Top ten lists are just opinion polls
Anthony Munoz
Ray Nitschke
I just saw another one of those top ten list. This one was for the top ten NFL players ever. There have been thousands upon thousands of men who have played in the NFL. To think that you can narrow it down to the ten best players ever makes no sense to me.
For starters, this list consisted of 40% quarterbacks. It also consisted of 30% SF 49ers players (think he might be a 49ers fan?) Naturally it did not have any offensive lineman on the list.
It seems pointless to me to make out any kind of greatest ever list without at least breaking it down by position, and even after doing that, you have to take into consideration that players played in different eras, under different rules. This is especially important to consider when rating receivers and quarterbacks.
I think it is safe to say that Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were the best QB's of their era, but to say either of them is the greatest ever is to disrespect all of those QB's who came before them. Men like Joe Montana, arguably the best of his era, Johnny Unitas, who most would say was the best of his era. What about Otto Graham and Sid Luckman, arguably the best of their respective eras. Don't they deserve to be mentioned in a greatest ever conversation?
Some people seem to forget there was pro football in the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's. There were some great players in the league at that time too. Men like Bronco Nagurski, Red Grange and Don Hutson. There were also Championship games and great teams prior to the Superbowl. The Chicago Bears were a dominant team in the 1940's, as were the Cleveland Browns of the 1950's.
I think we can all agree there were certain men who were dominant players. Men like Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Bob Lilly, Jerry Rice, Dick Butkus, but to say any of them were the greatest ever, I'm not going to say it. There have been so many great players throughout the history of the NFL. I cherish the memories of seeing so many of them play. Why argue over who was the greatest? In the end, it's all a matter of someone's opinion.
