Friday, August 23, 2019

All-Time Best At Each Position

With the 2019 season being the NFL's 100th season there will be a lot of "All-Time teams" and "All-Time debates" over the next year. ESPN Senior Writer Jeff Legwold recently posted his "All-Time team." It's a good one. If one takes this task seriously, there really shouldn't be a bad one.

Offense

QB: Tom Brady
Career: New England Patriots, 2000-present

WR: Jerry Rice
Career: San Francisco 49ers, 1985-2000; Oakland Raiders, 2001-04; Seattle Seahawks, 2004
Hall of Fame class: 2010

WR: Don Hutson
Career: Green Bay Packers, 1935-45
Hall of Fame class: 1963

RB: Jim Brown
Career: Cleveland Browns, 1957-65
Hall of Fame class: 1971

RB: Walter Payton
Career: Chicago Bears, 1975-87
Hall of Fame class: 1993

LT: Anthony Munoz
Career: Cincinnati Bengals, 1980-92
Hall of Fame class: 1998

G: John Hannah
Career: New England Patriots, 1973-85
Hall of Fame class: 1991

C: Jim Otto
Career: Oakland Raiders, 1960-74
Hall Fame of class: 1990

G: Jim Parker
Career: Baltimore Colts 1957-67
Hall of Fame class: 1973

RT: Forrest Gregg
Career: Green Bay Packers 1956, 1958-70; Dallas Cowboys, 1971
Hall of Fame class: 1977

TE Tony Gonzalez
Career: Kansas City Chiefs, 1997-2008; Atlanta 2009-13
Hall of Fame class: 2019

Defense

DE: Reggie White
Career: Philadelphia Eagles, 1985-92; Green Bay Packers, 1993-98; Carolina Panthers, 2000
Hall of Fame class: 2006

DE: Deacon Jones
Career: Los Angeles Rams, 1961-71; San Diego Chargers, 1972-73; Washington Redskins, 1974
Hall of Fame class: 1980

DT: Joe Greene
Career: Pittsburgh Steelers, 1969-81
Hall of Fame class: 1987

DT: Merlin Olsen
Career: Los Angeles Rams, 1962-76
Hall of Fame class: 1982

LB: Lawrence Taylor
Career: New York Giants, 1981-93
Hall of Fame class: 1999

LB: Dick Butkus
Career: Chicago Bears, 1965-73
Hall of Fame class: 1979

LB: Bobby Bell
Career: Kansas City Chiefs, 1963-74
Hall of Fame class: 1983

CB: Deion Sanders
Career: Atlanta Falcons, 1989-93; San Francisco 49ers, 1994; Dallas Cowboys, 1995-99; Washington Redskins, 2000; Baltimore Ravens, 2004-05
Hall of Fame class: 2011

CB: Rod Woodson
Career: Pittsburgh Steelers, 1987-96; San Francisco 49ers, 1997; Baltimore Ravens, 1998-2003
Hall of Fame class: 2009

S: Ken Houston
Career: Houston Oilers, 1967-72; Washington Redskins, 1973-80
Hall of Fame class: 1986

S: Ronnie Lott
Career: San Francisco 49ers, 1981-90; Los Angeles Raiders, 1991-92; New York Jets, 1993-94
Hall of Fame class: 2000

Special Teams

K: Adam Vinatieri
Career: New England Patriots, 1996-2005; Indianapolis Colts, 2006-present

P: Ray Guy
Career: Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, 1973-86
Hall of Fame class: 2014

Special teamer/returner: Gale Sayers
Career: Chicago Bears, 1965-1971
Hall of Fame class: 1977

Coach Bill Belichick
Career: Cleveland Browns, 1991-95; New England Patriots, 2000-present

***


This a fine All-Time team. It's better than most. There's actually some acknowledgement that there was NFL football prior to the Super Bowl. Legwold mentions several of the deserving "old-timers" in his full article for the team. 

It's been my opinion for quite some time that there are three players that must be on any All-Time NFL team. Legwold has all three on this team. 

Jim Brown
Jerry Rice
Lawrence Taylor

Reggie White is close to making it four but Deacon Jones and Gino Marchetti are so damn good. 

Here's my current All-Time Team:

Offense

QB: Tom Brady

WR: Jerry Rice

WR: Don Hutson

FB: Jim Brown

RB: Walter Payton

LT: Jonathan Ogden

G: Randall McDaniel

C: Mel Hein

G: Jim Parker

RT: Forrest Gregg

TE: Rob Gronkowski

Defense

DE: Reggie White

DE: Deacon Jones

DT: Bob Lilly

DT: Alan Page

LB: Lawrence Taylor

LB: Dick Butkus

LB: Jack Ham

CB: Deion Sanders

CB: Night Train Lane

S: Ed Reed

S: Ronnie Lott

Special Teams

K: Adam Vinatieri

P: Tommy Davis

Special teamer/returner: Gale Sayers

Coach: Vince Lombardi




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