18 replies to this topic

[JWL]

The ESPN College Football Encyclopedia has a section in the back of the book with lists of favorites as selected by Beano Cook, Lee Corso, Dan Jenkins and several others.

From the editor Michael MacCambridge-
". . . There weren't many hard-and-fast rules. We asked the panel to name the 11 best players they ever saw, either live or on television, selecting one player from each of the main position groups, then adding four more wild-card choices from any position (denoted by an "x"). The other 11 bests and favorites are self-explanatory, entirely subjective, occasionally idiosyncratic and always deeply, passionately felt. . ."


I think it would be very enjoyable to create our own lists in the same fashion. It will be interesting to see our selections.

For the "Best 11" a simple list will do.
QB
RB
WR
OL
DL
LB
DB
x-
x-
x-
x-

For the four wild-card spots (denoted by an "x") you can choose four QBs if you want or four RBs or four players from four different position groups. It is up to you.

For the "11 Best", the panel went into detail and explained their selections usually with a short paragraph. "Best Bowl Game" in the encyclopedia will be changed to "Best Super Bowl" for this forum.
Best Team
Best Season
Best Game
Biggest Upset
Best Super Bowl
Best Stadium
Best Fans
Best Uniforms
Best Book
Favorite Coach
Favorite Player

The other rule here was that the panel had to select players and teams they saw or covered. Kirk Herbstreit, for example, only selected players and teams and games of the past quarter century.

I will take my time with my picks, but they all will be of players and teams and games since 1984.

[NWebster]

The ESPN College Football Encyclopedia has a section in the back of the book with lists of favorites as selected by Beano Cook, Lee Corso, Dan Jenkins and several others.

From the editor Michael MacCambridge-
". . . There weren't many hard-and-fast rules. We asked the panel to name the 11 best players they ever saw, either live or on television, selecting one player from each of the main position groups, then adding four more wild-card choices from any position (denoted by an "x"). The other 11 bests and favorites are self-explanatory, entirely subjective, occasionally idiosyncratic and always deeply, passionately felt. . ."


I think it would be very enjoyable to create our own lists in the same fashion. It will be interesting to see our selections.

For the "Best 11" a simple list will do.
QB
RB
WR
OL
DL
LB
DB
x-
x-
x-
x-

For the four wild-card spots (denoted by an "x") you can choose four QBs if you want or four RBs or four players from four different position groups. It is up to you.

For the "11 Best", the panel went into detail and explained their selections usually with a short paragraph. "Best Bowl Game" in the encyclopedia will be changed to "Best Super Bowl" for this forum.
Best Team
Best Season
Best Game
Biggest Upset
Best Super Bowl
Best Stadium
Best Fans
Best Uniforms
Best Book
Favorite Coach
Favorite Player

The other rule here was that the panel had to select players and teams they saw or covered. Kirk Herbstreit, for example, only selected players and teams and games of the past quarter century.

I will take my time with my picks, but they all will be of players and teams and games since 1984.

Since 1974:
QB - Joe Montana
RB - Walter Payton
WR - Jerry Rice
OL - John Hannah
DL - Reggie White
LB - Lawrence Taylor
DB - Deion Sanders
x- Rod Woodson
x- Ndomokong Suh
x- Anthony Munoz
x- Jack Ham


Best Team: '84 49ers, 15 and 1 and dominant in a difficult NFC - beat a strong Dolphins Team in the Super Bowl
Best Season: 1987: Crazy Year with the strike, Reggie White dominating, Anthony Carter with the great playoff performance and a Super Bowl with a million yard second quarter
Best Game: '82 Chargers / Dolphins Playoff Game
Biggest Upset:
Best Super Bowl: Homer Alert Steelers over Cards
Best Stadium: Lambeau Field, not because of John Facenda and the images that NFL Films painted, but because when i went there to do research one February almost a decade ago i was able, in the offseason, to walk into the stadium, go to the top, and see a foggy skyline and dew on the grass - felt like football. What an amazing place.
Best Fans: Homer alert #2, Steelers
Best Uniforms: Raiders
Best Book: The Hidden Game of Pro Football tied with Thnking Man's Guide
Favorite Coach:
Favorite Player: Greg Lloyd

