Best Single-Team Athlete: NFL Qualifier

[oochymp 2,393]

Through the nomination thread we got 16 in each of NBA, NHL, and MLB, so those don't need a qualifier (I'm going to arbitrarily do seeding alphabetically) but we have 40 NFL players so we need a qualifying vote.

 

I had to post this as two questions because they wouldn't let me give 40 options, but there's no relevance to the separate lists. I do think you have to vote in each "question" to count it, so I added the "Nobody On This List" option at the end in case all of the players you like happened to land on the same list.

 

You can vote for as many as you want, though I would suggest keeping that number somewhere in the 16-20 range so that we hopefully get a good cut off at 16, and at some point when I decide we've had enough votes (or when I remember to check this again) I'll take the top 16 and make the bracket (seeding will be alphabetical like with the other sports).

 

I don't think there's any more that needs to be said, but please discuss your votes and let me know if there's anyone on here who doesn't qualify (ie has played a regular season NFL game for more than one team)

Edited April 21, 2016 by oochymp

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

I tried doing the top guys at each position via my all-time board and got to 24 because 9 of the top 10 4-3 LB/3-4 ILB are on this list (if you include LT, because he could play anywhere).

 

 

I cut Derrick Thomas, Mike Singletary, and Dick Butkus, but I'm stopping at 21 because it hurts my brain trying to choose one more.

 

 

 

Barry Sanders

Bruce Matthews

Lawrence Taylor

Jim Brown

Joe Greene

Walter Payton

Bart Starr

Anthony Munoz

Gene Upshaw

John Elway

Marvin Harrison

 

Jim Otto

Merlin Olsen

Bob Lilly

Ray Lewis

Jack Ham

Jack Lambert

Chuck Bednarik

Derrick Brooks

Mel Blount

Troy Polamalu

[RazorStar 4,025]

I feel like this list is so stacked at certain positions that I had a difficult time trying to break it down to best players at each position. My final list ended up being:

 

QBS:

Bart Starr

John Elway

 

Legends in their own right, I had no reason not to include them. Dan Marino should be on this list too, but I didn't want to inundate the list with QBs.

 

HBs:

Barry Sanders

Jim Brown

 

And you add Walter Payton and those are the three best runningbacks to ever play the game. Sadly I ddn't want a list with three runningbacks because fuck offensive bias.

 

WR

Marvin Harrison

 

He was never the loudmouth diva like T.O. or Randy Moss, but his play was just as loud as theirs were. He was a route running, catching machine, and I think he earned this spot over Irvin.

 

TE

None

 

Offensive Line

Anthony Munoz

Bruce Matthews

Tom Nalen

 

We're talking about the best of the best to ever play on the offensive line. Munoz is a no brainer, Matthews is a no brainer, Nalen may leave you scratching your head, but when you realize that he was the lynchpin behind the shanahanigans offensive lines and the key component in churning out 1000 yard rushers year after year, his legacy cannot be denied.

 

Primary Edge Players

Lawrence Taylor

Michael Strahan

 

Look at that, New York Giants reunited again on the defense. Strahan was a consistently dominant force in New York, got to retire with a super bowl ring, and still has the single-season sack record. LT was just the dominant force of the 80's combining power, speed and ruthlessness in the perfect package.

 

Defensive Line

Merlin Olsen

Bob Lilly

 

More legends in the middle, could have put in more, but these two felt right. They were larger than life players, and when the names Doomsday and Fearsome Foursome still loom large, these guys are big reasons why.

 

Linebackers

Chuck Bednarik

Ray Lewis

 

I wanted to put so many linebackers on this list, I couldn't believe it, but I had to go with the two who were a cut above the rest, and that's Bednarik and Ray Ray, loathe as I am to admit it. Brooks, Ham, Lambert and Singletary all have strong arguments and it feels wrong leaving them all off the list.

