top 25 football players of all time
CFB150 home. But his impact is no less for all of that: Jones is considered to be the prototypical modern defensive end, and is largely credited with being the first pass rushing specialist, and the person who coined the term sack: You take all the offensive linemen and put them in a burlap bag, and then you take a baseball bat and beat on the bag. Tackles: 468 | Interception returns for TDs: 3 But what makes him the greatest tight end of all time is his stats. Newton got in trouble at Florida and decamped to junior college. It was no coincidence -- Reed played an integral role on that 2001 team, which won 10 of 12 games by at least 22 points. As a sophomore in 1979, Allen played fullback, opening holes for Charles White as he won the Heisman. He intercepted five passes, averaged 42.0 yards per punt, and completed 55.3% of his passes in an era when anything over 50% was exceptional. He finished his FSU career with 274 tackles, 8.5 sacks and five interceptions. Claiborne was a smart coach. Greg Pruitt (RB, Oklahoma, 1970-72) He finished his UCLA career with a school-record 468 tackles, which is the second-highest school total today. 135. 44 jersey. He was a unanimous All-American in 1981 and '82 and set a school record with 63 tackles for loss in his career, to go with 229 tackles. A ferocious defender on the field and a gentle giant off it, Olsen was a two-time All-American at Utah State and won the Outland Trophy as the sport's best interior lineman as a senior in 1961. What is not up for debate are the numbers that illustrate his production. He's faster and he cuts better." Desmond Howard (WR, Michigan, 1989-91) Hayes used to tell his players you either get better or you get worse. Regularly double- and triple-teamed due to his athleticism, Lilly was a consistent threat, and was famous for rarely ever missing games (196 consecutive). The Crimson didn't lose another game until 1915. But there was never any concern about The Horse's toughness on the football field. Inside, the 22-yard lines are painted Tar Heel blue. Achievements: Inducted into Pro Football HOF in 1988 in hometown of Canton, Ohio; played in 238 consecutive games, including postseason; NFL MVP for 1971 season; NFL defensive player of the year 1971, 1973; 23 fumble recoveries. Here's a full list of the results from the first round on . Top 20 Greatest Footballers Of All Time 2023 20. 107. Eddie George (RB, Ohio State, 1992-95) As a junior, Dorsett rushed for 1,544 yards, 302 against Notre Dame alone. 1. Oh, yeah: As a senior, George rushed for 105 yards and the winning touchdown at Penn State. He also played on Pitt's baseball and basketball teams and was an intramural wrestling champion. In fewer than four months, however, Munoz, through sheer will and arduous rehab, returned to the field for the Rose Bowl. Grantland Rice bestowed Grange with the nickname "the Galloping Ghost." Two quotes from the book "The Heisman: Sixty Years of Tradition and Excellence" explain Davis' greatness. He won the 1979 Heisman Trophy after leading the country in rushing with 1,803 yards and 18 touchdowns. Achievements: Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1991; 1st-team All-Pro (1976, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85); 9-time Pro Bowler. Just like Butkus, Lewis is iconic and the undisputed GOAT of his team. Rushing yards: 2,704 | Yards per carry: 5.4 | Touchdowns: 46 Teams: Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants. Passing yards: 11,201 | Completion percentage: 62.5 | TDs: 89 Campbell rushed for 2,046 yards in his first two seasons in Austin. Paul Hornung (QB, Notre Dame, 1954-56) Achievements: Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1993); Super Bowl champ; 7-time first-team All-Pro (1976-1980, 1984, 1985); second-team All-Pro (1986); NFL MVP (1977); NFL. In 30 career games with the Orange, the three-time All-American scored 46 total touchdowns and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. Short of championships, Randy Moss was the heir to Jerry Rices throne as the best pass catcher in the NFL, and if not for a pesky New York Giants team and history on Ray Lewis side, would have gotten himself a pair of rings to boot. George Gipp (B, Notre Dame, 1917-20) He ranks 16th all-time for made 3-pointers in Division I men's college basketball and was the two-time Summit League Player of the Year. The 1982 consensus All-American is SMU's all-time leader in rushing yards, total TDs and 100-yard rushing games. Notable accolades: Hall of Fame (2004 Class); 2x Super Bowl Champion; 1x MVP; 1x Super Bowl MVP; 2x AFC OPoY; 1x First-Team All-Pro; 2x Second-Team All-Pro; 9x Pro