USA Today's Top 25 NFL players of the past 25 years

[G. Host]

Don't agree with them all and unless they are talking about record books. Jimbo was a better QB than Marino; Marino got the stats but Jimbo got the job done.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-top-25-series.htm

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="vaText" width="17%">
15 (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)
</td> <td class="vaText" width="36%">Bruce Smith (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)</td> <td class="vaText" width="47%">Smith sacked his way to the top (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Dr. Lecter]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-23-top-25-voting_N.htm

Shows all of the voting. Jimbo was #26 (Just short again, dammit!)

How Thurman did not get votes, I'll never know.

[ParanoidAndroid]

This is an imposssible ranking.

There are more than 25 players who should all be tied for #1.

[Voltron]

Tom Brady at 9!!!! I mean I don't want to take anything away from the kid. He scares the crap out of me every time the Bills have to play him but #9!!! WTF!!!

:crazy:

[Voltron]

And not that I think the guy is a great person or anything, but no matter what he did OJ deserves to be on that list in the Top 10. I wish we could some how explain to people what he did on the football field has nothing to do with what he did 20 years later. Had he not been such a waste of skin 20 years later he would have been in the top 10 of that list.

[tat2dmike77]

There is no f-in way brady should be in the top 10. Top 25 yes but not the top 10. Why is bradshaw so low and brady so high. Oh wait he is the golden boy of the nfl and he would not of been in the top 10 he would of cried to the nfl.

And deion sanders what the hell. What cause he had some good seasons he didn't change the game. Except for running his mouth. Well he was a great tackler if you count pushing someone out of bounds tackling. This list is crap.

[duhbilz]

Brady ahead of Marino??? I don't think so.

[duhbilz]

Don't agree with them all and unless they are talking about record books. Jimbo was a better QB than Marino; Marino got the stats but Jimbo got the job done.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-top-25-series.htm

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="vaText" width="17%">
15 (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)
</td> <td class="vaText" width="36%">Bruce Smith (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)</td> <td class="vaText" width="47%">Smith sacked his way to the top (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)</td></tr></tbody></table>
Ummmm, NO! Jim Kelley was a great QB, but he wasn't in Marinos area code. Marino played 7 more years, threw for almost twice as many yards, Kelly never once threw for 4000 yards in a season. Marino threw for 4000+ yards 6 times. This isn't a knock on Kelly by any means, it's just they were asked to do different things. Based on their stats Marino is head a shoulders ahead of Kelly.

[Mr. Cynical]

Dickerson and no Thurman? What a joke. Not being a biased Bills fan here, but that's just not right. I could understand if Eric was NOT on the list, then TT wouldn't be either. But since he IS on the list, that opens up a huge can of worms IMO.

[ParanoidAndroid]

That's why it's impossible. It's like trying to rank the best songs of the past.

[ParanoidAndroid]

And not that I think the guy is a great person or anything, but no matter what he did OJ deserves to be on that list in the Top 10. I wish we could some how explain to people what he did on the football field has nothing to do with what he did 20 years later. Had he not been such a waste of skin 20 years later he would have been in the top 10 of that list.

I might agree with you, but OJ wasn't playing within the last 25 years.

[G. Host]

Ummmm, NO! Jim Kelley was a great QB, but he wasn't in Marinos area code. Marino played 7 more years, threw for almost twice as many yards, Kelly never once threw for 4000 yards in a season. Marino threw for 4000+ yards 6 times. This isn't a knock on Kelly by any means, it's just they were asked to do different things. Based on their stats Marino is head a shoulders ahead of Kelly.

Marino was great at throwing the ball but that is it. He was a poor leader on the field and was not very good at faking it to RBs getting his running backs killed. Duration isn't everything.

Oh and Kellly played additional years in USFL like some other great players like Young and White so he did not play 7 "additional" years

[MikeInRoch]

Brady ahead of Marino??? I don't think so.

Absolutely Brady should be ahead of him.

My biggest disappointment is that Aikman made the list. He's one of the most over-rated QBs of all time.

[The King]

Yikes..... Kelly better than Marino? Thats a hefty hefty statement. Kelly was a better leader but you can't wear blinders when talking about Marino as a QB.

[The King]

Absolutely Brady should be ahead of him.