 

Defensive Backs

Mel Blount

Troy Polamalu

 

And that leaves us with defensive backs. Once again a player gets shafted by being the second best in his grouping. Green was a legend, but I had to stop myself at 16 noms. Green above all of these other guys would have been my 17th. But Mel Blount had a rule named after him. Blount was a physical force, and controlled the passing game like no other corner had before. And Troy Polamalu is a generational talent, the argument for best safety of all time is with him and Ronnie Lott, and I have to believe that if Troy had a healthier career, he'd win that argument hands down. Brian Dawkins may have revolutionized the safety position, but Troy Polamalu set the standard for what a hybrid safety should be.

[oochymp 2,393]

I'm going to do my best to limit mine to 16

 

let's start with the no-brainers:

Bruce Matthews

Lawrence Taylor

Joe Greene

Anthony Munoz

Marvin Harrison

Merlin Olsen

Bob Lilly

Ray Lewis

Jack Lambert

Mel Blount

Troy Polamalu

 

That puts me at 11, then things get tough, so here's the next 11 I considered:

 

Barry Sanders

Jim Brown

Walter Payton

Bart Starr

John Elway

Dan Marino

John Hannah

Jack Ham

Chuck Bednarik

Derrick Thomas

Darrell Green

 

Of those, Sanders gets struck as the third of the three RBs I liked (largely because I'm holding his quitting early against him) and now it gets painful, I still have five to strike? shit, okay, let's limit the QBs: Marino's out for is lack of Super Bowl (I hate using that as a measure, but I need something) I also have too many LBs, so Thomas is off the board, now I'm down to 19, only three more cuts, this is painful, I can't believe I'm gonna do it, but I'll leave Walter Payton off, leaving Jim Brown as the only RB on my list, I'm at 18, sorry Elway, you're the next guy down, and one more, this last one is really tough, but I think it's gonna have to be Hannah, devaluing the guard position

 

So my final list is:

Bruce Matthews

Lawrence Taylor

Jim Brown

Joe Greene

Bart Starr

Anthony Munoz

Marvin Harrison

Merlin Olsen

Bob Lilly

Ray Lewis

Jack Ham

Jack Lambert

Chuck Bednarik

Mel Blount

Darrell Green

Troy Polamalu

[oochymp 2,393]

alright, let's get more than 7 votes in here

[oochymp 2,393]

well I had hoped to get more votes on this, hopefully that'll pick up once the qualification is over. I do think I need to close this to keep rolling, so here are the votes (the number in parenthesis is the number of players with at least that many votes)

 

6 (3)

Lawrence Taylor

Bart Starr

Ray Lewis

 

5 (8)

Barry Sanders

Jim Brown

Anthony Munoz

Chuck Bednarik

Mel Blount

 

4 (12)

Bruce Matthews

Walter Payton

Jack Lambert

Troy Polamalu

 

3 (15)

Marvin Harrison

Merlin Olsen

Bob Lilly

 

2 (22)

Joe Greene

John Elway

Dan Marino

Jim Otto

Michael Strahan

Jack Ham

Darrell Green

 

1 (31)

Dick Butkus

Art Shell

Gene Upshaw

Michael Irvin

Tom Nalen

Randy White

Mike Singletary

Derrick Brooks

Derrick Thomas

 

Unfortunately, we didn't get a clean cut-off, so I have a few options, I'm torn between 1) a run-off of the seven players with 2 votes to determine the 16th spot, and 2) a run-off of the 10 players with 2-3 votes to determine the last four. I'm fine going with everyone who got more than half of the votes getting through on the first ballot

[RazorStar 4,025]

I was gonna say do a run off with anyone who got 2-3 votes, but then I realized I would just be revoting for everyone with 3 votes anyway...

 

So my sudden death pick is John Elway, biased I know, but it feels weird not having one of the greatest QB's of all time failing to make the list.

[oochymp 2,393]

I was gonna say do a run off with anyone who got 2-3 votes, but then I realized I would just be revoting for everyone with 3 votes anyway...

 

So my sudden death pick is John Elway, biased I know, but it feels weird not having one of the greatest QB's of all time failing to make the list.

I thought the same, but then realized that the guys with 3 were on all three posted ballots, so I thought some people who voted but didn't explain might want to get their thoughts out there

[Thanatos 2,847]

I completely missed this.