Bowl. Achievements: Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1986; 1975 NFL MVP; 1st-team All-Pro (1975); nine pro bowls (1964-65, 1967-70, 1974-76). In those one-platoon days, Berwanger did everything well, except turn pro. Lionel Messi is a football player from Argentina who plays for FC Barcelona. He set 21 NCAA records, including all-purpose yards (7,206) and rushing touchdowns (72). "Nobody in college football can block him." He made 19 touchdown catches and scored four others. Andres Iniesta 16. Perhaps perspective is best achieved at a distance. Tackles: 287 | Tackles for loss: 41 | Sacks: 21.5 Hugh Green (DE, Pitt, 1977-80) Greene went to North Texas State, as it was then known. Interceptions: 7 Passing yards: 14,607 | Passing TDs: 131 | Completions: 1,026 Ward's ability to run and pass made him the forerunner of the modern quarterback. He has become Exhibit A for anyone out to prove the outsized thumbprint of Notre Dame. Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Notable accolades: Hall of Fame (1974); 7x First-Team All-Pro; 7x Pro Bowl. His 5,263 career rushing yards total ranked sixth in NCAA history at the time. Although he did not lead Notre Dame in rushing, receiving or scoring in 1953, his versatility on both sides of the ball helped him claim the Heisman and a spot on the cover of Time. Lattner's 3,095 all-purpose yards topped Notre Dame's record book until Vagas Ferguson in 1979. -- Ivan Maisel. Here is my guess for the 25 Top Players in NFL History, with my apologies to the hundreds of players (especially the ones I did not see play who were at a disadvantage) who could have. That includes Piers Morgan, who ranked his four best players in football history after the World Cup. Rushing yards: 2,957 | Yards per carry: 8.3 | Touchdowns: 59 "He blocked out the sun," Colts general manager Ernie Accorsi said. Michael Platini 12. As a senior, Garrett led the country with 1,440 rushing yards with 17 touchdowns (two on punt returns). Against rival Ohio State, Harmon ran 25 times for 139 yards with three touchdowns, passed for 151 yards with two more scores, kicked four extra points, returned three kickoffs for 81 yards, intercepted three passes and averaged 50 yards on three punts. 12 Stanford knocked off No. 129. So dont blame him for his lack of a championship resume. Achievements: Inducted into the Pro Football HOF (1984); 3-time Super Bowl champ; 2-time First-team All-Pro (1971, 1973); AFL champion (1967); 3-time First-team All-AFL (1964, 1968, 1969); 4-time Pro Bowl selection; held the Super Bowl record for longest interception (75 yards) until James Harrison broke it. Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden began to use him in a no-huddle shotgun set midway through Ward's junior season. In four seasons, he ran for 2,341 yards, a school record that stood until 1978. McDonald's Sooners didn't lose that season, or any of three seasons. Full disclosure: The vote had to be taken before the 2019 season was completed. Rushing yards: 4,589 | Touchdowns: 62 | Total offense: 5,595 yards John David Crow (RB, Texas A&M, 1955-57) He remains, 35 years later, the best player ever to put on a Hokies uniform. If you can't get a scholarship offer, you may as well be the best walk-on ever to play the sport. Shameful. Tackles: 335 | Fumble recoveries: 8 2. He won the 1977 Heisman Trophy vote in a runaway, like a beer truck going downhill. Those votes produced a list of 170 names. As a Navy pilot, stationed on an aircraft carrier off the Venezuelan coast, his plane developed mechanical problems on a training flight. Every return, catch or run by Rocket Ismail brought a mix of anticipation and excitement. David Beckham 19. 26. The numbers fail to capture the magic that Flutie unleashed in Chestnut Hill. Receiving yards: 2,927 | TD receptions: 28 | Receptions: 178 Wide receivers are usually the lightest players in the NFL behind punters, kickers, and occasional quarterbacks, and most have had their careers but short by injury. Then Moss went to FCS Marshall, near his West Virginia home, and he set four NCAA freshman records as the most dangerous player on a 15-0 national championship team. Teams: Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins. He's the best football player in the country returning next year." He finished with five touchdowns and threw for a sixth. Alan Ameche (RB, Wisconsin, 1951-54) Against Ohio State in 1963, Butkus made 23 tackles, a school record at the time. Achievements: Inducted into the Pro Football HOF (2011); Super Bowl champion; 3-time First-team All-Pro (1999-2001); 3-time Second-team All-Pro (1994, 1995, 1998); NFL MVP (2000); 