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Who is the greatest football player ever?

Matt Foley

By Matt Foley,
in Carolina Panthers

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Matt Foley Newbie

Matt Foley

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It's not fair to compare athleticism from different eras. How did each player do against his contemporaries? That's fair.

This is also fair....in the early days of football, most of your best athletes played baseball. It was far more popular. Nowadays football is king. So if a kid is a great athlete he is more likely to pick the sport he follows most closely.

So if modern players played both ways, who would you imagine would do best? Like Dimbee said, Jerry Rice playing defense? Don't think so. Walter? Maybe. Jim Brown? Definitely.

I'd say the player currently playing who would make the best two-way player would be Hines Ward.

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CatMan72 Enthusiast

CatMan72

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I am wrong that the athletes where not near as good in 1943?

No, but you have to view any athlete in the context of the time in which they played... there is no other way to compare. In the time that he played, Sammy Baugh was so far ahead of everyone else that it was absurd. He could have gotten into the HOF by playing any one of the positions he played, but he played several at an elite level.

Jim Brown is probably the next closest in terms of someone that stood apart from the crowd as much as Sammy Baugh did. Like Ruth, the one asterisk next to Baugh is that he played in a period of time when African-Americans were not allowed to participate, so maybe we should say Sammy is the greatest segregation-era player of all time and Brown is the greatest post segregation-era player of all time?

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guyinchesapeake Newbie

guyinchesapeake

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JohnnyUnitas.jpg

Amen!

Johhny U DEFINED the modern day QB position. In college, he played both ways as well, and had he, like many other players, come along earlier, he no doubt would have played both ways as well. But it's not his fault that was phased out. He was the focus of the other teams defensive preparations. His numbers and legacy for a time in the league's history where offense did not enjoy the advantages it does since his playing days are legendary.

The same thing can be said about Jim Brown. He amassed numbers in 12, then 14, game seasons (as did Unitas). His overall numbers for the number of games and seasons he played in are still unmatched.

Gale Sayers deserves mention because he was elected to the HOF fame with the fewest number of games played by any inductee. It's scary to think of the numbers he might have put up had he stayed healthy, but that can no doubt be said about a number of players as well. His ability with the ball in his hands, whether that be from running with a handoff, catching a pass or pitchout, or taking back a kick was unsurpassed in his day.

Defensively, my nod goes to Ray Nitschke. He anchored a defense that went to 6 World Championship games in 8 years, winning 5 of them, and 3 in a row at that. And I'm not a Packers fan, then or now..

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2jakefansinva Newbie

2jakefansinva

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Don't get the Bo votes. He was good for 3 years, but never got over 1,000 yards and was very injury prone. I think it's almost an insult to the greats that have played in the NFL to claim him as the best ever.

Nothing like having your hip ripped out of it's socket. Oh, and then go on to steal bases playing MLB.

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