Best NFL player of all time?

[Sjmoore11]

I’m tempted to say Rice or Lawrence Taylor; amazing athletes that were just in a different league from anyone on the field.

But…if we’re talking pick one guy to give you the best chance to win a game…it’s gotta be Brady. His accomplishments and most importantly wins defy belief.

[White Collar Boy]

I don’t follow the NFL but remember watching the 1989 Superbowl with my dad, him explaining to me who Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were. We were huge Australian rugby league fans curious about a different game, and those two guys stood out. I rewatched our tape of that a few times, never realising just how great Rice was.

[warrior]

As a homer, I'll go with what Bill Belichick said recently...

Greatest Offensive Player --Brady
Greatest Defensive Player--Taylor
Greatest Special Teams Player--Slater

He coached all 3, so he's a homer, too :-)

I'd go with Brady since the QB arguably has the most impact on football games over the long haul. A total winner.

[Letsgodiving]

I would say Barry Sanders was the most impressive player I have seen during my lifetime and all his accomplishments were with a mediocre team at the time. He retired early, in or close to his prime, and likely would have racked up a lot more stats if he stuck around.

[TheDogHouse]

Bo Jackson with Vince Papale a close second.

[DJ TT 2002]

Joe Pisarcik if you love the Eagles

[BOA]

I read this whole thread and either it escaped me or wasn't mentioned, but how is Jim Brown not in this conversation? I guess he is now, and I think deserves to be for the differences and difficulty of the era he played in and his dominance and accomplishments on the field. IMO, he should at least be somewhere on the lists being posted. That's always a problem though, as fresh-in-the-mind modern players dominate the fifty greatest players of all time conversations in every sport while the bygone eras get short shrift as few are left who really lived through them, and the highlight reels have such an antiquated look and feel that it's hard to relate to them.

[hambone1983]

Bill Belichick was on the Giants defensive staff the first 10 years of Taylor's career, and of course he he coached Tom Brady for 20 years. His comment on Taylor: "There's really no one that I can put in his category that I've coached...Instinctively as a football player, he's at the very top of the list."

Little known fact about Lawrence Taylor - he played on special teams his whole career. More from Belichick: "he was impossible to block as the gunner on punt coverage, and some of the biggest hits I've ever seen were from him playing in the middle on kickoff returns. His rookie year in the playoffs against Philadelphia he was the difference in that game just on covering punts...he could play any position on defense except corner."

Finally, Taylor caused 56 fumbles in his career, unofficially the most ever. If he's not the best ever, I can imagine who is.

[THC]

Originally Posted by BOA

I read this whole thread and either it escaped me or wasn't mentioned, but how is Jim Brown not in this conversation? I guess he is now, and I think deserves to be for the differences and difficulty of the era he played in and his dominance and accomplishments on the field. IMO, he should at least be somewhere on the lists being posted. That's always a problem though, as fresh-in-the-mind modern players dominate the fifty greatest players of all time conversations in every sport while the bygone eras get short shrift as few are left who really lived through them, and the highlight reels have such an antiquated look and feel that it's hard to relate to them.

Great observation / point Bruce

[1William]

Interesting post and one that with no perimeters will have wildly different opinions. If we are just going with opinion and not a measurable set of performance standards and outcomes this is nice, but worthless beyond that opinion. Using measurable performance such as statistical categories the answer has to be Brady. But I would say you would need to break it down to Offense or Defense and not adding in playing Era is also a huge factor. The GOAT conversation is best when we are all speaking about the same thing in specifics.

[AzPaul]

Originally Posted by BOA

I read this whole thread and either it escaped me or wasn't mentioned, but how is Jim Brown not in this conversation? I guess he is now, and I think deserves to be for the differences and difficulty of the era he played in and his dominance and accomplishments on the field. IMO, he should at least be somewhere on the lists being posted. That's always a problem though, as fresh-in-the-mind modern players dominate the fifty greatest players of all time conversations in every sport while the bygone eras get short shrift as few are left who really lived through them, and the highlight reels have such an antiquated look and feel that it's hard to relate to them.

Certainly thought about him, but Brown retired when I was four, so I never actually saw him play. It's the same thing for guys like Ruth, Williams, and Gehrig in baseball. Their numbers are incredible but for a conversation like this, I'd have no firsthand context to judge them by.