My biggest disappointment is that Aikman made the list. He's one of the most over-rated QBs of all time.

Agreed!

[mybills]

Disagree. Marino didn't have half the talent around him that Brady did, and he still put up big numbers. Brady's receivers are what makes him look good. :shakeno:

[MikeInRoch]

Myth: Dan Marino had no defense.

Cold, Hard Football Facts: Marino played 17 seasons in the NFL. Twice, he had the luxury of playing with the league’s No. 1 scoring defense: his rookie year of 1983 (15.6 points per game), and again in 1998 (16.6 points per game). That’s a pretty enviable ratio in a league that had 28 and then 30 teams in Marino’s playing days.

Consider this: Terry Bradshaw played 14 seasons in Pittsburgh and won four Super Bowls. The famed Steel Curtain defense that he played with led the league in scoring just twice in those 14 years. Of Bradshaw's four title teams, only one boasted the league's best scoring defense.

In Marino’s record-setting 1984 season, the Dolphins had the No. 1 scoring offense in football and the No. 6 scoring defense (18.6 points per game). The 1990 Dolphins, meanwhile, boasted the league’s No. 4 scoring defense, surrendering just 15.1 points per game.

There’s no doubt Marino played with some poor defenses in his day, but that’s the price of playing in the league 17 years. But the Cold, Hard Football Facts show that he also played with several defenses more than strong enough to win Super Bowls.

Myth: Marino had no running game.

Cold, Hard Football Facts: Marino joined Miami at a time when it had a reputation of being the best ground team in football. In fact, the year before Marino was drafted, the Dolphins made it all the way to the Super Bowl on the strength of a great running game and great defense.

In Marino’s rookie year, 1983, the Dolphins racked up 2,150 yards on the ground. In 1984, Marino set single-season records with 48 touchdowns and 5,084 yards passing. The Dolphins still managed 1,918 rushing yards and averaged 4.0 yards per carry.

It would be disingenuous to say that the Dolphins were a great running team later in Marino’s career. Of course, much of that can be attributed to too few rushing attempts and a misguided faith placed in Marino’s arm.

But consider this: The New England Patriots went 17-2 and won the Super Bowl last year while averaging a woeful 3.4 yards per rushing attempt. The Dolphins averaged more than 3.4 yards per rushing attempt 14 times in Marino’s 17 seasons. In other words, Marino's Dolphins ran the ball more than well enough to win Super Bowls.

Myth: Marino had to carry the Dolphins himself.

Cold, Hard Football Facts: Few quarterbacks in NFL history have been surrounded by more talent than Marino.

In his 17-year career, Marino played with 55 players named to the Pro Bowl. Marino himself was named a Pro Bowler nine times. That’s a remarkable 64 Pro Bowl players, or nearly four for every season Marino spent in the NFL. Four times in Marino’s career, the Dolphins boasted five or more Pro Bowl players in a single season. Compare that with New England’s two Super Bowl teams, which had a total of just five Pro Bowl players.

Marino also had the rare luxury of joining a team that had played in the Super Bowl the year before he arrived. He also played most of his career for the winningest coach in NFL history, Don Shula.

Shula has quite a resume. Working with quarterbacks Bob Griese, Earl Morrall and Johnny Unitas, he led the Colts and Dolphins to five Super Bowls in 15 years. Over the next 13 seasons, working with Marino, he appeared in just one more Super Bowl. He lost.

If any quarterback in NFL history walked into an ideal situation in which to win a Super Bowl, it was Dan Marino.

Myth: Marino was a big-game quarterback.

Cold, Hard Football Facts: Want to know the real reason why Marino never won a Super Bowl? Sadly, the answer sits with Dan Marino himself.

Simply put, Marino did not elevate his game in the playoffs. In fact, his played dropped off quite noticeably. Marino has a career regular season passer rating of 86.4. His postseason passer rating was just 77.1. He played in 18 playoff games, and won just eight of them.

In his one Super Bowl appearance (a 38-16 loss to the 49ers in Super Bowl XIX), Marino completed 29 of 50 passes for 318 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs. It adds up to a weak 66.9 passer rating. One wonders what might have happened had his two Super Bowl drives that ended in interceptions ended in touchdowns instead.