3-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1999-2001); NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1994); 7-time Pro Bowler; one of only 3 NFL players to amass at least 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards; only player to accumulate 12,000 rushing and 6,000 receiving yards; only NFL RB with 100+ rushing and 30+ receiving TDs; holds NFL career record for most games with a rushing and receiving TD (15). Rushing yards: 1,864 | Total offense: 2,538 yards | Touchdowns: 24 Pruitt got 9.4 yards per carry on 16.1 attempts per game. Standing at 6-foot-7, Ted Hendricks, known as "The Mad Stork," possessed quite an advantage in battles with overmatched offensive linemen. How in the world does one even approach 5,000 yards and 55 touchdowns? As a senior for the Gophers in 1929, Nagurski became the only player ever named All-American at two positions: tackle on defense and fullback on offense. 95. Then-Pitt coach Jackie Sherrill met Fralic at a golf course in 1977 and asked, "What college do you play for?" Emmitt Smith (RB, Florida, 1987-89) We all know why OJ Simpson is ranked this low. Vick became the first overall pick of the 2000 NFL draft. Rushing yards: 1,928 | Total offense: 3,582 | Touchdowns: 57 37. White's record-setting 246 all-purpose yards per game stood until Barry Sanders broke the mark in 1988. 4 Oklahoma. as his initials imply, Terrell Owens earned 6 Pro Bowl invites and 5 First-team All-Pro selections in his 16 season stint in the NFL. Oh, yeah, the 6-foot, 195-pound Woodson also set an NCAA record in the 60-meter hurdles and won five Big Ten track championships. In three seasons at Florida, he set 58 school records and ran for 3,928 yards with 36 touchdowns. Ronaldo was, obviously, in 1st while Messi had to settle for 4th. Faulk went a long way toward making freshmen more plausible candidates for the Heisman. He was born in 1987 in Rosario, Argentina's third-biggest . Barry Sanders (RB, Oklahoma State, 1986-88) Hes a winner all the same. He left Lubbock and enrolled at Oklahoma, where he walked on and, after sitting out a year, started the first game for which he was eligible. He was at his best on the sport's biggest stage. He was an all-league quarterback and captain of the baseball team at the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and was accepted to Yale and the U.S. Military Academy. Ronaldo Nazario 7. Hes ridden both efficiency and talent to all-time statistical highs, and an MVP-level performance in 2020 and 2021 is nothing to sneeze at. "Deion Sanders, no doubt about it," Bowden says. 116. He had 478 total yards with four touchdown passes in a 45-40 loss to Alabama in the CFP national championship after the 2015 season. Walter Payton 7. Luck went 31-7 as a starter in three seasons, his teams spent 22 consecutive weeks ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll, and he played in two New Year's Six bowl games. set the NCAA record for rushing yards by a freshman with 1,932 in 1998 and finished his four-year career with 6,559, the most in Division I history. Tommy Nobis (LB, Texas, 1963-65) That not only propelled USC past its archrival, it sent the Trojans to the 1967 national championship. It took someone as iconic as Sammy Baugh to keep O'Brien on the TCU bench. Bertelli, a first-generation American from Springfield, Massachusetts, became known as the "Springfield Rifle" for his ability to throw the ball. He is the only athlete to ever compete in both a Super Bowl and World Series, and it is this distinction that is a testament to his greatness. He was small (5-9, 177) but he relished the chance to prove how well he could play every Saturday. He once punted a ball, sprinted downfield, caught it, and ran it in for a touchdown. Hornung remains the only player to win the Heisman for a losing team. 24. That's been the difference, that has been the splitting point. The four-time FCS All-American holds Georgia Southern and Southern Conference records for career rushing attempts (996), rushing touchdowns (84) and points (524), among others. Here's how much impact Singletary made on the Baylor program during his four seasons with the Bears: As soon as he graduated, the school created the Mike Singletary Award, which is given to the senior player who epitomizes "contribution to Baylor football while bringing honor to the school both on and off the field." Moss suffered two punishing blows early in his college career, and he not only stayed on his feet but also excelled, which surprises exactly no one who ever saw him play. Notable accolades: Hall of Fame (1977); 5x First-Team All-Pro; 4x Pro Bowl. Rushing yards: 4,045 | Rushing TDs: 41 | 100-yard games: 22 In the 1946 Cotton Bowl, Layne