USA Today's top 25

[Brando19]

I found this on PFT.....I can't believe Favre is 14th on the list...USA Today SUCKS!!!!!!!!!...here's the article:

So we've been paying close attention to the ongoing countdown of the top 25 NFL players of the past 25 years on the USA Today web site, and we've even decided to do our own.

Our decision was due in large part to our belief that the USA Today list, well, isn't very good. Our concern started with the inclusion of Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, whose only football-related activity of note in the past quarter-century was his Hall of Fame speech.

But now we've got another major beef with the folks at USA Today. At No. 14 on their list is Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

Brett Favre? No. 14? The guy who has shattered the record for consecutive starts by a quarterback? The guy who could end up with every career passing record?

Look, we take plenty of shots at Favre, primarily because we get sick of hearing how great he is. But he is. And there's no way that Favre is only the fourteenth best pro football player of the past 25 years.

[Charles Woodson]

is there a link i wanted to see who was in front of him

[Brando19]

Here's the list so far...1-13 hasn't been revealed yet.

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

[packers11]

14... thats horseshit...

[MJZiggy]

Amazingly, Fiorio agrees with you.

[woodbuck27]

Here's the list so far...1-13 hasn't been revealed yet.

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

So some of those or my thirteen best guess's of those who will be placed ahead of Favre are:

QB's. .Dan Marino,John Elway and Joe Montana and Tom Brady,WR's. . . Jerry Rice and Steve Largent, RB's. . . Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders and Walter Payton, Defensive players . . .Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, Lynn Swan, Ronnie Lott and maybe Jack Lambert (does he qualify within the 25 year time slot ?) or Howie Long,

[Charles Woodson]

Here's the list so far...1-13 hasn't been revealed yet.

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

So some of those or my nine best guess's of those who will be placed ahead of Favre are:

QB's. .Dan Marino,John Elway and Joe Montana,WR. . . Jerry Rice, RB's. . . Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders and Sweetness, Defensive players . . .Reggie White and Lawrence Taylor,

Deion sanders is number 16

[woodbuck27]

[quote="Charles Woodson"]

Deion sanders is number 16

Yup. . . that post is a work in process.

[retailguy]

Amazingly, Fiorio agrees with you.

All the "PFT WHINERS" are going to have to find something else to bitch about, I guess...

Did you feel that? I think the Earth just moved off it's axis! RUN, RUN.... AHHHHHHHHHHH.

:P

[Badgepack]

• No. 5 Reggie White | Full list of the Top 25

Possibly the best defensive end ever, Reggie White left the NFL as the game's all-time sack leader and as one of the most influential players ever to play in the league. He arrives at No. 5 on USA TODAY's list.

White, a strong and disruptive pass rusher who was an ordained clergyman nicknamed the "Minister of Defense," recorded 198 sacks through a career spent with the Philadelphia Eagles (eight seasons), Green Bay Packers (six) and Carolina Panthers (one season in 2000 after retiring for the 1999 campaign). A two-time Defensive Player of the Year, he dominated his position and was named to a record 13 consecutive Pro Bowls.

His impact was just as great off the field. White was the key player in a lawsuit against the NFL that brought about the current form of free agency. Prior to the ruling, NFL players did not have access to the liberalized form of free agency that their counterparts in Major League Baseball enjoyed.

MOST CAREER SACKS
Player Sacks Teams Seasons

Bruce Smith 200 Buffalo, Washington 19

Reggie White 198 Philadelphia, Green Bay, Carolina 15

Kevin Greene 160 L.A. Rams, Pittsburgh, Carolina, San Francisco 15

Note: Sacks compiled since 1982


White then became the first big-name free agent to switch teams when he left the Eagles for the Packers in 1993 for a four-year, $17 million deal. White helped rejuvenate the Packers franchise and, with Brett Favre, led the team to a 35-21 defeat of New England in Super Bowl XXXI. He set a Super Bowl record with three sacks in that contest, Green Bay's first championship in 29 years.

"That's what changed the football fortunes of this franchise," Packers executive Bob Harlan said about White's arrival. "It was huge." Prior to White, the team had winning records in just five of the previous 23 seasons.

His impact on the field cannot be overlooked, however. White collected an NFL-record nine consecutive seasons with at least 10 sacks. In 1987, one of his best seasons, White recorded 21 sacks in just 12 games of a strike-shortened campaign.

The defensive end seemingly commanded an army of blockers as opposing teams desperately tried to keep him away from the quarterback. But the combination of White's speed and strength was too often more than opposing linemen could withstand.

White died of respiratory failure at age 43 on Dec. 26, 2004, about 13 months before he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

ABOUT REGGIE WHITE

Born: Dec. 19, 1961, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Died: Dec. 26, 2004

College: Tennessee Drafted: Fourth overall by Philadelphia in 1984 supplemental draft

Teams: Philadelphia 1985-1992; Green Bay, 1993-1998; Carolina, 2000

Pro Bowls: 13

Defensive Player of the Year: 1987, 1998

Member: All-Decade Team 1980s and 1990s; NFL 75th anniversary team

Pro Football Hall of Fame: 2006

[Cheesehead Craig]

I think Aikman has been given too much credit for Dallas' success. That OL was one of the greatest units ever.

[The Leaper]

I think Aikman has been given too much credit for Dallas' success. That OL was one of the greatest units ever.

Perhaps, but I think he deserves to be on the list far more than Bradshaw.

[packinpatland]

Is this the same list?
Looks like 1-4 are still coming.


TOP 25 OF THE USA TODAY ERA (1982-2007)

To commemorate USA TODAY's 25th anniversary, a panel of USA TODAY's NFL reporters and editors has produced an anthology of the 25 best NFL players of the past 25 years. Working down from No. 25, we are unveiling one player each weekday until training camp season arrives:
Rank Player Story

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


***

[The Leaper]

Is this the same list?
Looks like 1-4 are still coming.

Shouldn't be much of a surprise left after looking at the current list, although given the way the list has gone so far I would not be shocked to see Boomer Esiason in the top 4.

1 Jerry
2 Walter
3 Joe
4 Lawrence

My prediction at least.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Steve Young was overrated. Montana was just plain awesome. Similar talent, but Montana had nerves of steel.