johnnyboy8102
Footballguy
Nagurski is the only player out of my final 20 picks that I wouldn't consider a lock but I can't think of anyone else.
He finished #35 on the Sporting News list in 1999 and it wouldn't seem to make sense to have him higher than that with active players (Manning, Brady, Favre, Lewis) ahead of him. He most likely should have been around #40-#45.
EDIT: Bronko Nagurski is one of the most intimidating and most versatile performers in football history, and he could play any position on the field if we asked him to do so. He plays outside linebacker on defense and we've have paired him with Jim Brown on offense, which gives the All-Time 11 the most punishing offensive backfield ever assembled. It’s hard to imagine a more fearsome ball carrier – an athletic, 225-pound back from an era that produced 200-pound Hall of Fame linemen. His is an oversized, Paul Bunyanesque legend from the North Woods that has continued to grow with time.
“Nagurski is the greatest NFL player before 1950, hands down and without question,” said Cold, Hard Football Facts contributor Allen Barra.
Famed sportswriter Grantland Rice would agree. Fielding a team of Nagurskis, Rice wrote back in the 1930s, would be “something close to murder and massacre.” Sounds like our kind of team.
Statistics from the primitive early era of pro football were not kept well – and even if they were, yards and points were hard to come by. So Nagurski's numbers do not stack up to those of the players who came afterward. But we do know this: His versatility is unmatched in gridiron annals.
In college, Nagurski earned the rare honor of being named All-America as a fullback and as a defensive tackle. In the NFL, he’s the only player in history who was named All-Pro at three different positions (DL, OL and RB). In his spare time, he became a three-time heavyweight champion of professional wrestling. Nagurski returned to the NFL in 1943 after a five-year retirement and, as a fullback and two-way tackle, helped guide the Bears to his third NFL championship.
Nagurski’s signature season came in 1933, when he rushed for 533 yards on 128 carries, led a defense that surrendered just 6.3 PPG and helped power the Bears to a league-best 10-2-1 record and a West division crown. He capped the season with pair of TD passes as the Bears beat the Giants, 23-21, in the first ever NFL title game.
He finished #35 on the Sporting News list in 1999 and it wouldn't seem to make sense to have him higher than that with active players (Manning, Brady, Favre, Lewis) ahead of him. He most likely should have been around #40-#45.
EDIT: Bronko Nagurski is one of the most intimidating and most versatile performers in football history, and he could play any position on the field if we asked him to do so. He plays outside linebacker on defense and we've have paired him with Jim Brown on offense, which gives the All-Time 11 the most punishing offensive backfield ever assembled. It’s hard to imagine a more fearsome ball carrier – an athletic, 225-pound back from an era that produced 200-pound Hall of Fame linemen. His is an oversized, Paul Bunyanesque legend from the North Woods that has continued to grow with time.
“Nagurski is the greatest NFL player before 1950, hands down and without question,” said Cold, Hard Football Facts contributor Allen Barra.
Famed sportswriter Grantland Rice would agree. Fielding a team of Nagurskis, Rice wrote back in the 1930s, would be “something close to murder and massacre.” Sounds like our kind of team.
Statistics from the primitive early era of pro football were not kept well – and even if they were, yards and points were hard to come by. So Nagurski's numbers do not stack up to those of the players who came afterward. But we do know this: His versatility is unmatched in gridiron annals.
In college, Nagurski earned the rare honor of being named All-America as a fullback and as a defensive tackle. In the NFL, he’s the only player in history who was named All-Pro at three different positions (DL, OL and RB). In his spare time, he became a three-time heavyweight champion of professional wrestling. Nagurski returned to the NFL in 1943 after a five-year retirement and, as a fullback and two-way tackle, helped guide the Bears to his third NFL championship.
Nagurski’s signature season came in 1933, when he rushed for 533 yards on 128 carries, led a defense that surrendered just 6.3 PPG and helped power the Bears to a league-best 10-2-1 record and a West division crown. He capped the season with pair of TD passes as the Bears beat the Giants, 23-21, in the first ever NFL title game.
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you are comparing Aikman to Brunell, McNabb and Stabler? wow, now that is laughable. some of you stat crunchers need to simmer down. watch the games and put the stat sheets down.
you are comparing Aikman to Brunell, McNabb and Stabler? wow, now that is laughable. some of you stat crunchers need to simmer down. watch the games and put the stat sheets down.
Besides, hasn't history shown that having a great RB, or even a great running game, is not needed to win a Super Bowl? Having a great head coach and a very good to great QB is significantly more important than having a stud RB.
It will be interesting to see where they stand on one of this board's greatest debates: Emmitt vs. Barry.
