I've been reading Joe Zagorski's fine book America's Trailblazing Middle Linebacker: The Story of NFL Hall of Famer Willie Lanier. Despite Lanier's Kansas City Chiefs thumping the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV, I've always been intrigued by the team. I really like a lot of the Chiefs players from those teams, especially several of the defensive players. Six of those defensive players from that Chiefs Super Bowl team have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Buck Buchanan, Curley Culp, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Emmitt Thomas, and Johnny Robinson. Reading about Lanier got me thinking about some of the best linebacker trios in the history of the league. In my opinion, those trios starts with the group that Lanier led.
1960s Kansas City Chiefs
Bobby Bell
Willie Lanier
Jim Lynch
When I think of this terrific group I can't help but dream about Bobby Bell playing for the Vikings. They drafted him out of Minnesota in the 1963 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, this was during the signing wars with the AFL. The Chiefs drafted him as well. Bell signed with the Chiefs. I dream about him playing behind the Vikings' great defensive line. Maybe Super Bowl IV would've gone a bit differently. It does in those dreams. Willie Lanier and Jim Lynch were both drafted in 1967 to compete for the middle linebacker spot. Lynch actually won the competition in training camp but it didn't take long for Chiefs head coach Hank Stram to realize that the defense was better with both on the field and Lanier in the middle. Stram's offense was considered ahead of it's time but it was the Chiefs defense that was the key to the team's winning ways in the late 1960s. This linebacker trio was the soul of one of the greatest, most underrated defenses.
1970s Pittsburgh Steelers
Jack Ham
Jack Lambert
Andy Russell
Unlike the Chiefs, the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers defense isn't underrated. From front to back, they were great. They fielded a ferocious pass rush, a fine secondary, and linebackers that were ideally suited to play in Bud Carson's zone defense. Jack Ham could play sideline to sideline. Jack Lambert could blitz, fill run lanes, and drop and cover the middle of the field. The two Jacks played their way into Canton. Andy Russell isn't in the Hall of Fame but he did get to seven Pro Bowls.
1960s Green Bay Packers
Dave Robinson
Ray Nitschke
Lee Roy Caffey
Like the Chiefs and Steelers, the 1960s Green Bay Packers had a linebacker trio made up of two Hall of Famers and a solid, reliable third. Dave Robinson, like Bobby Bell and Jack Ham, could do just about everything. Blitz, play the run, cover. Ray Nitschke, like Willie Lanier and Jack Lambert, was a beast in the middle of the defense. Lee Roy Caffey played in the long shadows of his teammates but played really well, earning Pro Bowl, All-Pro nods and a place on the Packers 75th anniversary All-Time team.
1960s Chicago Bears
Joe Fortunato
Dick Butkus
Larry Morris
Joe Fortunato
Bill George
Larry Morris
I'll take the Bears trio with a young Dick Butkus over the one with an aging Bill George. I just wanted to give mention to the ridiculous hand-off that the Bears had at the middle linebacker position. From 1952-73 the middle of the Bears defense was managed by Hall of Famers George or Butkus. Joe Fortunato and Larry Morris was on either side of those Hall of Famers from 1959-65. That's a long, strong run of linebacker talent.
1985 Chicago Bears
Otis Wilson
Mike Singletary
Wilber Marshall
Mike Singletary was really good for longer than the outside linebackers. He had a great Hall of Fame career. From 1984-86, I thought that Otis Wilson and Wilber Marshall were the stars of this trio.
2000 Baltimore Ravens
Peter Boulware
Ray Lewis
Jamie Sharper
Ray Lewis carries this group. The 2000 Ravens defense was so dominant that it seems like each position group should be considered among the best in league history. The strength of this defense was the whole rather than the individual parts.
One more (just for giggles):
2000s Minnesota Vikings
Chad Greenway
E.J. Henderson
Ben Leber
It may not rank with the trios listed above it but I really liked this group. I think that it edges out the 1970s trio of Matt Blair/Jeff Siemon/Fred McNeil as the best in Vikings franchise history.
I've always favored the 4-3 so it's easy for me to focus on the league's best linebacker trios. That isn't fair to some of the best linebacker groups in league history.
Some Foursomes:
1980s New York Giants
Carl Banks
Gary Reasons
Harry Carson
Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor is one of the best football players to ever play and arguably the game's best defensive player. Harry Carson is in honored in Canton. I was a big fan of Carl Banks. I'd like to see his Hall of Fame case make it to serious discussion among the voters. Gary Reasons was a solid football player. The late-1980s Giants annually trotted out a dominant defense. This linebacker group was the main reason that dominance.
1980s New Orleans Saints
Rickey Jackson
Sam Mills
Vaughan Johnson
Pat Swilling
Rickey Jackson is in the Hall of Fame. Sam Mills is an annual contender to join him. A Hall of Fame argument can be made for Pat Swilling. Vaughan Johnson was a fine football player with several Pro Bowl nods. Individually, they were terrific. As a group, they were one of the best in league history. The New Orleans Saints had been consistent losers from the moment the team entered the NFL in 1967. That consistent losing ended about the time that this linebacker group was put together in the late 1980s. They put on a show.
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