Who’s the Best NFL Player of All Time?

It’s a question that many fans have asked over the years: who’s the best NFL player of all time? In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the greatest players in NFL history and try to answer that question once and for all.

Introduction

In football, as in all sports, there have been a great many athletes who have excelled at their craft. To try and choose just one of these players as the best of all time is an impossible task. However, we can take a look at some of the greatest players in NFL history and try to narrow down the field to a handful of contenders for the title.

The Case for Tom Brady

Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. He has led his team to eight Super Bowl appearances, winning five of them. Brady has also been named the Super Bowl MVP four times. In addition, he has been selected to 14 Pro Bowls, more than any other quarterback in NFL history.

His Resume

You could make a strong case that Tom Brady is the best player in NFL history. Here’s a look at his resume:
-He’s a 6-time Super Bowl champion, more than any other player in NFL history.
-He’s been named Super Bowl MVP 4 times, also more than any other player in NFL history.
-He’s been selected to 14 Pro Bowls, tied for the most of any player in NFL history.
-He’s been named NFL MVP 3 times, more than any other player in NFL history.
-In 2007, he set the record for most passing yards in a season (4,806).
-In 2010, he became the first QB ever to throw for 10,000 yards in a single season.

His Longevity

Tom Brady has played in nine Super Bowls, winning seven of them. He’s been to more conference championship games than any other player in NFL history. And, at 41 years old, he shows no signs of slowing down.

Brady’s longevity is extraordinary. Of the top 50 quarterbacks in NFL history, only two (Warren Moon and Brett Favre) played into their 40s. And of those 50 quarterbacks, only four (Moon, Favre, Peyton Manning, and Brady) started more than one game after turning 40.

Manning and Favre both retired after winning a Super Bowl in their final season. Moon kept playing until he was physically unable to do so anymore. And Brady? He’s still going strong. In 2019, he threw for 4,057 yards and had 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His completion percentage (60.8%) was the second-highest of his career.

What’s even more impressive is that Brady has been able to sustain his level of play for so long despite the fact that the NFL is a drastically different place than it was when he first entered the league in 2000. The game is faster now — Much faster. The players are bigger, stronger, and faster too. Quarterbacks are under more pressure than ever before thanks to rule changes that have made it easier for defenses to get sacks and hit quarterbacks after they throw the ball.

His Comebacks

Tom Brady has led the New England Patriots to an NFL record eight Super Bowl appearances, winning five of them. He’s also the only player in NFL history to win four Super Bowl MVPs.

But what sets Brady apart from other great quarterbacks is his ability to stage dramatic comebacks in the biggest moments. He’s led the Patriots to victory in seven of their eight Super Bowl appearances, and all five of their wins have come after they trailed in the fourth quarter.

No other quarterback in NFL history has more than three fourth-quarter comebacks in the Super Bowl. In fact, Brady has more fourth-quarter comebacks (8) and game-winning drives (11) in the playoffs than any other quarterback in NFL history.

So when you’re looking at the greatest quarterbacks of all time, it’s hard to argue against Tom Brady as the best ever.

The Case for Jerry Rice

There are a lot of great NFL players, but Jerry Rice is the best of all time. He has the most catches, the most receiving yards, and the most touchdown catches of any player in NFL history. He was also a great player in college and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 1985 NFL Draft.

His Records

In his 20 years with the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders, Jerry Rice established himself as the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. He holds nearly every significant receiving record, including career receptions (1,549), career receiving yards (22,895), and career touchdown receptions (197). He was selected to thirteen Pro Bowls, and named All-Pro ten times. He was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1987 and 1993, and the Super Bowl MVP in 1989.

His Consistency

In 1987, Jerry Rice had his breakout season, catching 86 passes for 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns. The numbers he put up that year were good enough to earn him his first trip to the Pro Bowl, and he would go on to be selected for the game a total of 13 times in his career. But what made Rice truly special was his ability to maintain a high level of play throughout his entire career. From 1987 to 2000, the year he turned 39, Rice averaged 84 catches for 1,286 yards and 11 touchdowns per season. And he was still productive in his final two years in the league, catching a combined 82 passes for 1,211 yards and nine touchdowns in 2001 and 2002.

