Brad Oremland is a sportswriter and football historian. There are few who have given as much thought to the history of pro football as Brad has over the years. What follows is Brad’s latest work, a multi-part series on the greatest players in pro football history.

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This is the sixth article in a twelve-part series profiling the greatest pro football players of all time. You can find the previous installments below:

111-125
101-110
91-100
81-90
71-80

Best Players of All Time: 61-70

70. Jack Lambert
Middle Linebacker
Pittsburgh Steelers, 1974-84
17 FR, 107 yards; 28 INT, 243 yards
2 DPOY, 5 consensus All-Pro, 7 AP All-Pro, 9 Pro Bowls, DROY, 1970s All-Decade Team, 1980s All-Decade Team, 75th Anniversary Team

Beyond any real question, the most intimidating linebacker of his era. At 6-foot-4½, he loomed over opponents with a toothless scowl. The Steelers’ PR department marketed him as “Count Dracula in cleats.” He was nicknamed Madman Jack, he was compared to Darth Vader. Fear of Jack Lambert was practically its own industry.

Lambert was a ruthless tackler, but he was first and foremost a playmaker. At just 220 lbs., he was undersized for a linebacker, but also unusually quick. With the exception of 1984, when he suffered a career-ending injury halfway through the season, Lambert had at least one interception every year of his career, retiring with 28 INTs, top-10 all-time among LBs. He had a genius for diagnosing plays, adjusting the defensive calls, and anticipating the path of the ball.

Teammate Andy Russell, himself a 7-time Pro Bowl linebacker, divined Lambert’s legacy: “Tough, raw-boned, intense. That’s the way he’ll be remembered, but . . . Jack’s a whole lot more. The range he has … His first step is never wrong, his techniques have always been perfect. His greatness has nothing to do with his popular image.” Another linebacking teammate, Hall of Famer Jack Ham, said that what set Lambert apart was his ability to play the pass. The image of the blood-hunting, toothless madman overshadows the savvy of an undersized, cerebral leader who ranks among the finest coverage men ever to play his position. Lambert had relentless drive and toughness, and a natural ability to lead by example, but intelligence and even finesse separated him from other big hitters and hard workers.

Citing Russell and Ham, however, brings up an awkward question of assigning credit. In this series, I rank the top 125 players in the history of organized professional football. There are two teams that have at least five players represented. One is the John Unitas-era Colts; the other is the 1974-81 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steel Curtain is the most-honored dynasty in this project.

From 1974-81, the Steelers went 84-35-1 (.704) and won four Super Bowls. Those were great teams. But the 1960s Packers were great. The 1950s Browns were great. The 1940s Bears were great. The Belichick/Brady Patriots have been great. None of them has more than three players honored on this list. Spreading the credit around to so many Steelers, I am forced to limit their rankings. If I named five players from the same team to the top 50 of all time, not to mention four more Hall of Famers who didn’t make the list, plus a Hall of Fame head coach, as well as possible HOF snubs like L.C. Greenwood, Andy Russell, and Donnie Shell, that would be a team that should never lose to anyone. The Steelers, great as they were, lost 30% of their games.

“Count Dracula in cleats” is one of my earliest football memories, and Jack Lambert was the perfect image of what a middle linebacker should be. Emotionally, I want to rank him even higher than this. Rationally, I think he was the third-best player on his own defense. The argument for Lambert, I think, is less as a player and more as a leader, a tone-setter, the man who gave the Steel Curtain its attitude. His play recognition and coverage skills notwithstanding, it is for his take-no-prisoners attitude that Lambert is best remembered. Grantland’s Chuck Klosterman called him “the greatest personification of what Steeler football is supposed to be like. That’s what Lambert represents: the Steelers at their highest point.”