Remember that 1998 Miami team that had the best defense in football? It made the playoffs, but Marino failed to hold up his end of the bargain. The season ended in the second round of the playoffs, with Marino coughing up two interceptions against Denver and posting a passer rating of just 65.5. Yet another opportunity for Marino to win a Super Bowl tossed into the hands of an opposing defender.

In fact, Marino threw at least one interception in 13 of his 18 career playoff games. He threw two or more interceptions 10 times. The Dolphins went just 1-9 in those 10 Marino multi-interception playoff games.

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Article.php?Page=57

[LtFinFan66]

Don't agree with them all and unless they are talking about record books. Jimbo was a better QB than Marino; Marino got the stats but Jimbo got the job done.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-top-25-series.htm

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=vaText width="17%">
15 (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)


</TD><TD class=vaText width="36%">Bruce Smith (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)</TD><TD class=vaText width="47%">Smith sacked his way to the top (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-02-no-15-bruce-smith_N.htm)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Jim had a better supporting cast. Give Dan Thurman in his prime and they win a Superbowl. BTW, not to talk smack in any way....but you say Jim got the job done. Still his and Dan's combined Superbowl rings still equal Zero :idunno:

[LtFinFan66]

Marino was great at throwing the ball but that is it. He was a poor leader on the field and was not very good at faking it to RBs getting his running backs killed. Duration isn't everything.

Oh and Kellly played additional years in USFL like some other great players like Young and White so he did not play 7 "additional" yearsAnd why bother pulling off a good fake to the RB anyway.....everyone knew they weren't running because they never had a good back to run it

[X-Era]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-07-23-top-25-voting_N.htm

Shows all of the voting. Jimbo was #26 (Just short again, dammit!)

How Thurman did not get votes, I'll never know.

Smith sacked his way to the top...

Hillary made it to the top from the sack...and marriage

[mybills]

Few quarterbacks in NFL history have been surrounded by more talent than Marino.

:rofl: of course, since that's over 17 freaking years! :rofl:

[LtFinFan66]

:rolleyes:

[BlackMetalNinja]

I love the almost complete lack of objectivity in this thread... it totally made me "lol"!

[mybills]

:rolleyes:
You should be agreeing with me, ding dong.

[LtFinFan66]

That was for the first line. If you take all the best over 17 years, I guess you would be right. Still would have no good RB

[G. Host]

That was for the first line. If you take all the best over 17 years, I guess you would be right. Still would have no good RB

And that was directly how Marino played. I heard several times players referring Marino to a RB career killer.

[mybills]

..and that is why Brady make #9. :cynic:

[LtFinFan66]

And that was directly how Marino played. I heard several times players referring Marino to a RB career killer.We will have to agree to disagree on that. Had he ever had a quality back, he would have used the quality back

[Voltron]

I might agree with you, but OJ wasn't playing within the last 25 years.
:doh:

[FinFaninBuffalo]

Marino was great at throwing the ball but that is it. He was a poor leader on the field and was not very good at faking it to RBs getting his running backs killed. Duration isn't everything.

Oh and Kellly played additional years in USFL like some other great players like Young and White so he did not play 7 "additional" years

Marino is second all time in career victories and #1 all time in more passing categories than you can name.

[FinFaninBuffalo]

And that was directly how Marino played. I heard several times players referring Marino to a RB career killer.

I challenged someone several years ago to name a single RB that played with Marino to have any significant success either before joining the Dolphins or after leaving the Dolphins. This would indicate that the RB was held back by playing with Marino. Not a single example can be found. Perhaps there weren't any.

[FinFaninBuffalo]

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Article.php?Page=57

That article is the most biased assessment of Marino's career that I have ever read. Simply ridiculous. Cold hard facts - my ***.

Defenses

- why not list the number of years that Miami fielded a defense in the bottom of the league. According to the article, 50% of the time that Marino had a good defense, they went to the SB. Sounds good to me.

Running game

Name a single top RB that played on the Fins from 1983 - 1999. Just one.

Surrounding talent


Few quarterbacks in NFL history have been surrounded by more talent than Marino.

One of the dumbest things I have ever read.