[Rupert Patrick]

I'll take a crack at this

QB - Joe Montana
RB - Walter Payton
WR - Jerry Rice
OL - Anthony Munoz
DL - Alan Page
LB - Lawrence Taylor
DB - Deion Sanders
x- Emmitt Smith
x- Jack Lambert
x- Ronnie Lott
x- Tom Brady

I added a couple extra superlatives that made sense

Best Team - 1985 Bears
Best Season - 1978, although 1981, 1986 and 1990 are close.
Best Postseason - 1981, but 2008 was awfully good also
Best team not to make the playoffs - 1986 Seahawks or 2008 Patriots.
Best team not to win the Super Bowl - 2007 Patriots, 1984 Dolphins.
Best Game - I presume this is for best regular season game, I will go with 1986 Redskins Vikings, with 1979 Cowboys Redskins a close second.
Best Postseason Game - 1981 Dolphins Chargers
Biggest Upset - 1979 playoffs Oilers over Chargers
Best Super Bowl - Super Bowl XXV Giants over Bills
Best Stadium - Hard not to choose Cowboys Stadium
Best Fans - Steelers Fans
Best Uniforms - Chargers classic powder blue uniforms
Best Helmet - Raiders helmet from 70's
Best Book - Total Football
Favorite Coach - Tom Landry
Favorite Player - Terry Bradshaw
Favorite Opposition Player to watch - Ken Stabler, Ray Lewis

[rhickok1109]

I might be cheating a little on one selection--I saw Hutson play, but I was only 6 years old at the time and I can't pretend to remember much about it. I added one category, Best Post-Season, and eliminated one, Best Uniforms.

QB Otto Graham
RB Walter Payton
WR Don Hutson
OL Forrest Gregg
DL Reggie White
LB Ray Lewis
DB Rod Woodson
x- Paul Hornung
x- Lawrence Taylor
x- Jim Brown
x- Jerry Rice

Best Team 1962 Green Bay Packers
Best Season 1970: In the first year of the merger, four of the six divisions were decided by just 1 game, one was decided by a game and a half, and the sixth was decided by only 2 games
Best Post-Season 2011: the conference championships and the Super Bowl, were decided by the grand total of 11 points
Best Game The Ice Bowl
Biggest Upset Giants 17, Patriots 14 in SB XLII
Best Super Bowl XXXVI, Patriots 20, St. Louis 17
Best Stadium Lambeau Field
Best Fans Packers (of course )
Best Book Run to Daylight, W. C. Heinz and Vince Lombardi
Favorite Coach Curly Lambeau
Favorite Player Hornung

[PowderedH2O]

Mine will be since 1973 (I saw games before that, but in 1973 I finally "got it").

QB - Joe Montana
RB - OJ Simpson
WR - Jerry Rice
OL - Anthony Munoz
DL - Randy White
LB - Lawrence Taylor
DB - Ronnie Lott
x - Walter Payton
x - Ray Lewis
x - Derrick Thomas
x - Deion Sanders

Best Team: 1989 San Francisco 49ers. This team rolled through the schedule and destroyed the Broncos in the Super Bowl. They had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, plus Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Ronnie Lott, and many more. They won their three playoff games 126-26.

Best Season: 2009. A number of great stories. Brett Favre goes to the Vikings and has the season of his life. The Saints start off 13-0. The Colts start off 14-0. The Jets ride a rookie coach and quarterback all the way to the AFC Championship Game. Then, to finish it off, the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl over Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Best Game: Elway vs Montana 1994 - Chiefs vs Broncos. Elway leads a furious comeback, followed by one last hurrah for Montana.

Biggest Upset: Easy. Giants over Patriots in 2008 Super Bowl.

Best Super Bowl: The Broncos vs Packers. It was close and well played. It was a classic matchup of legendary quarterbacks and great players on both sides that came down to the last possession for the Packers.

Best Stadium: Dolphins/Joe Robbie/Pro Player - It may not have the most tradition, but there is not a bad seat in the house. Plus, the weather is great and the beverages are cold.

