Our expert round-up of the 10 best NFL players of all time.
Liz Bhandari is founder of NFLGirlUK.com. You can find her on X and Instagram.
The NFL has a storied history, one that includes hundreds of phenomenal players over the course of time.
Here, we are going to be discussing 10 of the best players of all time, something that feels near-impossible to do given the number of excellent players that have put together ridiculous careers in the history of the game, across numerous eras.
RadioTimes.com ranks the 10 best NFL players of all time.
10. Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas put together a Hall of Fame career with a Super Bowl victory and three other championships, with those three coming before the Super Bowl was a thing. What really made Unitas stand out statistically was the touchdown record he had. He scored a touchdown in 47 straight games, something that didn’t get broken until 2012 – when Drew Brees narrowly surpassed it. Unitas was nicknamed the Golden Arm because he was one of the most talented players that the league had seen at that stage of history.
9. Reggie White
Reggie White has to be on this defence with a nickname like the Minister of Defence. White is cemented as one of the best edge rushers of all-time at a point where the defensive line was a violent position. He’s only missed two All-Pro selections in his entire year, despite playing for 15 seasons. He’s not the all-time leader in sacks anymore, though the dominance he displayed in his position can’t be overlooked.
8. Walter Payton
The great Walter Payton is one of those players that you could argue deserves to be a few spots higher on this list. The running back for the Chicago Bears was an Offensive Player of the Year winner, and he quickly became the second-best rusher in league history with 16,726 receiving yards. He also retired with the fourth most rushing touchdowns in league history, with 110. Oh, and he’s a Super Bowl winner with seven First-Team All-Pros.
7. Jim Brown
Jim Brown was a legendary running back for the Cleveland Browns. The four-time NFL MVP winner and former Rookie of the Year became the first player to hit 100 rushing touchdowns. He was also the first to eclipse the 10,000 rushing yard mark. He leads the league in average rushing yards per game throughout a person’s entire career, too, with 104.3.
6. Anthony Muñoz
It’s hard to leave Anthony Muñoz off this list due to the reputation he has for being arguably the best offensive lineman in league history. Obviously, offensive linemen don’t have the stats necessary to always compete with the quarterbacks, but he’s still an 11-time Pro Bowler with nine All-Pros. Without him, his team wouldn’t make a Super Bowl.
5. Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning was unbelievable on the field, and he managed to come back from a brutal neck injury to win a Super Bowl for a different team. He was a two-time champion, a five-time NFL MVP winner and a 14-time Pro Bowler. The signal caller also ended his career with 71,940 total passing yards, often even calling his own plays on the field due to his football intelligence. Nobody was more motivated than him.
4. Joe Montana
If it wasn’t for Tom Brady, Joe Montana would be the greatest quarterback of all time. Or at least in the conversation a little more. Montana completed over 3,400 total passes in 16 seasons and won four Super Bowls. His stats have been usurped thanks to a change in the modern game, yet nobody can deny Montana’s ability to win big football games. Accolades-wise, he still won two MVPs and even a Comeback Player of the Year award.
3. Lawrence Taylor
We haven’t seen an edge rusher devastate opposing offences in the way that Lawrence Taylor used to do when he was playing. The New York Giants legend racked up 132.5 sacks throughout his career, winning two Super Bowls, the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, three Defensive Player of the Year awards and even an MVP in 1986. He instilled fear any time he was on the field.
2. Jerry Rice
Jerry Rice isn’t a quarterback, though he impacted the wide receiver position like nobody else has really ever done. He’s a Hall of Fame player who played for 20 years and won three Super Bowls. He was a 10-time All-Pro, as well, and scored 197 receiving touchdowns throughout his career. The next closest player in that touchdowns category is the great Randy Moss, who is 40 behind him. That should tell you all you need to know.
1. Tom Brady
This was a fairly easy pick, as Tom Brady is the greatest player of all time. The recently retired quarterback walks away from his 21-year career as a seven-time Super Bowl champion, a three-time MVP, a three-time All-Pro and a 14-time Pro Bowler. This isn’t even getting into the countless broken records that he’s set when it comes to passing the football. It feels impossible for somebody to pass his resume.
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