69. Bobby Bell
Outside Linebacker
Kansas City Chiefs, 1963-74
26 INT, 479 yards, 6 TD
4 consensus All-Pro, 5 AP All-League, 9-time All-Star, AFL All-Time Team, 1970s All-Decade Team

Bobby Bell was one of the greatest athletes ever to play American football, a physical marvel who probably could have played any position. He was an all-state quarterback in high school, an Outland Trophy-winning defensive tackle in college, and a defensive end and long snapper with the Chiefs. In 1969, he returned an onside kick for a 53-yard touchdown. No one ever doubted the strength of this former lineman, but it was his speed that set Bell apart. He ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash, which is still fast enough to play linebacker in today’s game. In the ’60s, it was fast enough to play wide receiver or defensive back.

Bell had no weaknesses. He was a textbook tackler, sound against all phases of the offense. He was a good blitzer who had (unofficially) 40 sacks. He was reliable in pass coverage and a dangerous returner; Bell ranks 3rd all-time among LBs in interception return yards and tied for 1st in INT return TDs. He leads all LBs in non-offensive TDs, with eight scores on INT or fumble returns. Bell wasn’t especially big, only about 230 pounds, but he was shaped like a bodybuilder, with tremendous strength to complement the unique speed he brought to the position.

During and immediately after his career, Bell was regarded as an excellent player, but perhaps not a historic one. He was not named to the 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, or to Dr. Z’s All-Century Team. He made the Hall of Fame on his fourth ballot. The idea that he might be the greatest linebacker in history is relatively new and not especially widespread. Moreover, Bell suffers from the same problem I have identified for other players, including Bell’s teammate Willie Lanier: the 1960s and 1970s Chiefs weren’t good enough to justify their extensive Hall of Fame recognition. I don’t question Bell’s athleticism or play-making ability, but I think when you compare him to the very greatest players in history, players who had attributes just as outstanding as Bell’s athleticism, those factors — combined with greater durability and consistency — point to his being one of the best OLBs in history rather than top of the list.

68. Steve Van Buren
Running Back
Philadelphia Eagles, 1944-51
5,860 rush yards, 4.44 average, 69 TD; 45 rec, 523 yards, 3 TD
4 consensus All-Pro, 5 AP All-Pro, 1940s All-Decade Team, 75th Anniversary Team

I’ve written in the past that Sonny Jurgensen is the most underrated quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. By the same token, Steve Van Buren is — without a doubt — the most underrated running back in the Hall of Fame. Van Buren set single-season and career records for rushing yards and rushing TDs. His 1945 season is the equal of anything turned in by Emmitt Smith or Eric Dickerson … Van Buren led the NFL in rushing and set a touchdown record, in a 10-game season, that survived a decade of 12-game seasons and was finally broken in a 14-game season.

Van Buren’s career is awash in black ink. He led the league in rushing yards and TDs in four of his six healthy seasons, including the first two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in NFL history, depending upon what you believe about Beattie Feathers. ^[1]The Chicago Bears’ Beattie Feathers is credited as the NFL’s first 1,000-yard rusher, with 1,004 yards and an 8.44 average as a rookie in 1934, but many statisticians and historians look … Continue reading Van Buren led in kickoff return average twice, retiring with a 26.7 average and 3 TDs on only 76 returns. He tied for the NFL lead in kickoff or punt return TDs a combined four times, twice in each category.

Van Buren provided the foundation for one of the NFL’s first great dynasties, the 1944-49 Philadelphia Eagles. Those teams went a combined 48-16-3 (.750) and reached the NFL Championship Game three years in a row, including back-to-back victories in 1948 and ’49. Van Buren was the hero of both title games, one of the greatest postseason RBs in history. In the 1948 Championship Game, he rushed for 98 yards and the game’s only touchdown, on a field completely blanketed by snow. The next year, this time in ankle-deep mud, Van Buren set a postseason record with 196 rushing yards. Paul Zimmerman called him “perhaps the best who ever lived on a muddy, slippery field.” Van Buren got injured in 1950, and the Eagles slipped from 11-1 to 6-6. The following season, Van Buren’s last, he was a relative non-factor — he rushed for 6 TDs in 12 games, but the injuries had ruined his athleticism — and the Eagles dropped to 4-8. They wouldn’t reach the postseason for the rest of the decade; Van Buren’s injuries, exacerbated by the firing of head coach Greasy Neale following the 1950 season, rapidly ended the fledgling Eagle dynasty.

