blacksaint

To commemorate USA TODAY's 25th anniversary, a panel of USA TODAY's NFL reporters and editors produced an anthology of the 25 best NFL players of the past 25 years.


Rank___Player______________Story

1. Joe Montana_____Montana's Super success raised the bar

2. Jerry Rice_______Rice ran away from the field with grace

3. Walter Payton____Payton did sweet work as rushing king

4. Lawrence Taylor___The original L.T. brought QBs to their knees

5. Reggie White______White administered rare level of play

6. John Elway_______Elway left NFL as a winner

7. Emmitt Smith_____Emmitt Smith surpassed all runners

8. Ronnie Lott_______Lott made waves with hard-hitting style

9. Tom Brady_______Brady climbed fast to Super heights

10. Barry Sanders____Sanders left them wanting more

11. Dan Marino______Marino re-wrote the NFL passing records

12. Peyton Manning___Peyton's place secure in NFL annals

13. Anthony Munoz____Munoz set standard on the O-line

14. Brett Favre_______Favre made Green Bay important again

15. Bruce Smith______Smith sacked his way to the top

16. Deion Sanders____Deion played his way into 'Prime Time'

17. Mike Singletary___Singletary renowned for intimidating presence

18. Ray Lewis_______The ultimate defender — Ray Lewis

19. Marshall Faulk____Faulk brought double threat to new level

20. Troy Aikman_____Aikman rescued 'America's Team'

21. LaDainian Tomlinson__Tomlinson still climbing list of NFL greats

22. Rod Woodson_____Woodson set new standard in backfield

23. Terry Bradshaw___Playoff success carried Bradshaw into Hall

24. Steve Young_____After wait, Young made lasting run into NFL history

25. Eric Dickerson____Dickerson blazed early path to NFL immortality

"Tom Brady sits a lil too high on this list, and a few players are definitely missing as well. This list leaves a lot to be debated"

saint4life
(504)

Tobias-Reiper

... I'd put Champ Bailey in there before I put Deion and Woodson, and put Woodson before Deion. heck, I'd put others before Deion, he shouldn't even be on this list.

And I'd definitely put Sweetness before Rice, for the same reason that Deion should not be on this list. Rice had the benefit of playing with a Superbowl caliber whiner team for over a decade. Deion was smart enough to jump from Superbowl caliber team to Superbowl caliber team, and self-promoted his way into "prime time", not to mention the Chris Berman man crush. Sweetness played most of his career on plain bad Bears teams, and still managed to rush for more yards than anyone in his time.

I'd definitely put Sanders and Faulk above Emmitt, same idea: Emmit ran through some gaping holes created by arguably the best o-line of at the very least the 1990's.

And if you are going to put Brady there, you must include Adam Vinatieri. From the FG in the snow in the Tuck Rule game, to the winning FGs in 2 SBs, clutchest kicker ever, neverminnd the past 25 years...

'Cause the simple man pays the thrills, the bills and the pills that kill

FireVenturi

I would put Barry Sanders at number two,cause I dont think u can argue Joe at No.1

Nemesis

Brady will have more rings than Montana. He has been winning since day one, so I'm fine with his rank. Aikman didn't save the Cowgirls. That squad was stacked to the point of being silly. Boomer would've done the same there. Hell, I recall comparing Aikman's third season starting to AB. Virtually identical stats, sans AB's fumbles.

I must also penalize Emmitt. He was no better than Thurman, at least in my mind. I like both LTs listing. I'm not sure about Woodson being listed before someone like Fouts. Neon was a good call. He was one of the true shut down CBs. Plus he returned, and played some WR as at least a decoy.

Euphoria

Marino may have wrote passing records but Payton holds on the records!!!

TheDeuce

Barry Sanders should definitely be #2. The best running back of all-time, IMO.

Tom Brady is too high. I think he's a great player, but better than some of those guys on that list? I think not.

Peyton should definitely be in front of 0 SB title Marino.

Favre is too high. I've never understood the fascination with Brett Favre. He's a great player, and he's fun to watch, but people make him out to be one of the best QBs ever. That's just not true. Aikman was better than Favre. Bradshaw was better than Favre. Steve Young was better than Favre. 14 is just way too high.

FireVenturi

I also think Peyton should be above Marino.