Best Fans: Who Dat? Saints fans stick by the team, even when they aren't worth it.

Best Uniforms: I am not a 49ers fan, but their red jerseys with the gold helmets and pants are as classy and snazzy as it gets.

Best Book: The Defenders by Murray Olderman

Favorite Coach: Marty Schottenheimer - He always had his team ready to play a hard, scrappy game.

Favorite Player: Drew Brees - He saved the franchise, and he's nothing but class.

and some extra categories...

Best Team to not make the playoffs: 1991 San Francisco 49ers - they lost Montana, then Steve Young. Steve Bono started for 6 games. They started 4-6, then won 6 games in a row to finish the season 10-6.

Best One Game Hero: Clint Longley, who guided the Cowboys to an unpredictable Thanksgiving Day win over the Redskins after Roger Staubach had been injured.

Most Fun Team To Watch: The 1984 Miami Dolphins were the loosest, high flying outfit of the era.

Best Player in a Single Season: Was there ever anyone better than OJ Simpson in 1973? Defenses knew OJ was getting the ball. Yet, he kept carrying it and averaged 6.0 yards per carry. The Bills only threw for 1236 yards.

Most Amazing Statistical Oddity: Gary Keithley of the St. Louis Cardinals became the Johnny Vandermeer of the NFL by having back-to-back no hitters in 1973. Well, actually, he had back to back 0.0 passer ratings in two starts in December (30 pass attempts total, for 39 yards and 3 interceptions). Oddly enough, the Cardinals actually won one of these games, as Falcons' quarterback Bob Lee threw his own 0.0.

[Jeffrey Miller]

QB - Tom Brady
RB - OJ Simpson
WR - Jerry Rice
OL - Anthony Munoz
DL - Bruce Smith
LB - Dick Butkus
DB - Deion Sanders
x- Barry Sanders
x- Gale Sayers
x- Randy Moss
x- John Hannah

I added a couple extra superlatives that made sense

Best Team - Green Bay Pakcers 1960s dynasty team
Best Season - 1990 (I'm a Bills fan)
Best Game - Bills 51, Raiders 3, 1990 playoffs
Biggest Upset -
Best Super Bowl - Rams defeat of Titans
Best Stadium - only been to one ...
Best Fans - Browns, Bills, Eagles (tie)
Best Uniforms - Chargers Powder Blue
Best Book - tie: America's Game (MacCabridge)/Total Football
Favorite Coach - Lombardi
Favorite Player - Simpson

[nicefellow31]

Great idea.

QB Joe Montana
RB Walter Payton
WR Jerry Rice
OL Anthony Munoz
DL Mean Joe Green
LB Lawrence Taylor
DB Mike Haynes
x- Reggie White
x- Randy Moss
x- Peyton Manning
x- Barry Sanders

Best Team: 1989 San Francisco 49ers (just rolled that year and beat the ish out of the Broncos in Super Bowl)

Best Season: 1985 (Da Bears gave me a nostalgic feel. Also thumbs up for 74,75,76,80,81,83,and 91)

Best Game: NFC Championship between Niners and Redskins (Skins held on for dear life)

Biggest Upset: (Vikings over Niners, 1987 season playoffs)

Best Super Bowl: XLIII (Steelers vs Cardinals)

Best Stadium: RFK Stadium, Washington DC

Best Fans: Pittsburgh Steelers (I want to say Redskins but that would be a "homer" answer)

Best Uniforms: Oakland Raiders

Best Book: Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football 2nd Edition

Favorite: Coach Joe Gibbs

Favorite Player: Reggie White

[JWL]

QB- Joe Montana
RB- Barry Sanders
WR- Jerry Rice
OL- Anthony Munoz
DL- Bruce Smith
LB- Lawrence Taylor
DB- Ronnie Lott
x- John Elway
x- Ray Lewis
x- Deion Sanders
x- Reggie White


Note: I did not want to select any players who played the bulk of their career prior to the time when I began to watch games religiously. This is why Walter Payton and Mike Haynes are not on the above list.


