Monday, July 30, 2007

USA Today, Ridiculous

I think it was Friday, SI.com posted a list of of USA Today's top 25 NFL Players of the last 25 Years (1982-2007). Most of these lists, as you can imagine, aren't very different. Here is USA Today's list...with sweet descriptions of in one line why the players was chosen.

1
Joe Montana
Montana's Super success raised the bar
2
Jerry Rice
Rice ran away from the field with grace
3
Walter Payton
Payton did sweet work as rushing king
4
Lawrence Taylor
The original L.T. brought QBs to their knees
5
Reggie White
White administered rare level of play
6
John Elway
Elway left NFL as a winner
7
Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith surpassed all runners
8
Ronnie Lott
Lott made waves with hard-hitting style
9
Tom Brady
Brady climbed fast to Super heights
10
Barry Sanders
Sanders left them wanting more
11
Dan Marino
Marino re-wrote the NFL passing records
12
Peyton Manning
Peyton's place secure in NFL annals
13
Anthony Munoz
Munoz set standard on the O-line
14
Brett Favre
Favre made Green Bay important again
15
Bruce Smith
Smith sacked his way to the top
16
Deion Sanders
Deion played his way into 'Prime Time'
17
Mike Singletary
Singletary renowned for intimidating presence
18
Ray Lewis
The ultimate defender — Ray Lewis
19
Marshall Faulk
Faulk brought double threat to new level
20
Troy Aikman
Aikman rescued 'America's Team'
21
LaDainian Tomlinson
Tomlinson still climbing list of NFL greats
22
Rod Woodson
Woodson set new standard in backfield
23
Terry Bradshaw
Playoff success carried Bradshaw into Hall
24
Steve Young
After wait, Young made lasting run into NFL history
25
Eric Dickerson
Dickerson blazed early path to NFL immortality

Ok, the list has a few flaws. I'll try to stay away from the Brett Favre 14 thing as much as I humanly can. First of all, the top two need to be switched. Jerry Rice is the best player of the past 25 years. The stats prove it. He's blown just about every major receiving record out of the water, and his career touchdown mark is ridiculous.

This was a disclaimer on the list: • The list covers the past 25 seasons. Instructions to panelists stated that if a player competed in any one of those seasons, then the player's entire career could be considered for the rankings.• I think that's stupid. Here's why:

#23 is my personal favorite. Terry Bradshaw...who won Super Bowls in '74, '75, '78, and '79 played in only two of the years of this poll. In '83, his final year, he was 5-8...on the season. What's the purpose of this disclaimer, I mean, 5-8 is getting you a killer completion percentage, but seriously.

#6 John Elway has my favorite caption. "Left NFL a winner." So did Robert Brooks. I don't see him limping his way into the #7 spot.

#8 Ronnie Lott and #13 Anthony Munoz. First, their captions are...well, amazing. Second a safety and a tackle in the top 15. Offensive tackle. Though great players, is anyone trying to tell me they played a greater role than Marshall Faulk, the most unfavorably positioned player on this list? Should the two hall of famers be in the list? Of course. But they're way too high. And while we are talking about less glorifying positions, where is Shannon Sharpe on this list- the guy who really revolutionized the modern tight end position, along with Keith Jackson.

#9 Tom Brady. Luckiest man in the universe. The true test of Brady would be the following: Could he go to Dallas and win? If he could, then he'd be a better player than Drew Bledsoe. Today, I'd still take Drew Bledsoe as a football player over Brady. Oh, and in case we forgot, that first Super Bowl wouldn't have been an option if Bledsoe wasn't around. How come Kurt Warner didn't make this list? His wife probably wouldn't let him be on it.

#22 Rod Woodson. First, I'd like to go out and say that there are probably people reading this who don't know who Rod Woodson is. He was a dominant force in Madden 64 as an offensive player with his 98 speed rating. Don't get me wrong, Rod was a stand out, but was he really a better choice than Darrell Green?

Maybe some day I'll do my own list to dominate this one. The only problem is mine would probably have some sweet guys like Bryce Paup and Christian Okoye on it. At least it'd have character. All in all, the list isn't that bad and is one of the better one's that I've seen. I'm over the whole Brady is a greater QB than Favre thing...I've just come to accept it. Just like I've come to accept the fact that Tom Cruise is in fact from outer space. Now, if you did a poll on top 25 players you'd most like to watch, something tells me your list would come out something like this near the top:

1. Barry Sanders
2. Deion Sanders
3. Brett Favre
4. Walter Payton
5. Marshall Faulk.
6. Herman Moore.

Yeah, I went there. Brett Perriman was no where to be found.

1 comment:

David Rivelli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.