Van Buren was strong, very fast, and he ran leaning forward, so defenders could never knock him backward. He owned the record books for a decade after his retirement, and is one of only four players (Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Emmitt Smith) to win three consecutive rushing titles. Van Buren posted four of the top 10 single-season rush TD totals of the NFL’s first 30 years, including the top two. He also played defense his first few seasons; as a rookie, he intercepted 5 passes in nine games.

67. Sid Luckman
Quarterback (Pre-Modern)
Chicago Bears, 1939-50
14,686 yards, 137 TD, 132 INT, 75.0 rating
1 MVP, 3 consensus All-Pro, 6 AP All-Pro, 3 Pro Bowls, 1940s All-Decade Team

It seems like every era has one. Tom Brady. Troy Aikman. Joe Montana. Terry Bradshaw. Bart Starr. Otto Graham. Sid Luckman. The quarterback who can’t lose. Like most of the QBs on that list, Luckman had great stats and impressive personal accomplishments, but truly made his mark in the postseason. He led the Bears to four championships, in 1940, ’41, ’43, and ’46. In the 1943 championship game, Luckman passed for 286 yards and 5 touchdowns, rushed for another 64 yards, and the Bears won by 20 points. Altogether, Luckman was 5-1 as a starter in the postseason.

But Luckman’s reputation wasn’t built on rings alone. He was the first successful T formation passer, and he led the NFL in both passing yards and TDs in 1943, 1945, and 1946. Modern fans, especially those interested in analytics, sometimes wish to argue that Luckman was better than Sammy Baugh. This contention is predicated mostly on Luckman’s efficiency as a passer, and sometimes (less frequently) on Chicago’s success relative to Washington’s. I hope I can explain why I don’t believe those arguments hold up. Let’s hit both ideas with one stone: Luckman’s supporting cast was considerably superior to Baugh’s. Examining both team’s rosters from 1940-43, when they met in the NFL Championship Game three times…

The Bears had five Hall of Famers in addition to Luckman: G Danny Fortmann (1940-43), HB George McAfee (1940-41), G George Musso (1940-43), T Bronko Nagurski (1943), T Joe Stydahar (1940-42), and C Bulldog Turner (1940-43). With everyone playing both offense and defense, that’s half the team in Canton. Baugh played with HOF tackle Turk Edwards for two games in 1940, before Edwards’ career-ending injury, and with HOF end Wayne Millner in ’40 and ’41, though Millner is regarded as one of the weakest players in the Hall of Fame; in their landmark 1988 book The Hidden Game of Football, Bob Carroll, Pete Palmer, and John Thorn suggested that Millner was “only a competent pro” and the shakiest selection in the entire PFHOF. There were other good players on both teams, but Luckman was surrounded by Hall of Fame talent, and Baugh was not. Specifically, we might notice that in each of the four seasons listed above, Luckman had four HOF linemen.

That alone is sufficient to explain Luckman’s statistical edge, such as it is. He averaged about a yard more per pass attempt than Baugh, and he passed for more TDs than INTs (+5), which Baugh did not (-16). But there’s more to consider. Luckman played for George Halas, in Clark Shaughnessy’s revolutionary T formation, which every team in the NFL would adopt some time in the next decade. In 1944, Washington hired Shaughnessy, desperate to install the T. The following season, 1945, Baugh posted a 109.9 passer rating, an NFL record that stood more than 40 years.

There’s also the issue of volume, and predictability. The Bears were a great rushing team. They outrushed Washington in 11 of Luckman’s 12 seasons. Baugh, as his team’s greatest weapon, was forced to throw more often, against defenses anticipating a pass. Over their careers, Baugh passed for 50% more yardage than Luckman, and 50 more touchdowns. His massive volume advantage more than compensates for Luckman’s efficiency.