Best Team- 1985 Bears

Best Season- 1998. Doug Flutie came down from Canada to have a nice season...Vinny Testaverde and Randall Cunningham came off the bench for the Jets and Vikings, respectively, and went a combined 25-2 as starters in the regular season...Terrell Davis ran for over 2000 yards...Randy Moss, Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Reggie White, Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, John Elway, Steve Young, Michael Strahan, Marshall Faulk, Ray Lewis, Derrick Brooks, Bruce Matthews and Bruce Smith are some of the all-time greats who were active...the four conference finalists went a combined 55-9 in the regular season (54-8 when not including the Falcons-Jets game)

Best Game- Jets 40, Dolphins 37 on October 23, 2000. My Dolphins fan co-worker predicted a 37-7 Dolphins win. No way could that ridiculous prediction come true. Right? The Dolphins were up 30-7 in the 4th quarter. Three Jets players scored their first career touchdowns in the 4th quarter. The Jets tied the score. The Dolphins then quickly retook the lead. The Jets tied the score at 37-37 when an offensive linemen caught a touchdown pass. Marcus Coleman had two interceptions in overtime.

Biggest Upset- Colts over the Chiefs in a 1995 divisional playoff game. This was a stunning game. The '95 Chiefs were arguably Marty Schottenheimer's best team and they laid a big egg in this game.

Best Super Bowl- Super Bowl 44

Best Stadium- On TV, I always liked watching games that were played in RFK Stadium, Mile High Stadium and Cleveland Municipal Stadium. All three were old stadiums with their own distinct atmospheres and all had natural grass surfaces.

Best Fans- Chiefs

Best Uniforms- either the current 49ers uniforms or the Arizona Cardinals uniforms of the Jake Plummer era

Best Book- "Out of Their League" by David Meggyesy

Favorite Coach- Joe Gibbs. He always came across as a nice person when interviewed and the Redskins were one of the teams I liked in the 1980s. The counter trey, H-backs, dodge patterns to Art Monk, the Hogs, the Posse- it was a fun team to watch and Joe Gibbs was the biggest reason for it all.

Favorite Player- Curtis Martin

Favorite Player Not From My Favorite Team- John Elway. Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders and some others were very exciting to watch for sure, but to me Elway was the #1 most exciting player to watch play. My father acquired a Coors Light cardboard cutout of Elway. He put it in the living room. At night when we had the light on it would appear to neighbors and people driving by that some wacko was staring at them.

[Reaser]

Couldn't decide where I wanted to make my cutoff date, went with 1990, so I won't count '89 49ers for "best team," even though I'de say they're technically the best team I've seen...to an extent on what I remember, I am counting some late 80's player performances for my 11 players, of players who played into the 90's...

QB - Joe Montana
RB - Marshall Faulk
WR - Jerry Rice
OL - Walter Jones
DL - Reggie White
LB - Ray Lewis
DB - Deion Sanders
x- Lawrence Taylor
x- Randy Moss
x- Ronnie Lott
x- Ed Reed

(Rod Woodson is the only player I'm upset about leaving off, so I'm mentioning him this way...)

Best Team - 1994 49ers
Best Season - 1999
Best Game - Seahawks at Chiefs 1990
Best Super Bowl - XXXIV
Best Stadium - CenturyLink Field
Best Fans - Chiefs
Best Uniforms - Raiders
Best Book - "America's Game" and "The Man Who Built The National Football League: Joe F. Carr"
Favorite Coach - Mike Holmgren
Favorite Player - Deion Sanders

[97Den98]

My cutoff date is 1981, when I started watching the NFL.

QB: Dan Marino/John Elway (tie)
RB: Walter Payton
WR: Randy Moss
TE: Shannon Sharpe (I put TE because they forgot)
OL: Larry Allen
DL: Reggie White
LB: Lawrence Taylor
DB: Troy Polamalu
x-Peyton Manning
x-Barry Sanders
x-Rod Woodson

