethic sucked though. JMO.

hammer1

WR- Lynn Swan

RB- Earl Campbell

Returns- Billy 'White Shoes' Johnson

coolstanley

WR - Lynn Swann
DT - Joe Greene
ML - Jack Lambert
RB - Walter Payton

dallasactuary

@2dueces said:
@dallasactuary I had to add a few AFL players because they are most often overlooked in discussions. I wish I could have added more old timers besides Don Hudson as there are some well deserving candidates.

It gave me no pleasure to bounce Shaw (who I chose to bounce over Mix only because I once owned a card of Mix). I just noticed you don't have a punter, so I'll add Jerrel Wilson.

Bullsitter

OL, John Hannah

Justacommeman

I'd have Barry Sanders as the RB2. He's spicy

m

craig44

I agree. the OL has to start with the greatest offensive lineman who ever lived.

Hog Hannah

keets

quibble over RB2, but if you want to get rid of JB you should have your head examined.

craig44

^^^^^ this. Jim Brown was the best who ever did it at RB

perkdog

QB Tom Brady
RB Barry Sanders
RB2 Earl Campbell
WR Randy Moss
WR2 Terrell Owens
TE Rob Gronkowski
T John Hannah
T2 Anthony Munoz
G Billy Shaw
G2 Gene Upshaw
C Jim Otto

DE Reggie White
DE2 Bruce Smith
DT Deacon Jones
DT2 Allen Page
OLB Lawrence Taylor
OLB2 Bobby Bell
ML Ray Lewis
CB Deion Sanders
CB2 Charles Woodson
S Troy Polamalu
S2 Ed Reed

Return Special Devon Hester
K Justin Tucker

Greatest football player of all time. Tom Brady

JoeBanzai

Alan Page has got to be on that team, but not Randy Moss.

Hydrant

I'll take the heat. Here goes.......O.J. was the best running back.... Whatever.

craig44

Jim Brown played 9 seasons.
he led the league in rushing 8 times
TDs 5 times
yds from scrimage 6 times
all time leader in yds/carry

the only season he didn't lead the league in rushing he played through an injury for the final 10 games of the season

2dueces

All great choices for sure. That’s the beauty of a discussion like this.
As for OJ. He’s the greatest running back I ever saw in person. I saw his entire career up close and personal.
John Hannah was a beast for sure!
I’m surprised some old times haven’t added Marion Motley and Bronko.

So many greats.

perkdog

@Hydrant said:
I'll take the heat. Here goes.......O.J. was the best running back.... Whatever.

No reason to get any heat for this statement. OJ was awesome, your not losing by taking him.

Mickey71

Walter Payton could simply do it all and do it well. John Hannah was maybe the best of all time. When they came up with that 100 greatest list the highlights of Hannah were incredible. His speed, strength and technique were devastating.

craig44

@Hydrant said:
I'll take the heat. Here goes.......O.J. was the best running back.... Whatever.

don't worry about that. question was concerning greatest players of all time, not greatest human beings. OJ is a great choice for the first category

Darin

I don't know how anyone could be better than Willie Roaf at LT so he would be my starter at that position.
He was a beast, finished his career his last 4 years with KC then the GM practically begged him not to retire.
And Will Shields at least for honorable mention at RG. He played 12 full seasons for KC and had 7 holding
penalties for his CAREER! He basically got called for holding once every two years!

Darin

I would have Mel Blount at least as a back up in the secondary.
That way when the coach gets mad at Deion for being afraid to hit anybody he
just puts Blount in and that problem is definitely solved.

2dueces

@Darin said:
I don't know how anyone could be better than Willie Roaf at LT so he would be my starter at that position.
He was a beast, finished his career his last 4 years with KC then the GM practically begged him not to retire.
And Will Shields at least for honorable mention at RG. He played 12 full seasons for KC and had 7 holding
penalties for his CAREER! He basically got called for holding once every two years!

Ron Mix was called for holding once in his career.