Big Game QB

Clearly opponents are better in the playoffs. That is why it is harder for a QB to carry the team by himself. IMO, if Marino had any support at all, he would have made several SBs and won more that one.

[tat2dmike77]

Marinos greatest game was his last. That awesome ass stomping jacksonville put on them what was it 49-7 or something.

[G. Host]

Marinos greatest game was his last. That awesome ass stomping jacksonville put on them what was it 49-7 or something.

AFC Divisional Playoff: lost 7 - 62 at Jacksonville Jaguars

very different score than Jimbo's last game but result was the same.

AFC Wildcard Game: lost 27 - 30 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

[Mad Bomber]

Deion Sanders??????????????? How did he get on that list and Thurman didn't?

Is Sanders going to be in the HOF? I think not.

[G. Host]

Deion Sanders??????????????? How did he get on that list and Thurman didn't?

Is Sanders going to be in the HOF? I think not.

Neon Deion will be in HoF on first ballot unfortunately. And Thuiman not making it on first ballot is just a sign of many writers not recognizing how good of a player he was.

[Voltron]

Deion Sanders??????????????? How did he get on that list and Thurman didn't?

Is Sanders going to be in the HOF? I think not.
Love him or Hate him ... Deion was NASTY! At his prime he was the best at his position in the NFL.

[Mr. Pink]

Deion was the epitome of "shut down corner" in the past 25 years of the game. Give the man his due, even without his amazing return skills, he'd still be awesome.

[Voltron]

I might agree with you, but OJ wasn't playing within the last 25 years.
How did Bradshaw make it?

[G. Host]

How did Bradshaw make it?
Bradshaw played until one game in 1983. OJ stopped in 1979. How quickly they forget.

2007-1983 < 25 years

[Voltron]

Bradshaw played until one game in 1983. OJ stopped in 1979. How quickly they forget.

2007-1983 < 25 years
Sorry I was only 10 in 1983 and the only thing I knew about Football was that I liked the Buffalo Bills :idunno:

[Mr. Pink]

My main complaint about this list is how in the hell is Dickerson only ranked 25. The things that man did with the rock were amazing. Fastest player ever to reach 10,000 career yards.

[Voltron]

My main complaint about this list is how in the hell is Dickerson only ranked 25. The things that man did with the rock were amazing. Fastest player ever to reach 10,000 career yards.
I think that Emmit deserves to be on here with out a doubt but as far as the RB positon is concerned I think that Dickerson and Sanders deserve to be ahead of Emmit. Neither of them had the OL that he got to run behind for so many years. Can you immagine what Sanders' numbers would be if had played for Dallas?

:eek:

[Bill Brasky]

Ummmm, NO! Jim Kelley was a great QB, but he wasn't in Marinos area code. Marino played 7 more years, threw for almost twice as many yards, Kelly never once threw for 4000 yards in a season. Marino threw for 4000+ yards 6 times. This isn't a knock on Kelly by any means, it's just they were asked to do different things. Based on their stats Marino is head a shoulders ahead of Kelly.
Winning matters more than stats. Regular season, playoffs, it didn't matter. Marino couldn't get the job done. And a lot of the time his demise came at the hands of Kelly and co. He was a choke artist in big games. Hell, remember his swan song (63-7, or something like that) against JAX? What a way to go out. Typifies his loser career...considering Miami blatantly disregarded the running game throughout his entire career, it's no wonder he put up the numbers he did.

Rip on Brady all you want you guys... the guy won 3 Super Bowls by the age of 30. I hate the guys guts, but he wins, and winners get all the glory.

[Voltron]

Winning matters more than stats. Regular season, playoffs, it didn't matter. Marino couldn't get the job done. And a lot of the time his demise came at the hands of Kelly and co. He was a choke artist in big games. Hell, remember his swan song (63-7, or something like that) against JAX? What a way to go out. Typifies his loser career...considering Miami blatantly disregarded the running game throughout his entire career, it's no wonder he put up the numbers he did.

Rip on Brady all you want you guys... the guy won 3 Super Bowls by the age of 30. I hate the guys guts, but he wins, and winners get all the glory.
Brady is Clutch and has as quick a release as I can remeber but if he were on any other team he would not be half as good as he is on NE. The coaching staff for NE have an uncanny ability to utilize the strengths of every player on their team while at the same time minimizing the weaknesses.