Best Team: 1997-98 Broncos. Had best QB in game, a top-two RB that ran for 2,000 yards, best TE, best OL, two great WR's, and a good defense that included Steve Atwater, Neil Smith, Keith Traylor, and John Mobley.
Best Season: 1997: You had the three-time MVP going for his second straight ring, you had Elway going for his first, and you had the young Bucs that arrived on the scene, plus you had exciting divisional races and an exciting, unforgettable Super Bowl.
Best Game: 1981 AFC Divisional Playoff between San Diego and Miami. Greatest Game ever.
Biggest Upset: 1998 NFC Championship Game.
Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl 32. It had a great storyline. You had Favre going for his second in a row, and you had Elway, the sentimental favorite, going for his first. On top of that, the game was great.
Best Stadium: Lambeau Field
Best Fans: Brown fans that have stuck with the team for the last 30-plus years.
Uniforms: 49ers
Book: Don't know
Favorite Coach: Bill Parcells
Favorite Player: John Elway

[ronfitch]

Since about 1972 ...

QB: Joe Montana
RB: Walter Payton
WR: Jerry Rice
OL: John Hannah
DL: Alan Page
LB: Ray Lewis
DB: Deion Sanders
x: Barry Sanders
x: Sterling Sharpe
x: Ted Hendricks
x: Peyton Manning

Best Team: '96 Packers
Best Game: '83 Monday Night shootout between the Packers and the Redskins
Biggest Upset: SB XLII Giants over the Patriots or SB XXXII Broncos over the Packers
Best Super Bowl: SB XLII Giants over the Patriots
Best Stadium: anything with no lid, real grass and the possibility of snow or rain
Best Fans: Browns
Best Uniforms: Raiders (I hate the trend to add black to unis, but the Raiders did it decades ago and do it with style)
Best Book: Zimmerman's "The Thinking Man's Guide" or Miller's "Going Long" (I didn't know or care much about the AFL until I read this book)
Favorite Coach:
Favorite Player:

[Teo]

I began watching the NFL in 1977, so those are my favorites since then:

QB - Roger Staubach
RB - Walter Payton
WR - Jerry Rice
OL - John Hannah
DL - Bruce Smith
LB - Lawrence Taylor
DB - Mike Haynes
x- Barry Sanders
x- John Stallworth
x- Ted Hendricks
x- Jack Youngblood


Best Team - 1984 49ers
Best Season - 1981
Best Game - 1983 Washington at Green Bay
Biggest Upset - 1998 NFC Championship Game (Atlanta over Minnesota)
Best Super Bowl - XLII (Patriots vs. Giants at Phoenix)
Best Stadium - Cowboys Stadium
Best Fans - Denver Broncos
Best Uniforms - Green Bay Packers
Best Book - Jerry Markbreit's Last Call: Memoirs of an NFL Referee
Favorite Coach - Tom Landry
Favorite Player - Roger Staubach

[DWarren]

QB: Joe Montana
RB: Walter Payton
WR: Calvin Johnson
TE: Kellen Winslow
OL: Dwight Stephenson
DL: Reggie White
LB: Lawrence Taylor
DB: Ronnie Lott
x-Charles Woodson
x-Barry Sanders
x-Mike Singletary
X-Charles Haley

Best Team: 1985 Bears: Still the most ferocious defense I have ever seen. Walter Payton and Jim McMahon and a very underrated offensive line did the rest.

Best Season: Too tough to call.

Best Game: 1981 AFC Divisional Playoff between San Diego and Miami.

Biggest Upset: 1998 NFC Championship Game - maybe the most painful loss in Vikings' history.

Best Super Bowl: Super Bowl 25. Two polar opposite teams in style - offensively and defensively. Whitney Houston. Scott Norwood. Mark Ingram Sr. - on 3rd-and-13 - makes the greatest play I have ever seen in my life during a 14-play, 9minute, 32 second drive that gave the Giants a 17-12 lead.

