SI's 100 football jerseys

Maybe he did. But keep in mind that his were 12-game seasons, which does skew the stats. Also, there was that guy Jim Taylor sharing the load in the backfield.

No one is wrong opting for Donovan McNabb in the No. 5 slot, but I just don't agree. And, personally, I'd strongly prefer McNabb.

 

My (Bengals Fanboy) comments:

- Boomer Esiason should have gotten "Worthy of consideration" for #7. If Michael Vick is there, Boomer should be. Boomer was a better QB than Vick could ever hope to be.

- Corey Dillon not even getting mentioned at #28 is a travesty. I have no problem with Faulk as # 1, but Chris Johnson has had one good year and one fantastic year... talk to me 2 or 3 years from now. Warrick Dunn had some very solid, but not great, seasons. Dillon had a better career.

- To be fair, I don't think Carson Palmer should have made the list for #9. Win a playoff game first.

- As a side note, ESPN.com did a very similar list to this a few years ago. The difference was that their list included all of the major sports, not just football. They had Tim Krumrie at #69 also and used the exact same picture.

 

Why? Bradshaw was great in his time, but he benefitted from one of the greatest collections of talent ever assembled. Brady, meanwhile, didn't have near the defense to back him up and his offensive weapons blew the first two Super Bowls. Plus, he had the greatest season a QB has ever had.

 

By this logic, Joe Montana shouldn't be given much credit, either. And I don't consider Montana in the same galaxy with Dan Marino - your supporting cast theory is a parallel - but anyway ...

 

Fuck Ray Lewis.

 

I question Tom Brady and Terry Bradshaw over Lynn Dickey at No. 12.

 

Take away the "what ifs" and I still take Sterling. I like Shannon Sharpe a lot, but there have been a lot of tight ends like him. I'll go with the guy who was an All-Pro five times in seven seasons at the more competitive position.
[/quote]

As a Bears fan, I detested Sterling Sharpe. Dude would have some huge games against Chicago. But there's no doubt that he ran circles around Shannon as a player. Not even close.
I remember one year, perhaps 1993 or 1994, Sterling played the entire season with turf toe. He never practiced during the week. He'd sit in meetings, be there on the sideline, but never caught a pass. Then he'd suit up on game day and just crush on people. Caught 100 passes or something that year. In a west coast offense, no less, that relies on timing and precise routes.
To me, not practicing and going out there and to dominate like he did, is similar to a golfer not practicing all year, and then going out and winning a major tournament.

 

Sterling Sharpe ... accept no substitutes.

The man made a star out of Don Majkowski for crying out loud. He was the best receiver in modern Packers history ... and James Lofton was my boyhood hero so that's saying a lot for me.

 

As a Steelers fan, absolutely, you take Tom Brady for No. 12. I hate to say it, but the guy won three Super Bowls with guys who won't ever sniff Canton. And there's that 50-touchdown season where the Patriots were a David Tyree away from 19-0.

Also, loved seeing two KU guys (Sayers at 40, Riggins at 44) get the nod, in addition to seven Steelers defensive players (Woodson at 26, Polamalu at 43, Blount at 47, Lambert at 58, Ham at 59, Greenwood at 68 and Greene at 91).

I like seeing Sterling get his due here, too. The guy was fun to watch.

 

Meh. I'm still going with Lynn Dickey.

 

How does Steve Grogan make the honorable mention for #14 (Otto Graham - runner up Y.A. Tittle) but no mention of Dan Fouts?

 

The most annoying thing about this list -- besides having to go to a new page for each pick, would it have killed them to give just a straight up list over a couple of pages? -- was that there were far too many players in the honourable mentions that had only played a couple of years.