Top 25 NFL Players

Good day!

Well, as promised, here's my comments on the USA Today's top 25 player list.

To view the whole enchilada, try this link:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-top-25-series.htm

There's also ways to link to the articles that ran each day, defending the virtues...

Here We go:

#1 Joe Montana. I agree. Greatest of All Time. 4-0 in Super Bowls. 3 Super Bowl MVP's, and it should have been 4. For a 3rd round pick out of Notre Dame, who was routinely benched by coach Dan Devine, he didn't do too bad.

#2. Jerry Rice. I have no problem with that. He may as well have his own chapter in the NFL record book, he holds so many record that will never be touched.

#3. Walter Payton. Ahem, well. I'm starting to have a problem. Emmitt Smith ran for more yards, more yards per game, surpassed his record in fewer games, and won 3 Super Bowls. Not that Payton wasn't great. And really, this isn't so much about Payton, but Emmitt is 7th on this list, with some very odd people in between... to me, these two guys need to be right next to each other, wherever they appear. Personally, I put Emmitt 3, and Payton 4, but I suppose I'll grudgingly admit, I could see Payton 3 and Emmitt 4... Payton never scored in a Super Bowl, and only appeared in 1... I dunno...

#4. Lawrence Taylor. Does he belong on this list?? Sure. Is he #4?? No. Sure, he was a game changer, a leader, people feared him... Put him at 6, if you must, with Emmitt 4... I think LT got a lotta mileage out of playing in front of 500 writers in New York every week... Was he REALLY that much better than Howie Long?? No, not really... I personally put Troy Aikman right here....

#5. Reggie White. Again, he certainly belongs on the list. I would really almost argue that Reggie was better than Lawrence Taylor. And as you'll see as this list goes on, this is a very modern-centric list... obviously, Reggie played more of his career in the modern era, and I would argue was more dominating, and had more impact on games, in an era where it was tougher to dominate. Not that it matters, but Reggie was also a better human being than cokehead Lawrence Taylor... did I say that out loud?? Sorry, excuse me...

#6. John Elway. Okay, that's absurd. #6?? Are you F-ing kidding me?? Yeah, he had a lot of comebacks, but mainly because he played like a donkey in the first half of a lotta games. Sorry. And the Super Bowls he finally won, he won because he quit chucking the ball all over, and let his dominating running game and tough D take over.... sorry, no way. Just shooting from the hip, Favre, Aikman, Brady, and Steve Young were better QB's.... NO. No way on Elway. I suppose if you wanna put him 25th on this list, go ahead. How can you not put Troy Aikman #6?? What didn't he accomplish in his career?? Even if you hate Aikman, he has to be here, and Elway has to be dropped down to #20.

#7. Emmitt Smith. Finally we get to the all time rushing leader in NFL history, and 3-time Super Bowl champ, winning 3 in 4 years. Also a Super Bowl MVP, which Payton was not... Absurd. Obviously should be 3rd or 4th.

#8. Ronnie Lott. I love Ronnie Lott... one of the toughest guys ever to play football. Ever. Had part of his finger amputated so he could play next week. Loved him. But ahead of Brady, Aikman???? I dunno about that. Sorry. Love the guy, belongs on the list, but probably not this high. Although he was feared, and the brain-blasting hit he layed on Ickey Woods in that Super Bowl vs the Bengals might be the greatest hit in NFL History...

#9. Tom Brady. Hmmm... I'm not sure he should be ahead of Aikman, to be honest. I love Tom Brady. I love him. But.... He's basically Troy Aikman 2.0, really... he's won 3 in 4 years, he's fundamentally sound, a great leader, a great guy, can make all the throws, maintains composure... really though, Tom Brady should be sending Adam Vinatieri a Rolex every year for his birthday... Vinatieri kicked a lotta lotta huge field goals in a lotta crappy weather to win big games for the Patriots.... Troy Aikman was busy throwing for 5 touchdowns in 55-10 blowouts in Super Bowls... he coulda done it without a kicker... I'm not sure Tom Brady is Tom Brady without Vinatieri... where I'm sure you can't name me the Cowboys kicker 1994-2000...

10. Barry Sanders. Okay, I guess... his mysterious retirement, and his absurd mis-utilization by Wayne Fontes probably cost him the record book in several categories... he belongs on this list, but not this high. Even all these years later, I still consider Barry Sanders an enigma of sorts... what could he have done with a real coach, and a real team??? We'll never know.

11. Dan Marino. Way too high. For starters, Favre is going to pass all his records this year. Second, Favre has a Super Bowl. Third, Aikman was better in all meaningful measurements that matter, like wins, for instance... 4th, I think Dan Fouts, on balance, was everything Marino was, and a better leader and teammate to boot... I think Fouts did more with less, overall... Too high on the list. Probably belongs, but too high.

12. Peyton Manning. I guess now that he has a Super Bowl, I don't have a problem, but again, he has to be below Aikman. He's really basically Marino Or Jim Kelly, except with a Super Bowl win... Has to be right next to Favre, one way or another, buth are great players who never miss a start...

13. Anthony Munoz. Huh? Sure, he was a great O-lineman... but halfway up a list of greatest of all time?? For starters, Bruce Matthews immediately springs to mind, of the Oilers, as possibly being better... any host of guys from the Cowboys, Redskins (hogs), Payton era Bears, Simms era Giants.... I think not.