[Mr. Pink]

Rip on Brady all you want you guys... the guy won 3 Super Bowls by the age of 30. I hate the guys guts, but he wins, and winners get all the glory.

Individual players don't win games, teams do. This list is about the top players, not teams. When evaluating top players, you're evaluating them on what they've done individually, not collectively.

As much as I like Brady, he's underated skill wise as a QB, in my opinion...his winning 3 SBs by 30 is the fact that the Patriots are that much better all-around than most of the league. Due to talent, scheme and systems.

Stat wise Marino blows Kelly out of the water, without question...team wise The Bills sustained superiority longer than the Phins. If I'm just taking a player I'd pick Marino over Kelly every day of the week...if we're talking teams at the time period, I'd obviously take the Bills over the Dolphins.

It all depends on how you want to evaluate players on this list. Walter Payton played for god awful teams almost his entire career, yet is still thought of as one of the top RBs of all-time. Barry Sanders, same thing. OJ, check. Just because your team around you wasn't good, it doesn't mean you're not a top player.

[Bill Brasky]

Individual players don't win games, teams do. This list is about the top players, not teams. When evaluating top players, you're evaluating them on what they've done individually, not collectively.

As much as I like Brady, he's underated skill wise as a QB, in my opinion...his winning 3 SBs by 30 is the fact that the Patriots are that much better all-around than most of the league. Due to talent, scheme and systems.

Stat wise Marino blows Kelly out of the water, without question...team wise The Bills sustained superiority longer than the Phins. If I'm just taking a player I'd pick Marino over Kelly every day of the week...if we're talking teams at the time period, I'd obviously take the Bills over the Dolphins.

It all depends on how you want to evaluate players on this list. Walter Payton played for god awful teams almost his entire career, yet is still thought of as one of the top RBs of all-time. Barry Sanders, same thing. OJ, check. Just because your team around you wasn't good, it doesn't mean you're not a top player.

I think how you lead a team to victory is just as good of an indicator of "greatness" as stats are.

While I agree with most of your points on Marino (And I still think Marino is one of the greatest) you can't deny that his stats where a little padded thanks to the fact that they NEVER RAN THE BALL. Same can be said for a guy like Warren Moon.

I think your point on Brady is spot on, though I still think he'd have moderate to great success on another team. Let's not forget when he took over the Pats for Bledsoe the team was going nowhere fast before he helped to right the ship. He's a superb decision maker, he manages the game better than most, and sometimes that's all you need. You can coach skill and theory within a system, but you can't coach intuition.

[Voltron]

While NE as a whole is a talented team they did not have a lot of pure talent in any of their SB wins. Seymour, Brushi, Brady, Dillon, Law and even Brown have great talent but none of them were tops in their positions. I think that they have a very high talent average across all their players. They never get the best players but they always have good players who are smart, know their roles and can be interchanged with out a lot of changes to the play book.

[duhbilz]

Winning matters more than stats. Regular season, playoffs, it didn't matter. Marino couldn't get the job done. And a lot of the time his demise came at the hands of Kelly and co. He was a choke artist in big games. Hell, remember his swan song (63-7, or something like that) against JAX? What a way to go out. Typifies his loser career...considering Miami blatantly disregarded the running game throughout his entire career, it's no wonder he put up the numbers he did.

Rip on Brady all you want you guys... the guy won 3 Super Bowls by the age of 30. I hate the guys guts, but he wins, and winners get all the glory.

Jim Kelly didn't win a lot of games "The Bills" won a lot of games while Jim was the QB. Jim sure as heck didn't hurt their chances of winning, but he wasn't the reason they won. They had a great defense and a few probowlers as well. You can't give Jim the credit for what the Bills did as a team. Most of Jims success came in a five year stretch, Marino on the other hand had a great deal to do with Miami's success during his career and it was much more then 5 seasons. I love Jim Kelly, but he was no Marino.

[Bill Brasky]

I didn't see Marino, or anyone else in the early 90's run a no huddle offense like Jim Kelly.

[duhbilz]

I didn't see Marino, or anyone else in the early 90's run a no huddle offense like Jim Kelly.

So this proves........

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Deion Sanders? Really, thats real cute.