Throwback Thursday: All-Time Team Of Players I've Seen

This is an All-Time Team of Players I've Seen in games that I attended. I've done this before and I was thinking about it again while listening to John Randle and Warren Moon chat on last week's edition of Skol Stories. I haven't been to nearly as many NFL games as I would've liked. Being a life-long fan of the Minnesota Vikings while living every one of my days in California is a big reason for that. I've still attended several games over the past five decades. The first NFL game I attended was the Vikings-Oakland Raiders game in 1978. There are some players from that game on this team. The most recent game I attended was the Eagles-Vikings game at US Bank Stadium last season. That game will always be special as it was the first time I'd ever seen the Vikings play in Minnesota. It was a beautiful experience. I don't why it took so long for me to get there but it did. It was such a beautiful experience that traveling to Minnesota for a game was going to become an annual thing. Then a global pandemic hit. Anyway, here's an All-Time Team Of Players I've Seen. It was fun collecting the memories.

Offense

Quarterback
*Fran Tarkenton

Running Backs
#Adrian Peterson
*Emmitt Smith

Wide Recievers
*Cris Carter
*Jerry Rice

Tight End
*Dave Casper

Offensive Tackles
*Art Shell
*Ron Yary

Offensive Guards
*Randall McDaniel
*Gene Upshaw

Center
*Mick Tingelhoff

Defense

Defensive Ends
*Carl Eller
*Chris Doleman

Defensive Tackles
*John Randle
Kevin Williams 

Linebackers
*Ted Hendricks
^Randy Gradishar
#Patrick Willis

Cornerbacks
*Deion Sanders
Louis Wright

Safeties
*Paul Krause
Harrison Smith

Kicker
Ryan Longwell

Punter
*Ray Guy

Returner
Cordarrelle Patterson

*Hall of Famer
#Will be a Hall of Famer
^Should be a Hall of Famer

***

It might be considered a homer move to pick Fran Tarkenton over fellow Hall of Famers Joe Montana, Steve Young, and Troy Aikman. Tarkenton did throw more passes for more completions, yards, and touchdowns than those three. Besides, it's my team.

Other than the final score, the only disappointing thing about the first NFL game I ever attended, Vikings @ Raiders in 1978, was that Alan Page had been released earlier that season. His release from the Vikings was a stunning blow then and still stings a bit now. Page was my favorite player then and one of my all-time favorites now. He'd be one of the defensive tackles on this team if I'd seen him play in 1978. 

One of the most fun football games that I attended was a Monday Night Vikings-49ers game in 1995. Well, other than the final score it was a fun. The game was a receiver clinic. Jerry Rice catching passes from Steve Young. Cris Carter catching passes from Warren Moon. As defending champs, the 49ers were the better team and jumped all over the Vikings in the first quarter. 21-0. At that point, it looked and felt like Carter put the Vikings on his back and willed his team back into the game. 27-20 49ers at the half. 37-30 49ers at the end. Every catch that Carter made throughout the game felt crucial. Each catch converted a first down or scored a touchdown. This was before fantasy football changed how games are presented. Being in the stands, live statistics weren't blasted on giant scoreboards. No one had a mini-computer disguised as a phone. If I had to guess the respective statistics of Rice and Carter, I would've guessed that Rice had about 10 catches for 200 yards and Carter had about 10 catches for 150 yards. In reality, the two receivers did this:

Rice: 14 catches, 289 yards, and 3 TDs

Carter: 12 catches, 88 yards, and 2 TDs

I was stunned the next day when I saw that Rice had gained over 200 more yards than Carter. I guess that the situational importance of each of Carter's catches added about 15 yards to each of those catches. It was being at this game that I learned that statistics don't always tell the whole story. 

Randy Gradishar should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.