14. Brett Favre. Okay, I suppose if you take out Munoz, and move Aikman up the list to where he belongs, I'm fine with this... 3 time MVP, Super Bowl winner... as his career winds down, though, on a bad team, with bad management, and bad coaching, and bad players around him, his mistakes are more glaring, and it's really starting to have a bad "Marino in the bad twilight" feel to it.... This will truly be heresy, people will hate me for this, but if Mike Holmgren has Troy Aikman, he probably wins 3 Super Bowls here, not one.... That loss to the Broncos was inexcusable. Sorry.

15. Bruce Smith. I suppose. Obviously, Aikman has to be higher... But, now, amongst his contemporaries, was he really better than Warren Sapp, who didn't make this list?? Is he better than Junior Seau, who didn't make this list??? Put me down for "No, he's not better." To me, he's Warren Sapp, pretty much... except Sapp has a Super Bowl ring, and Smith doesn't. More New York favoritism...

16. Deion Sanders. I dunno about that. I don't know. Is Sanders even a Hall of Famer?? I'm not sure. His career was short... he never hit anyone. I just don't know about that. And I loved Deion. I loved him. He was great. But 25 greatest??? Above Aikman?? Above Marshall Faulk?? If I'm picking my team in the sandlot, do I pick him and leave Steve Young in the line??? No. I don't. I can't. If he's even on the list, he's way down lower... I almost have to say, much as it pains me, since I hate the Redskins, that Darrel Green was probably better than Deion, especially if you just take their work in the defensive backfield. Deion had the X-factor of also being an insane kick returner, but...

17. Mike Singletary. Sure. Too high, but sure, he's on the list. Probably as good as Lawrence Taylor, but didn't play in New York... not as good as Reggie White, though.

18. Ray Lewis. Hmmm. I personally hate Ray Lewis, and think he's overrated... And at the very least, he was standing there when his buddies killed two people, that's if you believe he didn't participate.... so while we crucify Mike Vick for dogfighting, which we should, Ray Lewis is supposed to be accepted like a regular citizen?? I'm just not a Ray Lewis fan.... I think he's on a team full of defensive stalwarts, which enables him to shine, and grab a lotta credit. Is he that much better than Zach Johnson?? He's a little better, but...

19. Marshall Faulk. I can still hear Chris Berman yelling "Marshall Marshall Marshall!!!" during highlight packages. A great player. Probably underrated.. give him Deion's spot. Very dangerous. He could catch, he could run... amazing. Very underappreciated out here in the midwest.... If he plays for the New York Giants, he's #5 on this list, probably...

20. Troy Aikman. Troy Aikman... hmm, I hearda that guy somewhere, who did he play for again?? The Eagles?? No wait, it was the Cowboys, I think, yeah... If only he'd gone to a Super Bowl, that would have really cemented his place in NFL history... too bad, he'll end up like Marino, just a footnote... He what?? He went to the Super Bowl?? He was 3-0 in Super Bowls?? He won 3 in 4 years?? He was a Super Bowl MVP?? NO kidding, how did I miss that?? I thought Tom Brady was the only guy to do that... hmm. It must help to play on the east coast. He authored the biggest blowout in Super Bowl History? Amazing. Who knew?? Beat the heavily favored Buffalo Bills, how about that.... Give him spot number 4, bump Lawrence Taylor down to 6, and drop Elway waaaay down the list.... Put Elway here at 20, if you must...

21. LaDanian Tomlinson. Sure, I love the guy, but a very modern-centric pick. He's so young, if he gets hurt next year, he's the next Bo Jackson. How about Marcus Allen, not on this list. Tim Brown is not on this list. Marvin Harrison is not on this list. Jim Kelly, Kellen Winslow, Tony Dorsett, Michael Irvin... not on this list. Personally, I almost have to put Marcus Allen in this spot. Or Dan Fouts, or Kellen Winslow. Tim Brown, really, if you remove the other-worldly Jerry Rice, Tim Brown is your Jerry Rice, he has every record.... So, put me down for no, sorry, on the new LT.

22. Rod Woodson. Naaah. Again, Marcus Allen is glaringly missing. If you want a defensive back, Darrell Green of the Redskins was a force for a long time....

23. Terry Bradshaw. I suppose he has to be on the list, and this may be heresy to Pittsburgh fans, but I think he was overrated. Swann, Stallworth, Franco Harris, and the Steel Curtain defense covered a lot of Bradshaw's mistakes. And of course, going that far back, now we really have to open the whole can of worms and consider Ken Stabler, Roger Staubach, Phil Simms, Tony Dorsett, John Riggins, Joe Theisman... I dunno. If you're gonna have Bradshaw, how do you not have Theisman?? Or Staubach? Or Howie Long? That's a tricky one.

24. Steve Young. He's gotta be on the list, I guess. Only guy in history to get along with Terrell Owens, that has to be worth something....

25. Eric Dickerson. Yeah, huge player. Sure.

Notably absent though, in my humble opinion, I really think Marcus Allen and Marvin Harrison have to be on there. I have to find a spot for Kellen Winslow, and maybe Fouts. There's only 1 wideout on the whole list, I mean, Tim Brown, or Marvin Harrison... even a Michael Irvin... No tight ends. I mean, Brent Jones, Jay Novacek, Tony Gonzalez, all great.

There you have it.

As football season approaches, we have to start thinking of these things....

Until next time.