Baugh was also better at avoiding sacks, and a better rusher, both of which are significant aspects of QB play. That brings us to an especially critical point: in the 1940s, a quarterback’s duties extended significantly beyond throwing the football. While Baugh was recognized as the league’s most outstanding passer, he also excelled in other areas. Like Luckman, he played a defensive position similar to modern safeties. Baugh intercepted at least 31 passes (the stat was not kept in his first three seasons), including one year leading the league, and he returned those picks for 491 yards (probably well over 500, with the three missing years restored). Luckman, missing only one season before interceptions were recorded, is credited with 17 INTs for 310 yards. He was an above-average defensive back, but Baugh was substantially better.

Luckman was an above-average punter, too, with a 38.6 gross average on 230 punts. Baugh was the greatest punter of his generation, with a 45.1 average on 338 punts, at a time when punting was a more important part of the game than it is today. Baugh led the league in punting average four times, setting career and single-season records that stood for over 50 years. Not only was Baugh a better quarterback in the modern sense of the word, he was a more complete player, outstanding in all phases of the game. Luckman wasn’t a liability on defense or special teams, but his excellence was limited to offense.

The Bears were great before Luckman arrived. They had a winning record nine years in a row before he joined the team. To credit him for sparking the team’s success is untenable, and to imagine that Baugh was equally positioned to succeed, on the scoreboard or the stat sheet, is fantasy. Sammy Baugh is an unreasonable standard comparison; I draw the contrast not to diminish Luckman, a historically great player and one of the key pieces on a legendary dynasty, but I think a lot of people focus on the wrong statistics in trying to understand older players, and in particular, many modern fans misunderstand what was expected of “quarterbacks” when Baugh and Luckman played. Casual study also fails to reveal how deeply Luckman’s success is entangled with that of his teammates and coaches.

Luckman was a truly great player, whose legacy deserves to be examined on its own merits. He was an exceptional passer. He was most efficient early in his career, when the Bears’ T formation most befuddled opposing defenses, but as late as 1943, Luckman led all passers in yards (2,194), TDs (28), yards per attempt (10.86), touchdown percentage (13.9%), and passer rating (107.5). His single-season TD record stood until Johnny Unitas broke it in 1959, and his single-season record for TD% will probably never be broken. Luckman threw 7 TD passes in one game that season, a record that has been tied but never broken. Halas recruited Luckman specifically to run the T offense. He wasn’t merely a product of the formation, he was a player who maximized its potential.

Luckman was born at least a decade too early. He was a great quarterback, but not a standout on defense or special teams, and he was not an effective runner at the professional level, at a time when that was more important than it is today. If he had played in an era when passing was more important, he would probably rate in the top 50 of all time.

66. Ted Hendricks
Outside Linebacker
Baltimore Colts, 1969-73; Green Bay Packers, 1974; Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, 1975-83
26 INT, 332 yards, TD
3 consensus All-Pro, 6 AP All-Pro, 8 Pro Bowls, 1970s All-Decade Team, 1980s All-Decade Team, 75th Anniversary Team, All-Century Team

Ted Hendricks was an unusual guy. His odd appearance (6′ 7″, 220 lbs) earned the nickname “The Mad Stork,” and his personality was no less uncommon. He might show up for practice riding a horse or wearing a helmet carved from a pumpkin, and he relaxed by solving complex math problems. Hendricks was also unusual in his capacity for making big plays. He intercepted 26 passes, gained over 300 yards in INT returns, and unofficially tallied 64 sacks. ^[2]According to John Turney, the authority on pre-1982 sack figures. Although sack totals before 1982 are unofficial, that would be the record for any player who also intercepted at least 20 passes; his 90 combined sacks and INTs would be a record as well. Hendricks also recorded 4 safeties and 25 blocked kicks — both records. He played on four Super Bowl-winning teams and ended his career on a streak of 215 consecutive games. He never missed a game due to injury.