Rice’s longevity and consistency are even more impressive when you compare him to other great receivers of his era. Randy Moss, one of the most talented receivers ever to play the game, had just three seasons in which he caught more than 80 passes and averaged more than 1,200 receiving yards. Terrell Owens, another all-time great receiver, had just six seasons in which he caught more than 80 passes and averaged more than 1,200 receiving yards.

In other words, what separated Jerry Rice from other great receivers was not just his talent level but also his ability to stay healthy and produce at a high level for an extended period of time. And that’s why he’s considered the greatest receiver of all time.

His Work Ethic

Jerry Rice is widely considered to be the best NFL player of all time. He has the most career receiving yards, the most career touchdown receptions, and the most career All-Pro selections of any wide receiver in NFL history. He was also named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1987 and Offensive Player of the Year in 1993.

But what made Jerry Rice so great? A large part of it was his work ethic. Jerry Rice was notorious for his intense training regime and his dedication to becoming the best player he could be. He would often train twice a day, even during the offseason, and he would run full-speed sprints up sand dunes to improve his conditioning.

This work ethic helped Jerry Rice become one of the best players in NFL history, and it’s something that any aspiring football player can learn from.

The Case for Lawrence Taylor

It’s hard to argue against Lawrence Taylor being the best NFL player of all time. He was a dominant force on the defensive side of the ball, and was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year a record three times. He was a ten-time Pro Bowler, and helped lead the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles.

His Impact

There is no disputing that Lawrence Taylor was one of the best players in NFL history. He was a game-changer on defense, and his impact was felt immediately. In his rookie season, he helped lead the New York Giants to a Super Bowl win. He was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year three times and was a 10-time Pro Bowler.

But what sets Taylor apart from other great players is his ability to change the game as it was being played. He was so dominant that teams had to change their offensive schemes just to try to contain him. He was double and triple-teamed on a regular basis, yet still found a way to be effective. There is simply no other player in NFL history who has had such a profound impact on the game.

His Versatility

Few players in NFL history can match Lawrence Taylor’s versatility. He was an All-Pro at three different positions—outside linebacker, middle linebacker, and defensive end—and is the only player in NFL history to be named the league’s MVP as a linebacker. In fact, Taylor was such a relentless force that teams began designing entire offenses to try to stop him, which changed the way the game was played.

His Dominance

In his 13 seasons with the New York Giants, Lawrence Taylor was one of the most dominant players the NFL has ever seen. He was named Defensive Player of the Year three times, was a 10-time First Team All-Pro, and helped lead the Giants to two Super Bowl titles.

Taylor’s career total of 1,089 tackles is the fourth most in NFL history, and his 132.5 sacks are the seventh most. He was an unstoppable force on the field, and his opponents knew it. “It wasn’t a Case for Lawrence Taylor,” Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews once said. “It was a Case for defensive holding every play.”

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Taylor as the greatest defensive player in NFL history, and it’s hard to argue with that assessment. He was simply one of a kind.

The Case for Jim Brown

When most people think of the best NFL player of all time, they think of Jerry Rice. While Rice was an incredible player, Jim Brown was even better. Brown was faster, stronger, and more athletic than any other player in his era. He was so dominant that the league had to change its rules to try to contain him.

His Physicality

At 6 feet 2 inches and 232 pounds, Jim Brown was an absolute freight train of a running back. He was built like a middle linebacker but ran like a gazelle, with nimble moves and explosive speed. He was virtually impossible to bring down with just one tackler and was often compared to a man among boys on the football field.

His Productivity

In his nine NFL seasons, Brown averaged 104.3 yards per game, which is the highest in NFL history. He also has the most 200-yard rushing games in NFL history with 17. In addition, he holds the record for the most consecutive 100-yard rushing games with eight.

His Longevity

In addition to his statistical dominance, Brown’s longevity is legendary. He played nine seasons in the NFL, yet is considered one of the best running backs of all time. In fact, he’s often considered the best player in NFL history, period. Brown retired at the age of 29, yet he still holds the record for the most rushing yards per game in NFL history.

Conclusion

After looking at the evidence, it’s clear that there is no one best NFL player of all time. While some players may have been more successful than others, it’s impossible to say definitively who is the best. This is because there are many factors that contribute to a player’s success, and it’s impossible to compare players across different eras. Ultimately, it’s up to each individual to decide who they think is the best NFL player of all time.