Darin

2deuces,
You've got Reggie White, Aaron Donald, Bruce Smith and Joe Greene coming at
Brady. Do you really want 250 lb. Ron Mix in there trying to stop them?
He would have 4 holds every quarter against those guys.
Just switch him out for Willie Roaf right now and save yourself a lot of headaches.

JoeBanzai

Randal McDaniel should be a starting guard too, over Billy Shaw, imo.

2dueces

@Darin said:
2deuces,
You've got Reggie White, Aaron Donald, Bruce Smith and Joe Greene coming at
Brady. Do you really want 250 lb. Ron Mix in there trying to stop them?
He would have 4 holds every quarter against those guys.
Just switch him out for Willie Roaf right now and save yourself a lot of headaches.

Different eras

2dueces

@JoeBanzai said:
Randal McDaniel should be a starting guard too, over Billy Shaw, imo.

Billy Shaw is A HOFER also.

JoeBanzai

@2dueces said:

@JoeBanzai said:
Randal McDaniel should be a starting guard too, over Billy Shaw, imo.

Billy Shaw is A HOFER also.

I'm sure he was great.

McDaniel was legendary here in Minnesota.

Hard to compare offensive lineman, but my guy's AV was really high and he played longer. Was also quite a bit bigger.

From Wikipedia:

A standout athlete, McDaniel still holds the fastest 100-meter dash time ever among offensive linemen in the NFL at 10.64 seconds, setting this record as a high school senior in a state meet, electronically timed. He recorded a PR of 50.04 seconds in the 400-meter dash. In the throwing events, he got top-throws of 16.76 meters in the shot put and 47.42 meters in the discus. He also benched 435, inclined 380, dead lifted 660, and squatted 650 in competition. In addition, he was timed at 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash and had a one step vertical leap of 37 inches at just 9% body fat.

12× Pro Bowl (1989–2000)
9× First-team All-Pro (1990–1998)
NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team

If I remember correctly he competed in drug free powerlifting competitions.

Jack131

I would replace Gayle Sayers with Barry Sanders, Ron Mix with Forrest Gregg, Billy Shaw with Larry Allen, Junior Seau with Ray Lewis, Troy Polamalu with Ronnie Lott and Charles Woodson with Darrell Green.

P.S. It's Don Hutson and not Don Hudson.

craig44

@JoeBanzai said:

@2dueces said:

@JoeBanzai said:
Randal McDaniel should be a starting guard too, over Billy Shaw, imo.

Billy Shaw is A HOFER also.

I'm sure he was great.

McDaniel was legendary here in Minnesota.

Hard to compare offensive lineman, but my guy's AV was really high and he played longer. Was also quite a bit bigger.

From Wikipedia:

A standout athlete, McDaniel still holds the fastest 100-meter dash time ever among offensive linemen in the NFL at 10.64 seconds, setting this record as a high school senior in a state meet, electronically timed. He recorded a PR of 50.04 seconds in the 400-meter dash. In the throwing events, he got top-throws of 16.76 meters in the shot put and 47.42 meters in the discus. He also benched 435, inclined 380, dead lifted 660, and squatted 650 in competition. In addition, he was timed at 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash and had a one step vertical leap of 37 inches at just 9% body fat.

12× Pro Bowl (1989–2000)
9× First-team All-Pro (1990–1998)
NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team

If I remember correctly he competed in drug free powerlifting competitions.

holy cow! I remember McDaniel being a great OL man, but I honestly did not know he was such a freak athlete. my goodness, can you imagine if he came out in the draft this year with those kind of combine numbers everyone would know about it.

I think Metcalfs 100 time was 10.32. it is crazy that a man the size of McDaniel could do it in 10.64

I have a newfound respect for that man.

coinkat

There simply are no GOATS... break this down by having a Modern era and a pre-Super Bowl era at a minimum. Seems even a further delineation should be considered... Not going to compare Otto Graham to Brady Anderson or someone like Red Grange to Barry Sanders. One has to have some appreciation for how the NFL evolved and who was responsible for that evolution. While you all may think this is a fun exercise, it really misses what is important and that is the understanding and appreciation for how the NFL became what it is today.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Darin said:
I would have Mel Blount at least as a back up in the secondary.
That way when the coach gets mad at Deion for being afraid to hit anybody he
just puts Blount in and that problem is definitely solved.

