30. Wes Welker, WR
29. Marion Motley, RB*
28. Drew Pearson, WR
27. Chris Harris, CB
26. Brian Waters, G
25. Dave Grayson, DB
24. Larry Little, G*
23. Nate Newton, G
22. Jason Peters, T
21. Adam Vinatieri, K
20. Priest Holmes, RB
19. Coy Bacon, DL
18. Donnie Shell, S
17. James Harrison, LB
16. Rod Smith, WR
15. Joe Jacoby, T
14. Antonio Gates, TE
13. Tony Romo, QB
12. John Randle, DT*
11. Emmitt Thomas, CB*
10. Cornell Green, CB
9. Cliff Harris, S
8. Lou Groza, T/K*
7. Joe Perry, RB*
6. Willie Wood, CB*
5. Willie Brown, CB*
4. Warren Moon, QB*
3. Emlen Tunnell, S*
2. Dick "Night Train" Lane, CB*
1. Kurt Warner, WB
*Hall of Fame player
Gil Brandt has forgotten more about football than most people will ever know but he's out of his mind ranking Kurt Warner #1. I'd start with game-changing players Night Train or Tunnell and go from there. Warner should be on the list but in the back half of it. He's hurt by the late start to his career. He's hurt more by the mediocre, at best, years in the middle of his career. Those are the little things that kept him out of the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. I'd also move Marion Motley up at least 20 spots. There are some that played against him that would put him among the best in the game's history regardless of when or whether they were drafted.
It's great to see historically under-appreciated players like Coy Bacon and Dave Grayson get some attention here.
It seems that Brandt has a little bit of a Cowboys bias. That's to be expected as he was probably the one that scouted and signed some of the players on this list. The Cowboys signed the following:
Drew Pearson
Brian Waters
Dave Grayson
Coy Bacon
Tony Romo
Cornell Green
Cliff Harris
All but Waters and Romo were signed on Brandt's watch.
Nate Newton wasn't initially signed by the Cowboys but he played the majority of his career in Dallas.
This is an excellent look at some players that started their NFL career at the bottom but worked their way to the top.
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