The Most Intimidating Players in the NFL

The Bleacher Report recently published an article about ” The 40 Most Intimidating NFL players”. As soon as I read the headline I knew who was going to be picked Number  1. I knew it would be Lawrence Taylor , the N.Y. Giants outside linebacker who terrorized opposing quarterbacks and running backs in the eighties and nineties. LT’s combination of quickness, strength, speed and ferocity made him impossible to defend against . Too bad that his life off  the field unraveled after his playing days were over.

Any such list of the Top 40 , or the Top 10  or whatever is bound to be subjective and this one is no exception . As is only to be expected , it is heavily weighted in favor of the more recent players ; short shrift is given to players from the sixties and earlier. You can read the full list on The Bleacher Report but the Top 10 are as follows :

10. Jim Brown ( RB , Cleveland Browns)   

9. Ray Nitschke ( MLB , Green Bay Packers)

8.  Barry Sanders ( RB, Detroit Lions)

7. Dick Butkus (MLB, Chicago Bears )

6.Mike Singletary (MLB, Chicago Bears)

5. Ray Lewis ( MLB, Baltimore Ravens)

4. Jerry Rice ( WR, San Francisco 49ers).

3. Bruce Smith ( DL, BuffaloBills)

2. Reggie White  (DL, Philadelphia Eagles)

1. Lawrence Taylor ( OLB, New York Giants)

Before I give you my own preferences, I want to point out one  problem with this list :the Bleacher Report article takes ” intimidating ” to mean both a) physically punishing and therefore fearsome and b) scary because they are so good . Consequently , the full list includes wide receivers  like Terrell Owens ( 20) , Randy Moss( 13) and Jerry Rice (4) and running backs like Walter Payton ( 26) and  Barry Sanders( 8). Great as these players undoubtedly were , I’d leave them off my list because they were not physically intimidating. I’d leave in players like Larry Csonka ( 35) and Jerome Bettis ( 32) because they were. Bettis was not known as ” The Bus” for nothing . As for Csonka, it was said of him that if he managed to get around the ends and saw only a puny CB between him and the TD , his eyes would light up and he would go out of his way to run over the hapless CB , and not around him . No , my list would not contain any WR’s and many fewer RB’s.

My Top Ten would be :

10. Carl Eller( DE,Minnesota Vikings)

9. Mean Joe Greene ( DT, Pittsburgh Steelers)

8. Jim Brown ( RB , Cleveland Browns)   

7. Ray Nitschke ( MLB , Green Bay Packers)

6. Sam Huff  ( MLB, New York Giants)

5. Dick Butkus (MLB, Chicago Bears )

4.Ray Lewis ( MLB, Baltimore Ravens)

3. Reggie White  (DE, Philadelphia Eagles)

2. Bruce Smith ( DE, Buffalo Bills)

1. Lawrence Taylor ( OLB, New York Giants)

The differences in my list are that I’ve switched Reggie White and Bruce Smith ( #s 2 and 3)   and completely dropped Jerry Rice , Mike Singletary and Barry Sanders.I have already explained the dropping of Jerry Rice and Barry Sanders . As for Mike Singletary, I don’t think he belongs that high.  In their places I now have  Sam Huff  ( formerly No. 11 , now No.6) , Mean Joe Greene ( formerly No. 16, now No. 9) and Carl Eller ( at No. 10). It is no accident that there are five linebackers and three defensive ends among the Top 10. These are positions which call for speed and strength combined and which have an  impact on the greatest number of plays. Offensive linemen contain the defensive rush, and their mission is to protect the QB ; they are  “passive ” , for want of a better word. Of the running backs , the bruising Jim Brown is the only one to retain his place in my Top 10.On the defensive side of the ball , there were a number of hard hitters among safeties ( Ronnie Lott and Troy Palomalu are two that come to mind) but they are not big enough to be physically intimidating , at least as compared to defensive linemen and line backers .

So that’s my list. Naturally , I don’t expect you to agree completely with my picks. So, go on … tell me . Who would you rather choose ?