completed 11 of 12 passes, rushed for three touchdowns, passed for two and caught another one in a 40-27 victory over Missouri. In their shorter lifespan, the Iowa football team has produced one Heisman Trophy Winner (18th all time), 27 consensus All-Americans (28th best) and 257 NFL draft picks (also 28th best), while spending the 24th most weeks in the AP Polls. The rest, as you say, is history. Maradona has won the World Cup. Lawrence Taylor (LB, North Carolina, 1977-80) Sacks: 21 | Tackles for loss: 33 | Tackles: 192 55. He grew up near SMU, and as a Mustang he so captivated the city of Dallas that the Cotton Bowl, expanded twice during Walker's career, became known as The House That Doak Built. Notable accolades: Hall of Fame (1985); 2x Super Bowl Champion; 1x Super Bowl MVP; 1x MVP; 1x Second-Team All-Pro; 6x Pro Bowl; MoY; Bert Bell Award. 122. In 1989, he had 19 sacks and 27 tackles for loss and was named a unanimous All-American and the Pac-10 defensive player of the year. He averaged 1.9 tackles for loss per game, which ranks second in FBS history, and finished second in UNC history with 30.5 career sacks and 53 tackles for loss. Mike Rozier (RB, Nebraska, 1981-83) As a senior, Keyes finished second to, yes, Simpson. In one of the nail-biters, an 18-7 victory at Big East rival Boston College, Reed sealed the victory by stripping teammate Matt Walters of his interception and returning the ball 80 yards for a touchdown. 100. As Brown's senior season began, he had proven himself to be a dependable receiver and kick returner on an undependable team. John Lattner (RB, Notre Dame, 1951-53) Tim Tebow ? 18. 128. Crow was Bryant's only Heisman winner during his 36-year coaching career. A two-time All-American, he won the Heisman, Walter Camp Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and Jim Thorpe Award in 1997. Naturally, as only one of two defensive players to earn MVP honors, and the only one to do so unanimously, Lawrence Taylor is popularly regarded as the greatest defensive player in the history of the NFL. 2 once. 11. Kinnick excelled at both, not to mention being one of the best backs in the nation. He later joined Roger Staubach and the Cowboys to nab his third Super Bowl towards the end of his career. Bennett blitzed and launched his 6-foot-4, 235-pound body at Beuerlein's torso. Nine of the top 10 and 19 of the top 25 are running backs. Steve Owens (RB, Oklahoma, 1967-69) 8 overall by the Carolina Panthers and quickly blossomed into one of the best players in the NFL, being named an All-Pro at two positions (RB, flex) this season. MOHAMED SALAH. That adage spurred Griffin throughout his senior year; he won the Heisman again. Tackles: 107 | Tackles for loss: 33 He led the Dawgs that season with 744 receiving yards. Brown was the greatest all-around athlete in Syracuse history -- and perhaps in all of collegiate sports. The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by middle linebacker Bill George at No. That the best player in the history of college football didn't win the Heisman Trophy says less about the player than it does about college football. 76. The son of a Minnesota sports writer, Fitzgerald had his hands on a football at an early age as a Vikings ball boy. He had 23 against USC in 1977. He would nab 68 picks during his career, a mark good enough for fourth on the all-time list, and was even highlighted for his explosion and tackling. The members of the panel were current and former . Doug Flutie (QB, Boston College, 1981-84) On the second Saturday night of the season, Brown returned a punt for a touchdown against Michigan State. 1. 99.4. Franz Beckenbauer 10. The 5-7, 150-pound O'Brien may have been slight of stature, but he ran a no-nonsense huddle and his teammates loved him for it. His ranking here is still debatable and should be a credit to those ranked above him, rather than a knock on his legacy. He rushed for 114 yards in the season opener against TCU, and at midseason, Sayers torched Oklahoma State for a Big Eight-record 283 yards on only 22 carries. Passing yards: 3,145 | Total offense: 3,990 yards | Interceptions by: 11 Alex Hess, Marcus Alves, Alex Reid, Declan Warrington, Thore Haugstad, Michael Yokhin, Andrew Murray, Seb Stafford-Bloor, Jon Spurling last updated 9 November 2022 From Messi to Maradona, Cristiano. 58. 77. He then left the World Cup in tears as Portugal crashed out to Morocco in the quarter finals. With a young coach named Pop Warner, whose single- and double-wing formations made the elusive Thorpe even more difficult to stop, Thorpe propelled the Indians to national prominence. Ronnie Lott 16.
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