[77T]

If the title was “Best NFL player I actually watched” then I get some of the comments like “never saw him play”.

But as titled, I believe an astute fan should be able to delve into the question of “all time best”.

Best I saw in person-
Joe Auer - if you consider what I saw at the first kickoff of the first game of the Miami Dolphins storied NFL ascendancy. Highly personal choice - saw him play HS, College, and as a Velda Kids fan freebie, was in the end zone as he ran straight towards us. Never forget that…


All time best-
QB: Tom Brady
Defense: Lawrence Taylor
Receiver: Jerry Rice
Running Back: Jim Brown


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[GoingPlaces]

Offense is Brady. Hard to deny what he has done. Winning a SB in Tampa sealed it for me.

For defense, Taylor. One man that could take over a game, any game. He played at a higher level than the HOF'ers he played against.

[twitch54]

Originally Posted by BOA

I read this whole thread and either it escaped me or wasn't mentioned, but how is Jim Brown not in this conversation? I guess he is now, and I think deserves to be for the differences and difficulty of the era he played in and his dominance and accomplishments on the field. IMO, he should at least be somewhere on the lists being posted. That's always a problem though, as fresh-in-the-mind modern players dominate the fifty greatest players of all time conversations in every sport while the bygone eras get short shrift as few are left who really lived through them, and the highlight reels have such an antiquated look and feel that it's hard to relate to them.

Oh he was mentioned (post#6), regardless , another JB fan here as well.
While he only played 9 seasons, what stands out is , he NEVER missed a game. That combined with the fact that when he crossed the goal line he either dropped the ball or handed it to the ref, none of theatrical horse crap of today !

[Knappo 1307]

Originally Posted by Schmed

Mike Ditka described Walter Payton as the best football player he's ever coached. "Sweetness" was extremely talented, worked harder than anyone else, but also had a lot of charities he was involved with.

As a Bears fan, I'm probably biased, but the guy could throw, block, run, tackle, and jump. He was also funny as heck and an extremely nice man.

This^^

[SDGT3]

It's hard to evaluate someone you never saw play. JB was before my time, but I believe there's no overwhelming bias towards current players as the names of many stars from yesteryear have been mentioned such as Taylor, Rice, Sanders, Payton etc. The only recent player that's been a constant is Tom Brady, but he has the stats and rings to back up his claim to fame and may be the unanimous pick as best QB ever to play.

[warrior]

Nice post, and it illustrates Belichick’s big emphasis on Special Teams play. Belichick loves players that do more than one thing, play more than one position/ one unit.

Originally Posted by hambone1983

Bill Belichick was on the Giants defensive staff the first 10 years of Taylor's career, and of course he he coached Tom Brady for 20 years. His comment on Taylor: "There's really no one that I can put in his category that I've coached...Instinctively as a football player, he's at the very top of the list."

Little known fact about Lawrence Taylor - he played on special teams his whole career. More from Belichick: "he was impossible to block as the gunner on punt coverage, and some of the biggest hits I've ever seen were from him playing in the middle on kickoff returns. His rookie year in the playoffs against Philadelphia he was the difference in that game just on covering punts...he could play any position on defense except corner."

Finally, Taylor caused 56 fumbles in his career, unofficially the most ever. If he's not the best ever, I can imagine who is.

[REQUIEMnJADED4U]

Jerry Rice and Lawrence Taylor IMO.

[THC]

Originally Posted by 1William

Interesting post and one that with no perimeters will have wildly different opinions. If we are just going with opinion and not a measurable set of performance standards and outcomes this is nice, but worthless beyond that opinion. Using measurable performance such as statistical categories the answer has to be Brady. But I would say you would need to break it down to Offense or Defense and not adding in playing Era is also a huge factor. The GOAT conversation is best when we are all speaking about the same thing in specifics.

This was done intentionally opinion only I thought would open it up more than the ring thing and accolades

[Malum]

Walter Payton was the Man .

[TNT009]

Originally Posted by warrior

As a homer, I'll go with what Bill Belichick said recently...

Greatest Offensive Player --Brady
Greatest Defensive Player--Taylor
Greatest Special Teams Player--Slater

He coached all 3, so he's a homer, too :-)

I'd go with Brady since the QB arguably has the most impact on football games over the long haul. A total winner.

