NFL Freaks and Greatest Players! Who's your pick?
almost listed him and Jack Tatum as well.
Dude was badass. Unfortunately, what I remember most about him was blowing out his knee trying to mirror a Barry Sanders change of direction. Really surprised that didn't happen to more people.
I remember the guy as a one man secondary. Put him anywhere and he can play.
Sweaty Teddy
LOL. What a great nickname!
football player of all time is Charles Woodson. Favorite NFL player of all time is Barry Sanders. Greatest RB to ever play the game. In 10 years, he did what it took most normal humans 15 - 20 years, with a way worse OL and coaching staff.
Freaks?
Bo Knows (he could have gone pro in just about any sport he wanted)
Ronnie Lott.
Mike Vick. Yea yea, the dog thing was bad. But in his prime had one of the greatest QB skillsets. A RB with a cannon arm.
Mean Joe Greene was a fave of mine too. Watch film of him in college at North Texas. It's like Taco Charlton playing high school kids.
Yeah, Mike Vick was a freak athlete. Absolute piece of shit, but a freak athlete.
the size of a 2 car garage. Imagine if the Pats or Steelers drafted him . . . .
and was considered to be best WR in the league for most of his career.
That would be Deacon Jones, a DE for the L.A. Rams in the '60s and '70s. He coined the phrase "sacking the quarterback", in which he was equating it to putting the quarterback in a burlap sack and then beating it with a baseball bat. From the 1964 season through the 1968 season, he had over 100 sacks. In 14 game seasons, no less.
1967 - 26 sacks (14 game season)
1968 - 24 sacks (14 game season)
...that Deacon Jones was the fucking man.
Great call. One of my first sports memories is watching Deacon Jones destroy people in the late sixties.
Can't ignore the man nicknamed "The Freak" - Jevon Kearse 
Physical freaks:
Megatron- 6-5, 240 lbs, ran a 4.33 forty, ran a 10.19 100 meters in college. 42" vertical.
Christian Okoye- The Nigerian nightmare ran a 4.4 forty at almost 260 lbs.
Bo Jackson- Enough has been said, just a beast, he was a faster, bigger, and stronger version of AD.
Barry Sanders- People discount what a freak he was, might not have had the best top end speed (still ran a 4.4), but his acceleration between 0-5 yards when he saw a seem was not human. No one in the history of football could accelerate like Barry Sanders. It's what made his stop and starts so devastating, the defender would stop with him and they couldn't get back up to speed like Sanders and had no chance to tackle him. He would brain freeze guys every game, and by this I mean put a move on a guy in open space so sick that the defender's brain would short circuit and their body would literally freeze for an insant and they'd fall over, like when a goat gets scared and faints.
How has no one mentioned Walker yet? Guy was an absolute beast.
Plus, the trade with the Vikings pretty much made the Dallas dynasty in the 90's.
I was thinking of him too.
Another name I am surprised I haven't seen mentioned: Reggie White.
May have ended up the greatest strong safety ever if not for a tragic home robbery.
Dude was a 230 lb violent monster in run support and absolutely dynamic in coverage. High school and college players still talk about him, which is crazy given his short career and the fact he passed 10 years ago so they wouldn't have had much of a chance to see him play.
Also overlapped with Ed Reed (the greatest free safety I've ever seen) for a season in the Hurricanes secondary. Man those teams were stacked.
SInce Bo Jackson is already taken, let's not forget the Juice. Those of us old enough to have watched football in the 70s remember what a freak of nature he was. OJ was incredible. (Of course, I hated him for being from USC).
and i won't give him any. i'm probably one of the few people oon this list to have met him a number of times, all pre-murder. besides, though i acknowledge he was a very good back, he doesn't make my top 10.
All true, but he was a freak in his time. The comment thread wasn't about who is a good human being but who was a freak NFL athlete. We can give OJ that much credit out of sheer honesty, even if that is all.
Bo Jackson -- tore his leg out of his hip socket, which doctors didn't diagnose right away b/c they just assumed it was impossible.
LT -- as already said.
Earl Campbell -- Light on his feet, reasonably fast, and unbelievably huge. Try to tackle him at his thighs and you were unconscious.
Bo Jackson and Calvin Johnson immediately come to mind. But someone else who comes to mind is Warren Sapp. The guy had a gut on him that never seemed to go away, and he's a pretty awful human being, but my god that man could play. A man as big as he was should not have been able to move the way he did. He was fast, violent, disruptive, and a QB's worst nightmare.
Grew up watching him in Tampa. Seemed like an entire offensive line could take him on and he would still break through on a consistent basis. Couple that with how good their whole defense was back in the day, and it made him even more lethal.
Of those I've see: Barry Sanders
Of those I haven't seen: Jim Thorpe
Without Thorpe, there probably would not have been an NFL. That's why his picture was on the NFL logo used for all televised games up until a year or two ago.
but I thought I remember reading that he drove Parcells nuts early on because he had a hard time absorbing the playbook.
It didn't matter however because he was so damned good and instinctive he just crushed people.
and UM tickets in my youth.
For the greatest RB, at least that I've ever seen, I have to GTBTB.
I still love watching his highlights.
but I always give honorable mention to Spielman for maximizing his talent; and for being an old school LB.
I remember one game against the cowboys that the Lions won. The Cowboys were close to the goal line and Emmit hit the los and jumped. Spielman reacted and jumped at the same time. Spielman stoned him. I always loved watching him. I'd count how many times he'd be the last guy up from a pile.
Couple that with his story of support for his wife, and he's one of my favorite FB players ever, despite his unfortunate college choice. ;-)
As both a UM and Detroit Lion fan, I had to do an emotional 180 on Spielman when he ended up in Detroit. Still, it was impossible not to appreciate the effort he put into his play.
I remember one game, he either grabbed an interception or recovered a fumble (don't remember which), lumbered into the end zone, and spiked the ball with both hands. Just fell to his knees and slammed it into the turf so hard I thought it would deflate. An old school spike by the ultimate old school player.
I hated his guts as a Buckeye, but he would've looked great in maize & blue.
Joe Don Looney
Lol that was a good one the sad part is I am old enough that I remember Joe Don Looney. But I do have a name to throw out Dick Butkus he was an absolute monster.
LT also tore up John Wanglers knee in the 79 Gator bowl. Never liked him for that but he was freaking good.