Some thoughts...

I think Deion is the nickel back and Blount is the starter alongside Woodson.

If you don’t have Ronnie Lott on your team at safety, you will probably lose to the team that has him. Count his fingers the next time you want to know how badly he wanted to win as a player.

I’d like to see Jonathan Ogden get an honorable mention or even a start at LT.

The D line needs a lot of work, too. Reggie White is fine but Deacon Jones and Alan Page easily bump two guys in your 4-3 defense. I might have those three and 4 linebackers, with LT, Ray Lewis, Lambert and Derrick Thomas.

Derrick Thomas was pretty sensational and was gone too soon.

Closest thing to LT I ever saw at the position...

JoeBanzai

@craig44 said:

@JoeBanzai said:

@2dueces said:

@JoeBanzai said:
Randal McDaniel should be a starting guard too, over Billy Shaw, imo.

Billy Shaw is A HOFER also.

I'm sure he was great.

McDaniel was legendary here in Minnesota.

Hard to compare offensive lineman, but my guy's AV was really high and he played longer. Was also quite a bit bigger.

From Wikipedia:

A standout athlete, McDaniel still holds the fastest 100-meter dash time ever among offensive linemen in the NFL at 10.64 seconds, setting this record as a high school senior in a state meet, electronically timed. He recorded a PR of 50.04 seconds in the 400-meter dash. In the throwing events, he got top-throws of 16.76 meters in the shot put and 47.42 meters in the discus. He also benched 435, inclined 380, dead lifted 660, and squatted 650 in competition. In addition, he was timed at 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash and had a one step vertical leap of 37 inches at just 9% body fat.

12× Pro Bowl (1989–2000)
9× First-team All-Pro (1990–1998)
NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team

If I remember correctly he competed in drug free powerlifting competitions.

holy cow! I remember McDaniel being a great OL man, but I honestly did not know he was such a freak athlete. my goodness, can you imagine if he came out in the draft this year with those kind of combine numbers everyone would know about it.

I think Metcalfs 100 time was 10.32. it is crazy that a man the size of McDaniel could do it in 10.64

I have a newfound respect for that man.

Thanks for commenting!

Lots of guys from Minnesota get overlooked. Never winning the SB has cast a huge shadow over our football team and a lot of great players.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Hydrant said:
I'll take the heat. Here goes.......O.J. was the best running back.... Whatever.

Totally. That man could run...

...almost like there were people chasing him.

1951WheatiesPremium

@Darin

With Roaf and Ogden, you might only need 3 total lineman with the right center.

I’m not going to be the one telling either guy they’re moving to right tackle, though.

telephoto1

Payton over Sayers and move Sayers to return spec, otherwise I'm cool with the list
And like him or not, let's be honest. Absent his off field life OJ is on this list for many if not most folks.

krueger

Sayers and Sanders were two of the greatest exciting breakaway threats Ive seen.
Sanders was lightening quick with his jukes and Sayers vision and change of speeds Baffled tacklers.

craig44

I guess i will be the one to bring it up (and take the heat)

is Gayle Sayers getting way too much love in the greatest all-time players discussion? I checked out his numbers and he played a total of 68 NFL games.

68

he only rushed the ball 991 times. he never averaged 100 yds/game for a season. He only played a full season once.

I understand he was injured. a lot. and that is not his fault, but it did happen. he really doesn't have a large body of work.

It seems he was a more dominant kick returner than RB. I could possibly see a place for him on an all-time team at KR, but I want much more durability out of my RB.

if I had to add a short career guy to my roster, I would rather have Terrell Davis than Sayers.

perkdog

@craig44 said:
I guess i will be the one to bring it up (and take the heat)

is Gayle Sayers getting way too much love in the greatest all-time players discussion? I checked out his numbers and he played a total of 68 NFL games.