Hendricks used his height well, and while he was an oddball, he was also highly intelligent, an honors graduate of the University of Miami and a finalist for a Rhodes scholarship. Teammate Howie Long called Hendricks “one of the smartest guys I’ve ever been around . . . we would put up film of the next week’s opponent, and Ted would sit there half awake, and call out the play they were going to run before they ran it.” Pro Bowl tight end Russ Francis said of Hendricks, “You’re never gonna fool him. You never know what he’s going to do, where he’ll be. There isn’t another player in the NFL like him, and maybe there never was.” Hendricks had a brilliant memory that manifested as anticipation. “The uncanny thing about Hendricks,” wrote Paul Zimmerman, “was his ability to guess what was coming and to position himself exactly right.” Raiders coach Tom Flores marveled of Hendricks, “He could almost anticipate the play before it happened.”

Tall and skinny, Hendricks was deceptively strong. He was exceptional at shedding blocks, and when he caught a ball-carrier they hit the ground. He was a great pass rusher, and with his massive wingspan, he intimidated quarterbacks into holding onto the ball and eating the sack rather than risking an interception. He was one of best coverage linebackers of his generation. And underlying it all was his unmatched ability to diagnose how to position himself and where to go.

I have Hendricks ranked ever-so-slightly higher than Bobby Bell, not without some misgivings. Bell was faster and stronger than Hendricks. But Bell played his entire career behind Hall of Fame DT Buck Buchanan, and much of it surrounded by other Hall of Famers; analysts disagreed about whether he was the best LB on his own team. Hendricks had a longer career than Bell, and he flourished in multiple settings. He was a consensus All-Pro with the Colts in 1971, the Packers in 1974, and the Raiders in 1980. The Raiders won three Super Bowls with Hendricks, and none without him.

Hendricks excelled in coverage, pass rushing, run stuffing, and kick blocking. Long called him “the most complete outside linebacker,” and Zimmerman selected Hendricks as the “all-around” LB on his All-Century Team.

65. Jonathan Ogden
Offensive Tackle
Baltimore Ravens, 1996-2007
5 consensus All-Pro, 9 AP All-Pro, 11 Pro Bowls, 2000s All-Decade Team

The fourth overall selection in the 1996 draft, Jonathan Ogden quickly justified his lofty draft position. He was a consensus All-Pro in 1997, and other than his first and last seasons, earned major All-Pro honors in nine out of 10 possible years.

Ogden was 6-foot-9 and 345 pounds, but with the speed of a much smaller man. At the NFL combine, he ran a 5.05 40-yard dash and broad-jumped 9½ feet, with a 31-inch vertical. If you can do all those things, put on 150 pounds — if you can still do them, you could be a left tackle in the NFL. Ogden was an NCAA champion shot putter with terrific strength, but he was quick, with excellent footwork. In his prime, he was the best run-blocker and the best pass-blocker in the league.

In Ogden’s 12 pro seasons, Baltimore had 11 different QBs throw for over 1,000 yards, just missing a 12th (Stoney Case, 988); the leading passer was Kyle Boller. No Ravens receiver gained 4,000 yards during Ogden’s career, and only one (Todd Heap) gained over 3,000. None of Ogden’s fellow linemen made a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team. There’s a plausible argument to be made that Ogden single-handedly elevated his offenses to something near league average. From 1996-2007, Jonathan Ogden made twice as many Pro Bowls (11) as all of his offensive teammates combined (6). He played for four playoff teams, and started for the team that won Super Bowl XXXV.

64. Roger Staubach
Quarterback
Dallas Cowboys, 1969-79
22,700 yards, 153 TD, 109 INT, 83.4 rating
6 Pro Bowls, 1970s All-Decade Team

Hall of Fame coach George Allen was the Bears’ defensive coordinator from 1958-65, then the Rams’ head coach for five years, before coaching Washington from 1971-77. After 20 years of defensive game-planning, against the likes of Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas, Allen declared Roger Staubach the best QB he ever coached against.

Staubach was the greatest quarterback of the 1970s. He led all passers that decade in rating and in TD/INT differential (+45), the latter nearly doubling a second-place tie between Fran Tarkenton and Ken Anderson (+24). Despite playing only eight full seasons, Staubach also ranked among the top three QBs of the ’70s in both passing yards and rushing yards. He performed at a totally different level than any of his peers.

