As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, they had a best-of-the-best vote, an All-Time Team comprised exclusively of Hall of Famers. They originally announced it back in February, but it was quickly overshadowed by the selection announcement and, of course, the Super Bowl. I had pretty much completely forgotten about it until they put up an ad during the enshrinement ceremony.
Since this team was been official for quite some time, there's really no point in revealing what my votes would've been. Instead, I'll break down the selections. I agree with most of them. It's a veritable "Who's Who" of football history. These were the obvious names that immediately come to mind when you think of the greatest ever at a given position. I also really like the way they set it up. You picked 11 offense, 11 defense, a kicker and a coach--just like a normal game. (No punter, since it's evidently not a position, seeing as they inexplicably still haven't put Ray Guy in.)
QB: Joe Montana-The way I see it, there were only three choices at quarterback. The first is Johnny Unitas, the original gold standard at the position. Then there's Terry Bradshaw, who won four Super Bowls in six years. But Joe Montana does seem to be the right choice. Not only did the 49ers win the Super Bowl four times in the 80s, he was the MVP of three of those games. Montana was the architect of that dynasty, and I've always thought he was the greatest quarterback of all-time.
RB: Jim Brown, Walter Payton-Absolutely no problem with these two choices. The only other guy who even belongs in the same league is Emmitt Smith, and I'd maybe give you a Marcus Allen or an Eric Dickerson, but none of those three comes even close to touching Jim Brown or Walter Payton. To this day you still hear people talking about how amazing Jim Brown was, and Walter Payton is one of the best players the NFL has ever seen. He was also one of the greatest gentlemen ever to play the game.
WR: Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin-One of these selections was incredibly obvious. The short list of greatest wide receivers of all-time consists of Jerry Rice and Jerry Rice. I somewhat question the selection of Michael Irvin, though. No question he was great, but part of his greatness was as a part of the "Triplets" with fellow Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. I'd probably have gone with Lynn Swann instead.
TE: Mike Ditka-The tight end selection in the Hall of Fame is pretty limited, but I think this was pretty clear also. Mike Ditka has long been considered the greatest tight end in NFL history. With all due respect to Kellen Winslow, who turned the position into what it is today and would really be the only other guy worth discussing, that's no different today.
OL: Anthony Munoz, Dan Dierdorf, Bruce Matthews, Gene Upshaw, Jim Otto-Four out of the five are right on. Otto's the center. Upshaw is the only true guard in the group, with Matthews, who played everywhere on the line, as the other guard, and Munoz and Dierdorf at tackle. I personally prefer Jackie Slater over Anthony Munoz, but they're really interchangeable, so I have no issue with Munoz being the selection. I wouldn't have picked Dierdorf, though. That's probably because of his popularity as a broadcaster, but is he one of the five best offensive linemen in NFL history? No, I don't think so. I'd move Matthews over to tackle and give Larry Allen the nod at guard. Since Allen wasn't a Hall of Famer yet when they conducted the voting, he wasn't eligible, but the next time they do one of these teams (like the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in a couple years), there's no doubt in my mind he'll be on it.
DE: Reggie White, Howie Long-Like Jerry Rice, Reggie White falls into the "Duh!" category. Howie Long, though? Great? Yes. Greatest of all-time? Definitely not. Another one who gained votes because of his popularity on TV, I think. Without question, it should've been Deacon Jones. The sack stat was invented because of this guy. In other words, he basically redefined the defensive end position. Or if not Grier, Bruce Smith, the all-time leader in said category and the anchor of the defense on that Bills team that went to four straight Super Bowls in the early 90s.
DT: Joe Greene, Merlin Olsen-Jones should've been selected, but at least the Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" was represented by Merlin Olsen. Mean Joe Greene is one of the greatest defensive players in history, and he was the star of one of the greatest Super Bowl commercials ever. He's in a class by himself when it comes to Hall of Fame interior linemen. I'm fine with Merlin Olsen as the other choice.
LB: Lawrence Taylor, Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert-I don't know if they did this on purpose, but they ended up with two outside linebackers and one middle linebacker. And of all the great linebackers in NFL history, these three stand above them all. LT changed the game. He's one of the first names that comes to mind when discussing the greatest players of all-time, regardless of position. Same with Dick Butkus, the first of the great Bears middle linebackers. Jack Lambert was a scary dude on the Steel Curtain defense, and arguably just as valuable as Mean Joe Greene.
CB: Deion Sanders, Darrell Green-Bravo on these selections as well. Deion Sanders is kind of like a football version of Rickey Henderson. So great on so many levels that it doesn't really seem fair. What couldn't he do? Darrell Green's longevity was remarkable. He played almost 20 years in the NFL and was just as productive at the end of his career as he was at the beginning.
S: Ronnie Lott, Rod Woodson-Woodson is kind of cheating. He was a cornerback for most of his career until they moved him to safety later on. But the safety selection is somewhat limited, and he put in enough time at the position that I'm OK with him being there as a safety. The other safety was a no-brainer. Without question, Ronnie Lott was the greatest to ever play the position.
K: George Blanda-OK. This is where I take some issue. Nothing against George Blanda, but he was a quarterback who also happened to do the kicking. The only kicker (in fact, the only special teamer) in the Hall of Fame is Jan Stenerud. There's a reason for that. It's a joke that the only kicker in the Hall of Fame isn't the kicker on the Hall of Fame's All-Time Team.
Coach: Vince Lombardi-He's always been and always will be the gold standard. Others may have more wins or won more Super Bowls, but no one is as revered as the great Vince Lombardi. They named the Super Bowl championship trophy after him for cryin' out loud! It would've been an absolute shock to see somebody else listed as the coach for this team.
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