68

he only rushed the ball 991 times. he never averaged 100 yds/game for a season. He only played a full season once.

I understand he was injured. a lot. and that is not his fault, but it did happen. he really doesn't have a large body of work.

It seems he was a more dominant kick returner than RB. I could possibly see a place for him on an all-time team at KR, but I want much more durability out of my RB.

if I had to add a short career guy to my roster, I would rather have Terrell Davis than Sayers.

He was the next great electrifying player after Jim Brown, his 6 TD game added to his lore. He was great but definitely not in the discussion of all time great Running backs in my opinion either. The lack of coverage back then also amplify’s certain players that stick out more so than the rest of the players so again his 6 TD game adds a lot

1951WheatiesPremium

@craig44 said:
I guess i will be the one to bring it up (and take the heat)

is Gayle Sayers getting way too much love in the greatest all-time players discussion? I checked out his numbers and he played a total of 68 NFL games.

68

he only rushed the ball 991 times. he never averaged 100 yds/game for a season. He only played a full season once.

I understand he was injured. a lot. and that is not his fault, but it did happen. he really doesn't have a large body of work.

It seems he was a more dominant kick returner than RB. I could possibly see a place for him on an all-time team at KR, but I want much more durability out of my RB.

if I had to add a short career guy to my roster, I would rather have Terrell Davis than Sayers.

I think Gayle Sayers is comparable to Bo Jackson; if you saw him, you know. Injuries may have derailed him but he had it.

Bo barely played football but if you saw him run?

Bo knows football.

1951WheatiesPremium

Except Gayle Sayers had a more productive career. Remember that a full schedule was 14 games, not 16 and so the 1,000 yard season was both more impressive and harder to pull off. Since the pass was less prominent on most teams than it is today and teams aligned defenses accordingly, rushing yards were a little tougher to come by back then.

Most NFL stats need lots of context.

craig44

I wholly agree about context with NFL stats. I believe Sayers only played one full season in his career

1951WheatiesPremium

I count 3...

Justacommeman

When you compare Sayers career to Sanders, Barry comes out way ahead. No contest

I knew Sayers career was cut short by injury but never realized his less then robust stat line.

m

JoeBanzai

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
I count 3...

I see 4. Almost 5.

Darin

@Justacommeman said:
When you compare Sayers career to Sanders, Barry comes out way ahead. No contest

I knew Sayers career was cut short by injury but never realized his less then robust stat line.

m

Sayers or Sanders both from Kansas can't go wrong with either one.

grote15

Agree with moving Sayers to return specialist and Sanders in at RB2.

I'd be inclined to go with Lott over Reed also at S, but you really can't go wrong with any of these choices.

craig44

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
I count 3...

appologies, i was looking at games started. i wonder why he didn't start every game in 65 and 66?

I also see that even in the years he did start he wasn't averaging very many carries. most big time backs (before the current era) would average in the 20's. Sayers was between 11.9 and 16.9

1951WheatiesPremium

@craig44 said:

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
I count 3...

appologies, i was looking at games started. i wonder why he didn't start every game in 65 and 66?

I also see that even in the years he did start he wasn't averaging very many carries. most big time backs (before the current era) would average in the 20's. Sayers was between 11.9 and 16.9

Looks like you might need to watch Brian’s Song.

You might get something in both your eyes, be careful. 😉

craig44

@1951WheatiesPremium said:

@craig44 said:

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
I count 3...

appologies, i was looking at games started. i wonder why he didn't start every game in 65 and 66?

I also see that even in the years he did start he wasn't averaging very many carries. most big time backs (before the current era) would average in the 20's. Sayers was between 11.9 and 16.9

Looks like you might need to watch Brian’s Song.

You might get something in both your eyes, be careful. 😉

I have heard stories about that movie. I refuse to watch. I have very sensitive eyes. I don't need them sweating during a movie.