Staubach’s statistics are exceptional. He led the league in passer rating four times, and retired with the highest rating in NFL history. Staubach was distinguished by his combination of short-range and downfield accuracy. Throwing underneath, he hit the receiver in stride, but he was also a great downfield passer. A dangerous dual-threat, Staubach was also known for his running, an ability that earned him the nickname “Roger the Dodger.” Staubach rushed for 2,204 yards and 19 TDs, ranking among the top 10 rushing QBs every full season of his career.

Staubach earned another nickname, Captain Comeback, with his many fourth-quarter heroics. His playoff-winning throw to Drew Pearson wasn’t the first Hail Mary pass, but it’s the play known by that name, after Staubach told reporters, “I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.” Staubach led the Cowboys to a 85-29 record (.746), with six NFC Championship Games, four Super Bowl appearances, and two titles. He was MVP of Super Bowl VI.

Coach Tom Landry raved, “Roger Staubach might be the best combination of a passer, an athlete, and a leader ever to play in the NFL.” With his career delayed by service in the US Navy, Staubach was 27 as a rookie and 29 before he started regularly. He retired at 37 due to repeated concussions, following a season in which he set career-highs for yardage and TDs, easily leading the NFL in TD/INT differential (+16, with no one else over +8) and passer rating (92.3, with no one else over 84). His career was shortened on both ends, but Staubach was one of the top QBs in the NFL every season he was active. He was the most accurate passer of his generation, he was the most dangerous dual-threat, he ran the best two-minute drill, and he won the most games of any QB of the decade.

63. Raymond Berry
Split End
Baltimore Colts, 1955-67
631 receptions, 9,275 yards, 68 TD
3 consensus All-Pro, 4 AP All-Pro, 6 Pro Bowls, 1950s All-Decade Team, 50th Anniversary Team, 75th Anniversary Team, All-Century Team

For almost 60 years, Raymond Berry has been regarded among the very best receivers ever to play professional football. He was named to NFL all-time teams in 1969, 1994, and 1999. I grew up on legends of Berry’s hands and work ethic. He led the NFL in receptions three times, led in receiving yards three times, led in receiving TDs twice. He set all-time records for receptions and receiving yards. He started on multiple championship teams and was highly respected.

But there’s a problem: the Weeb Ewbank-era Colts are overrated. Last year, I wrote a long piece about Hall of Famers in the NFL’s greatest dynasties. If you’ve enjoyed this series, I recommend you check it out. For that project, I examined eight-year dynasties. The 1964-71 Colts, who went 84-23-5 (.785) and won NFL Championships in 1968 and 1970, tied for the 14th-greatest dynasty of all time.

The 1956-63 Colts, Berry’s Colts, didn’t make the list. They won back-to-back titles in 1958-59, then disappeared. After the championships, they went 6-6, 8-6, 7-7, 8-6. Those teams had Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Ray Berry, Jim Parker, and Gino Marchetti in their primes. They had a Hall of Fame head coach in Weeb Ewbank. They had Hall of Fame DT Art Donovan, plus Big Daddy Lipscomb, Jim Mutscheller, a couple years with Alan Ameche. The roster overflowed with legendary talent.

Unitas, Moore, Berry, Parker, Marchetti, and Donovan all made the 1969 all-time team. Unitas, Berry, Parker, and Marchetti made the 1994 all-time team, as well. If you have four players of that caliber in their primes, players among the very best ever at their positions, plus two other Hall of Famers, a Hall of Fame head coach, and several other excellent players, shouldn’t you be one of the very greatest, most successful teams in history? The Colts weren’t. They had two great seasons, and apart from those, the prime years of Berry and Parker and Marchetti produced teams that were only a touch above average. Shouldn’t a team with so many all-time greats at least match the success of the 1950s Lions, or the less celebrated late-60s Colts? The Colts were much more consistent during John Mackey‘s prime than during Berry’s.