Best Stadium: Lambeau Field

Best Fans: Detroit Lions

Uniforms: New York Jets

Book: When Pride Still Mattered

Favorite Coach: Buddy Parker

Favorite Player: Billy Sims

[paulksandiego]

QB Joe Montana
RB Walter Payton
WR Jerry Rice
OL John Hannah
DL Reggie White
LB Lawrence Taylor
DB Ronnie Lott
x- Barry Sanders
x- Dan Marino
x- Peyton Manning
x- O.J.Simpson



Best Team - 1985 Chicago Bears
Best Season - 1975 (my favorite anyway, I don't know if I could choose "the best")
Best Game - 1981 Divisional Playoffs San Diego Chargers over Miami Dolphins 41-38
Biggest Upset - Super Bowl XLII: NY Giants over the unbeaten New England Patriots 17-14
Best Super Bowl - Super Bowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers over Dallas Cowboys 35-31
Best Stadium - Texas Stadium
Best Fans - Steelers
Best Uniforms - Raiders
Best Book - Total Football series
Favorite Coach - Bill Cowher
Favorite Player - Jack Lambert

[JuggernautJ]

The first game I really remember was SB III. I became a little more cognizant of the subtleties of football in the '70s. As a Steeler/Niner fan I've seen more of their games than any other teams but I watched virtually every TV game possible in the 80s and 90s. With that caveat I think the "Best" I've seen have been...

QB Joe Montana*
RB I know I will be in a tiny minority here (in fact, a singularity) but I don't think I've seen anyone better than (and he's by no means a "favorite")... Eric Dickerson*.
WR Jerry Rice*
OL Tom Mack*
DL Bob Lilly*
LB Bobby Bell (LT is too easy)
DB Ronnie Lott*
x- Joe Greene
x- Earl Campbell/Bo Jackson* (they were clones, right?)
x- Art Shell/Gene Upshaw/Boomer Brown/Jim Otto... Art Shell*.
x- Jim Kelly* I'm not particularly a fan but he threw one of the best two or three passes I've ever seen in a live game... for the Houston Gamblers at an Oakland Invaders game. (I had season tickets)
(*-seen in person)


Best Team
I could pick a slew of 49ers or Steelers squads but I think the best team (but probably not the most skilled) was the 2001 Patriots.
Best Season
I can't decide on criteria for "best season" so I'd have to choose a favorite... and I'd have to say the 1994 Season was amongst the most enjoyable for me.
Best Game
The Dec 11, 1989 MNF game in which John Taylor scored two touchdowns of 95+ yards to lead a 17 point come-from-behind victory for the Niners over the Rams
Biggest Upset
Falcons over Vikings in the 1998 NFC Championship Game
Best Super Bowl
XXIII 49ers vs Bengals II. The last drive was... (insert superlative here).
Best Stadium
Having been to only California Stadiums (and they are horrible) I think I'd choose Kezar (on a sunny day). It was truly horrible but oh so quaint.
Best Fans
I have no idea. But I'm sure they'd be from at least 30 years ago, before public drunkenness, abuse and assault were tolerated.
Best Uniforms
Anything with real, live, mud on it. 60s Rams and Colts, Simple, neat, perfect (and I mean the navy blue on white versions). 70s Steelers and Browns (a product of my upbringing, no doubt), The Ohio Glory, San Jose Sabercats and I have a fond spot in my heart for the 1994 49ers uniforms.
Best Book
Reference: Total Football II Other: When The Grass Was Real
Honorable Mention: Perhaps obsolete in this era of online news resources but still a favorite is "The Scrapbook History of Pro Football" with hundreds of articles from around the country and from the late 1800s onwards. At one time (and for a long time) it was the best first account history I had that I could take home with me.
Favorite Coach
Bill Walsh (sorry, homer choice but honest)
Favorite Player
My favorite player is Chuck Bednarik but I can't claim to have seen him "live"... so I'll have to go with Joe Montana (as if that's a second choice...)

[JWL]

JuggernautJ,

I was at Kezar Stadium several years ago. When you walk in it now it is a little difficult to believe NFL games used to be played there.

On one side is the Golden Gate Park. On the other side are houses. North of the stadium is a McDonald's. I looked at some old photos and it looks like there was a parking lot where the McDonald's currently sits. It wasn't much, but at least not everyone would have had to walk to the games.