Only reason Id disagree is the QB position is a nicer word for a cat.. They dont take hits anymore, which is a reason Brady played for so many years!

[GB-man]

I once met a guy who was on the field with LT during "wide right." He was a rookie at the time and he said before the play LT grabbed him and shouted in his face don't you f'n jump rookie lol The repercussions of angering LT are enough to keep any rookie from losing a superbowl for you it appears.

[Masteryacht]

Lawrence Taylor, especially considering he probably played most games high on cocaine. Not sure how one could do that.

[huncho]

Originally Posted by TNT009

Only reason Id disagree is the QB position is a nicer word for a cat.. They dont take hits anymore, which is a reason Brady played for so many years!

Brady gets rid of the ball fast and has unbelievably high pocket awareness, probably the best we've ever seen or will see

saying he played so many years because he didn't get hit just makes a better case for him being the goat. he was incredibly skilled at avoiding getting hit despite the fact that he had the agility of a 40 year old in his prime. also never even lost his arm strength when all the top qbs of his generation couldn't throw farther than 25 yards by the time they were approaching 40

i obviously dislike Brady because i'm a giants fan but every way you look at his career he's the goat. he legitimately had 3 hall of fame careers in one

[THC]

Originally Posted by TNT009

Only reason Id disagree is the QB position is a nicer word for a cat.. They dont take hits anymore, which is a reason Brady played for so many years!

This is very true and I always discount some of the Brady greatness because of this ….I would put Joe Montana ahead of him..

[TNT009]

Originally Posted by huncho

Brady gets rid of the ball fast and has unbelievably high pocket awareness, probably the best we've ever seen or will see

saying he played so many years because he didn't get hit just makes a better case for him being the goat. he was incredibly skilled at avoiding getting hit despite the fact that he had the agility of a 40 year old in his prime. also never even lost his arm strength when all the top qbs of his generation couldn't throw farther than 25 yards by the time they were approaching 40

i obviously dislike Brady because i'm a giants fan but every way you look at his career he's the goat. he legitimately had 3 hall of fame careers in one

Look no further than some of the BS 'ruffin calls he took... His number are great because he got "Jordan" rule calls and he deserved some because of his rings!

You have to devise an entire game plan to thwart LT.

[huncho]

Originally Posted by TNT009

Look no further than some of the BS 'ruffin calls he took... His number are great because he got "Jordan" rule calls and he deserved some because of his rings!

You have to devise an entire game plan to thwart LT.

he definitely had calls go his way in the later years of his career and by the time he turned 40 all the young guys were afraid to hit him hard and be the ones that break him lol. but yeah i get what you're saying but my point still stands. the roughing calls these days are total bs and are just setting bad precedents for defense and the game in general

[warrior]

I read your post about Brady's ability to get rid of the ball quick and avoiding sacks. His extremely quick release and decision making is a strength that many outside of New England fans don't realize.( Not just competitive and accurate but had a cerebral approach to the game.) That says to me, right off the bat, that you're more nuanced than just another " well, in my day, they could hit the quarterback....blah blah blah" guy pining for the past. The game has changed to favor the offense, yes, but it's tough to win SBs as a leader, regardless of what era you're playing in.

Also, dude was a CONSUMMATE team guy that provided leadership and changed the culture in Tampa Bay after he left New England. Not all about talent and excitement and " well, in my day, qbs could take hits....blah blah blah. " I think he's taken plenty of hits in a 20 years span. Dude was plenty freaking tough ( mentally and physically) if you play as high level as he did over two decades in the NFL.

Originally Posted by huncho

he definitely had calls go his way in the later years of his career and by the time he turned 40 all the young guys were afraid to hit him hard and be the ones that break him lol. but yeah i get what you're saying but my point still stands. the roughing calls these days are total bs and are just setting bad precedents for defense and the game in general

[DocHorton]

Brady...and I don't think it's close. In fact, Brady should be in discussion for the top 5 greatest athletes of all time in any sport, IMO.

[SDGT3]

Originally Posted by THC

This is very true and I always discount some of the Brady greatness because of this ….I would put Joe Montana ahead of him..

I love Joe Montana but when we look at the body of work and the HOF players surrounding each, Joe had much better receivers, line and running backs. Brady had Gronk, Moss for a couple years, Welker, a couple plumbers and a carpenter they traded for in the 4th round.