Joe Montana: You Play to win the game. Montana did this, winning 4 Super Bowls and 3 Super Bowl MVP's.
Backups: Dan Marino, John Elway, Brett Favre.
Running Backs-
Barry Sanders: He only played 10 seasons before shocking everyone with his 1999 retirement, but he went to 10 Pro Bowls. He had 99 touchdowns in those 10 seasons as well as 15,269 yards. Barry Sanders is the ultimate 'what if' player. Him and Bo Jackson.
Walter Payton: Second all-time in rushing yards (16,726), 4th in touchdowns with 110. He went to 9 Pro Bowls as well.
Backups: Bo Jackson, Marshall Faulk, Emmitt Smith.
Receivers-
Jerry Rice: Obviously. He's the all-time leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He also went to 13 Pro Bowls.
Cris Carter: Top-5 All-Time in receiving touchdowns (4th) and receptions (3rd). Never had the chance to play with a truly great quarterback though.
Tim Brown (88-04): 100 career touchdowns, 14,934 total yards and 9 pro bowls. Member of the All-1990's team and the College Football Hall of Fame. Also owns a Heisman from his days at Notre Dame.
Backups: Isaac Bruce, Randy Moss, Steve Largent.
I was really surprised to see that Terrell Owens is 2nd all-time in both receiving yards and touchdowns. There's still no way I'd put him on any all-time 'team.' He doesn't like that word anyway.
Offensive Line-
Will Shields
Jonathan Ogden
Randal McDaniel
Bruce Mathews
Orlando Pace
Cornerbacks:
Rod Woodson: The greatest of all-time in my opinion. 71 interceptions on his way to 11 Pro Bowls mainly with the Steelers and Raiders.
Dick 'Night Train' Lane: An incredible 14 interceptions as a rookie in 1952 for the LA Rams. Finished with 68 for his career, along with 7 Pro Bowls. Also gets points for having the best nickname on the team, maybe ever.
Backups: Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey.
Linebackers-
This was the toughest position to pick by far.
Lawrence Taylor: Having LT on the list wasn't hard, though. He tops nearly every list of great linebackers, going to 10 Pro Bowls while becoming only the 2nd defensive player to be named league MVP. Also had one of the nastiest hits of all time.
Ray Lewis: His play backs up his mouth, most definitely. The best middle linebacker of the last 25 years. He went to 11 Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with the 2000 Ravens, leading an arguably top-5 defense of all-time that season.
Mike Singletary: Definitely a better linebacker than coach. He was a member of the All-1980's team, went to 10 Pro Bowls and was a first team all-pro 7 times.
Derrick Thomas: I think Derrick Thomas gets overlooked when talking about all-time great linebackers. In a career that was shortened by his death in 2000, Thomas was one of the best pass-rushing linebackers off all-time, getting 126 sacks while playing for the Chiefs.
Backups: Dick Butkus, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert.
Defensive Line-
Bruce Smith: No. 1 overall pick by the Bills in 1985, he's the all-time leader with 200 career sacks. Went to 11 Pro Bowls, and is a member of the 1980's and 1990's All-Decade teams.
Deacon Jones: Allegedly coined the term 'sack.' Jones played before sacks began being counted in 1982, but is known as one of the greatest defenders of all-time as a member of the Los Angeles Rams in the 1970's.
Backups: Alan Page, Joe Greene, Michael Strahan.
Safeties-
Ronnie Lott: Considered by many the greatest safety of all-time, Lott could play safety or cornerback. He was also a member of the All-1980's and All-1990's teams, while winning 4 Super Bowls with the 49ers.
Steve Atwater: One of the more underrated players in NFL history. Atwater had an incredible 1,180 tackles in only 11 seasons. He went to 8 Pro Bowls and won 2 Super Bowl rings with the Broncos.
Backups: Troy Polamalu, Paul Krause, Jack Tatum.
Kicker-
Adam Vinatieri: This is one of the easier decisions to make. He had 3 Super Bowl-winning field goals with the Patriots, and 2 of those were kicked as time expired. Also has another ring with the Colts.
Punter- This team doesn't need a punter.
Coach: Vince Lombardi
No comments:
Post a Comment