****


Multiple people listed Total Football I or II as their favorite book. I also like it but thought some of the essays were not interesting or necessary especially in an encyclopedia. The more recent ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia featured less opinion. It also had the added bonuses of team-by-team yearly starting lineups and 300-yard passers, 100-yard runners and receivers, and 4 TD-scorers in the games section. Total Football II is cleaner and when looking at a guy like Rick Upchurch you need not turn to the punt return section, but I think overall the ESPN encyclopedia is better. It is too bad we will not see a third edition of either book.

[JuggernautJ]

JuggernautJ,

I was at Kezar Stadium several years ago. When you walk in it now it is a little difficult to believe NFL games used to be played there.

On one side is the Golden Gate Park. On the other side are houses. North of the stadium is a McDonald's. I looked at some old photos and it looks like there was a parking lot where the McDonald's currently sits. It wasn't much, but at least not everyone would have had to walk to the games.

And the Kezar you saw has been renovated. You haven't really been to Kezar unless you leave with a piece of the stadium... and by that i mean a ceremonial sliver from one of the ancient wooden benches imbedded in your buttocks.

And I can claim to have actually played at Kezar.
The annual "Turkey Day" San Francisco High school championship games are played at Kezar but that's not how I got to play there.

There was a semi-pro team called the Terminators who used our sandlot team, the Juggernauts, for fodder... er, to scrimmage against. We played our games at Kezar. I've got to say, at least when I was there, the field itself was very nice.

[Bryan]

From 1980 - present

QB - Joe Montana
RB – Barry Sanders
WR - Jerry Rice
OL – Tony Boselli
DL – Reggie White
LB – Lawrence Taylor
DB – Rod Woodson
X- Peyton Manning
X- Ray Lewis
X- Randy Moss
X-Troy Polamalu

Best Team: 1984 49ers – a well-rounded team that was tough on offense and defense. To me, the most amazing aspect was how even their role-players were superstar caliber. They even had two defensive lines, their own and the 1980 San Diego Chargers (Dean, Kelcher, Big Hands).

Best Season: 1984 – so many single-season and career milestones achieved. Aggressive schemes on offense and defense. Some great heavyweight teams fighting it out in the NFC (Niners, Bears, Skins, Giants).

Best Game: 1990 NFC Championship – Giants v. Niners

Biggest Upset: 1989 Packers over Niners in SF

Best Super Bowl: 1990 Giants v. Bills

Best Stadium: Lambeau Field (new)

Best Fans: Steelers

Best Uniforms: Coryell-era San Diego Chargers

Best Book: NFL Top 40 by Shelby Strother

Favorite Coach: Don Coryell

Favorite Player: Bubby Brister

Best Team to not make the playoffs: 1987 Giants – so much talent, so little organization

Best One Game Hero: Kevin Sweeney

Most Fun Team To Watch: 1989 Packers – lots of flaws, but a few exciting players and some very close games.

Best Player in a Single Season: Dan Marino, 1984

Most Amazing Oddity: A second D.D. Lewis appears on the NFL scene, and he also plays OLB.

[Todd Pence]

TEAM: 1999 Rams
SEASON: 1990, although 1979 and 2007 come close
POSTSEASON: 1981
BEST TEAM NOT TO WIN SUPER BOWL: 2007 Patriots, 1983 Redskins
BEST REGULAR SEASON GAME: 1983 Redskins 37, Raiders 35. Raiders build 15 point lead with two 90+ yard TDs, Redskins rally to win. Should have been the Super Bowl.
BEST POSTSEASON GAME: 49ers-Cowboys "catch" game, 1981.
BEST SUPER BOWL: 44, Saints-Colts
BIGGEST UPSET: Second-year Jaguars topple top-seed Broncos in '96 playoffs - at Mile High
BEST FANS: Broncos
BEST UNIFORMS: Seahawks before 2002
BEST HELMET: Rams
BEST BOOK (MEMOIR): Jerry Kramer's "Instant Replay", although Tom Beer's "Sunday's Fools" is the funniest
BEST BOOK (ANALYTICAL): Hidden Game
FAVORITE COACH: Dick Vermeil
FAVORITE PLAYER: Steve Largent

QB - Joe Montana
RB - Barry Sanders
WR - Jerry Rice
DL - Reggie White
LB - Lawrence Taylor
DB - Darrel Green