Name your top 5 all-time football players

Just a fun exercise while waiting out the off-season and yes, gamblers can be grumps and can take themselves waaaay too seriously,..............we won't be that on this thread.....name the top 5 football players you ever saw.

Just remember, your perception is YOUR reality, and your reality is different than everyone else on the planet.....I don't expect you to agree with my top 5.

My top 5 in no particular rank.

1)  Lawrence Taylor

2)  Gayle Sayers

3)  Tom Brady

4)  Jerry Rice

5)  Alan Page

1. Y A Title

2. Raymond Berry

3. Jerry Rice

4. Tom Brady

5. Joe Greene

1) Gene Upshaw

2) Anthony Muñoz

3) Mike Haynes

4) Reggie White

5) Tom Brady

No Joe Montana ? 

Otto Graham is #1, and I am not saying that just because I am a CLV fan.  He play four seasons (1946-1949) with the All American Football Conference and the Browns won the championship every season.  The Browns moved to the NFL in 1950 (my birth year).  He play 6 seasons and CLV won 3 championships and was in all 6 title games.

The cherry on the sundae:  He played pro basketball for the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League and they won the championship in the 1945-46 season.  The NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA in 1949.

Interesting factoid from Wikipedia: Born into a family of four boys in Waukegan, Illinois, Graham set a first state record at birth weighing 14 lbs. 12 oz.

@DogbiteWilliams

 I agree — he is in the mix in my historical QB rankings.  
But I think the question was about your top 5 that you saw play.

You are an old codger like me, I was born in 1949.

@DogbiteWilliams

 Gotcha.  I didn’t realize you born then.  
But if you read up on him he was an all-around athlete and great winner.  I think Brown talked him back from retirement and he still continued to win. 
If you got to see him play that is awesome.

LT

BRADY

RICE

REGGIE WHITE

JIM BROWN

As I have stated several times, I don't watch that much sports compared to the average sports bettor, and I am not a skilled observer when I do.  I just reported some facts that I already knew or dug up.

The oldest sports memory that I DID observe was Bill Mazeroski's dramatic walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.  It is still one of my all-time greatest sports moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Og0gUKfvc

on board with this 

1. peyton manning

2. tom brady

3. drew brees

4. ray lewis

5. reggie white

Jerry Rice

Lawrence Taylor

Tom Brady

Joe Montana

Barry Sanders

@DogbiteWilliams

I wouldn’t shortchange yourself.  If you have been a sports guy that long, I imagine your observations are better than most. 

joe montanna

reggie  white

 tom brady

larry fitzgerald

jack lambert

Awesome!.....love to hear stories like that.....

Love these type of questions.

OJ

Rice

Upshaw

Breese

Bo

1. Barry Sanders

2. Emmitt Smith

When I first started watching NFL , I loved running backs so those two top my list. Never got to see Sweetness play only from watching the highlights. Those are two of the most elusive RBs to this day

3. Ray Lewis

the most tenacious linebacker to play the game. However if I was born a little earlier than it's a close one between Lewis and LT. 

4. Reggie White

The most dominant defensive end I've seen to this day. The commentary with Madden just made it more fun to watch 

5. Jerry Rice

This is a tough one but hands down still the best receiver to ever play the game. The 1994 championship season and 1995 solidified his status. Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson get honorable mention. 

Thanks for the kind words.

I salute those of you who have at least 3 defensive players in your Top 5.  QB's and RB's get a disproportionate share of the salaries and attention on the talk shows.

I may not know much about football, but I am pretty sure that Myles Garrett is CLV's most productive player.

I salute Max and Digital for mentioning Ray Lewis who, per Wikipedia, set the all-time record for solo tackles in a season with 156 in 1997.

@DogbiteWilliams

Of course he is and it is not close.  For example, this is from one of the sites I use.  I listed the top player at their position on the Browns and their NFL rank and overall rating at their position for the last three seasons.

Garrett

Pass Rush

2024 2nd WAR .9

Garrett

Pass Rush

2023 4th WAR 1.1

Garrett

Pass Rush

2022 3rd WAR 1.1

Owusu-Koramoah

Run defense 

2024 37th WAR .2

Owusu-Koramoah

Run Defense 

2023 18th WAR .3

Owusu-Koramoah

Run Defense 

2022 17th WAR .3

Emerson 

Pass Defense

2024 89th WAR .1

Emerson

Pass Defense

2023 17th WAR .5

Emerson

Pass Defense

2022 26th WAR .4

Bitonio

Blocking

2024 8th WAR .5

Teller

Blocking

2023 9th WAR .5

Bitonio

Blocking

2022 9th WAR .4

Jeudy

Receiving

2024 50th WAR .3

Cooper

Receiving

2023 11th WAR .8

Cooper

Receiving 

2022 19th WAR .5

Ford

Rushing

2024 22nd WAR .4

Chubb

Rushing

2023 35th WAR .3

Chubb

Rushing

2022 4th WAR 1.2

Zappe

Passing

2024 59th WAR -.2

Flacco

Passing

2023 26th WAR .4

Brissett

Passing

2022 16th WAR 1.2

Ronnie Lott

Mike Curtis

Joe Namath

Mike Singletary

Bo Jackson

No order just guys who played and left it all on the field.

Side note. A guy I used to work with played on the Jets and said the entire league knew Namath was the best player.

Thanks for that research.  I DID know that Bitonio is pretty good, and I am painfully aware that the once-dominant Nick Chubb only averaged a painful 3.3 YPRA this past season.  Too many injuries; CLV made the rational move and released him.

LT

Rice

Brady

Jim Brown 

Walter Payton

just off the 5 - Peyton manning