So how do you rate four players from that team among the top 50 of all time? You don’t. It doesn’t make sense. I have ranked all of those players highly, yet lower than usual. Raymond Berry led all players in WR-TSP ^[3]receptions + receiving yards + (5 * estimated receiving first downs) + (15 * receiving TDs) in 1957, 1959, and 1960, and he ranked third in 1958. That’s a brilliant four-year run. He also ranked 10th in 1956, which is not especially impressive in a 12-team league, and had no other top-10 seasons. Are four great years at wide receiver enough to rank among the top 50 players of all time? I don’t see it. Where was Berry in his late 20s?

I hope this explains my unorthodox placement of Berry, though he still rates very high, the top 25% of the Hall of Fame and the top 10 receivers of all time. I also want to highlight Berry’s excellence, though. Below is what I wrote about Berry in the Best WRs By Decade series three years ago:

Ray Berry probably worked harder for his excellence than any receiver in history. At 6-2 and 187, he wasn’t big. One of his legs was shorter than the other, and he wasn’t fast. His eyesight was weak. He didn’t start for his high school football team until he was a senior. He spent one year at junior college, then went to Southern Methodist, where he caught one touchdown pass in three years.

Berry practiced longer and harder than anyone else, and he developed 88 distinct moves for beating defenders. He led the NFL in receptions three times, led in receiving yards three times, led in receiving TDs twice. In 1960, Berry gained 1,298 yards; Buddy Dial was next, with 972. Berry had 34% more yards than second place. As a point of comparison, when Calvin Johnson set the single-season record for receiving yardage (1,964), he gained 23% more yards than 2nd-place Andre Johnson (1,598) and 30% more than 3rd-place Brandon Marshall (1,508).

Berry’s finest moment came in The Greatest Game Ever Played, the 1958 NFL Championship Game. He caught 12 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, including 3 receptions on the critical fourth-quarter drive that sent the game into overtime. Berry retired as the all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards. He later went 48-39 as head coach of the New England Patriots, including an appearance in Super Bowl XX.

In my fourth year with the Patriots, Raymond Berry became the receivers coach. The first time he saw me he tossed me a football, standing about two feet away. I thought maybe there was a message written on it, like a note in a bottle someone finds washed up on shore. So I turned it over and looked at it on all sides. Nope, just a plain old NFL football. So I tossed it back to him. He tucked it away. Then he moved a step back and underhanded it to me. I tossed it back and he tucked it away. Pretty soon we were playing catch, overhand, and every time he got the ball he tucked it away. I got the message. He never said a word, but nothing he could have said would have been as effective as that little game of catch we had. From then on I tucked the ball away, even when someone just handed it to me.
— Pro Bowl tight end Russ Francis
(from The Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football, by Paul Zimmerman)

62. Charles Woodson
Defensive Back
Oakland Raiders, 1998-2005, 2013-15; Green Bay Packers, 2006-12
65 INT, 966 yards, 11 TD; 33 FF, 18 FR, 142 yards, 2 TD; 20 sacks
1 DPOY, 1 consensus All-Pro, 7 AP All-Pro, 9 Pro Bowls, Defensive Rookie of the Year, 2000s All-Decade Team

The only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy, ^[4]Even after a HOF-worthy pro career, my favorite Woodson highlight may still be his one-handed interception of a ball Michigan State’s Brady Hoke tried to throw away. Woodson was equally successful in the NFL. Over an 18-year career, he played every position in the defensive backfield, led the NFL in interceptions twice, gained over 100 INT return yards three times, and tied the all-time record for defensive touchdowns (13). Woodson officially holds the record for most combined sacks and interceptions (85), although sacks were not recorded prior to 1982.

Woodson was fast and explosive, but he also used his size and physicality, and he played an aggressive, gambling style, anticipating and freelancing at times. He had great instincts, so that approach facilitated a lot of big plays. Woodson was the most well-rounded, multi-skilled defensive back of his era. He was a great ballhawk who intercepted 65 passes, a punishing tackler who forced 33 fumbles, an effective blitzer who had 20 sacks, and a productive returner who gained over 1,100 yards and scored 13 TDs.

Notwithstanding a lull in the mid-00s, Woodson remained remarkably effective through a long career. He made four consecutive Pro Bowls twice, a decade apart: 1998-2001 and 2008-2011. In his final season, aged 39, Woodson had eight takeaways (5 INT, 3 FR). Less focused early in his career, he became a leader in Green Bay. He played the run well, but was most dangerous as a blitzer and ballhawk. NFL Throwback has an excellent video summary of Woodson’s career, worlds better than his unwatchable episode of “A Football Life.”

61. O.J. Simpson
Running Back
Buffalo Bills, 1969-77; San Francisco 49ers, 1978-79
11,236 rush yards, 4.67 average, 61 TD; 203 rec, 2,142 yards, 14 TD
1 MVP, 1 OPOY, 5 consensus All-Pro, 5 AP All-Pro, 6 Pro Bowls, 1970s All-Decade Team, 75th Anniversary Team

Whatever mistakes O.J. Simpson made after his playing career ended, he was a brilliant running back. O.J. had excellent vision, and seemed to plan three and four moves ahead of his defenders. He had world-class speed and acceleration, and he was graceful, a runner who made sprinting and turning upfield look natural and easy. Simpson’s cuts weren’t as flashy as those of Gale Sayers or Barry Sanders, but he could change direction without slowing down, which most runners can’t.

Simpson had two different seasons which arguably could be the greatest ever by a running back. In 1973, Simpson had the first 2,000-yard season in history. It is still the record for rushing yards per game (143.1) — by quite a lot, 10 yards per game — and I doubt the record will ever fall. This is also the NFL record for largest margin of difference between the leading rusher (Simpson) and second-leading rusher (John Brockington, 1144) — 859 yards, or 61 per game. ^[5]For context, 62.5 yards per game is 1,000 yards in a 16-game season. Simpson averaged 6.0 yards per attempt.

But I might argue that his 1975 season was even better than ’73. In 1973, Simpson rushed for 2,003 yards, but he only gained 70 receiving yards and scored 12 total TDs. In ’75, the Juice had almost 200 fewer rushing yards, but he added 426 receiving yards and scored 23 TDs. That’s the most yards from scrimmage, and the most TDs, ever in a 14-game season. Are 356 receiving yards and 11 TDs worth 186 rushing yards and a few points of average? It’s at least close.

Many fans know that Simpson played on hopelessly bad teams. The Bills’ 1-12-1 record in 1968 entitled them to draft Simpson first overall, but he couldn’t solve their problems, and they went 12-42-2 (.214) over the next four seasons, never winning more than four games. They had winning seasons every year from 1973-75, Simpson’s prime, even making the playoffs in 1974. They went 5-23 the following two years, and Simpson was basically done.

It is generally true that Simpson played on miserable teams, but the Bills did eventually supply their star RB with talent that allowed him to flourish. The 1973 draft yielded three key players: blocking tight end Paul Seymour, offensive guard Joe DeLamielleure, and quarterback Joe Ferguson. In the history of the NFL, I’m aware of three offensive line units that had widely known nicknames: the Great Wall of Dallas (Cowboys, 1990s), the Hogs (Washington, 1980s), and the Electric Company (Bills, 1970s). DeLamielleure and Seymour solidified the Electric Company, so named because “they turned on the Juice.” DeLamielleure was a 6-time Pro Bowler, a starter on the 1970s All-Decade Team, and a Hall of Famer. Tackle Dave Foley, acquired via trade in 1972, was the other standout, but Buffalo’s offensive line was a strength, not a weakness. At Simpson’s press conference following the 2,000-yard milestone, he began by introducing the Electric Company.

And in case you didn’t know, Orenthal James. I’d go by O.J., too.

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This series will continue here every Tuesday and Thursday for the next four weeks. The best way to reach me with comments and questions is via Twitter (@bradoremland), where I’ll also offer some brief bonus material on most days there’s no new article. Thanks for reading. Next article: Best Players in History, 51-60.