The NFL Completed its 100th anniversary with
another memorable season full of excitement that did not disappoint. I have
been fortunate to be a fan of the NFL for the last 30 years since following the
league back in 1990 as a kid. As they did in 1995 when the league celebrated its
75th anniversary, the NFL released their greatest 100 roster in NFL
history, with the main difference being head coaches were part of the 100. I
was glad to see a couple of my favorite players from the Buccaneers make the
selection, but the list also seemed incomplete and too loyal to the old guard.
Since I was living in the Tampa Bay area, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
became my team. Sadly, they were a poorly run and awfully coached team back
then, and unfortunately, that is still the case based on these past few seasons.
Thus, I developed a soft spot for the San Francisco 49ers when the likes of Joe
Montana, Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, and Ronnie Lott played for them since the Buccaneers’
season would be over after 6-7 games. Watching that 49’ers team play the West
Coast offense with their tough defense helped me fall in love with the game.
During those 30 years, I have followed the league in
different continents and can’t imagine my Sundays without it. For 100 years,
the NFL has entertained its fans and the future looks bright for this league. The
NFL celebrated its 100th anniversary with the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team through a series presented on the NFL network. The players and
head coaches were voted on by a panel consisting of media members, former
players and league personnel. The series was enjoyable and I agreed with most
of the selections, disagreed with a couple, and didn’t care for some of the players
from the old guard.
Have no fear, I won’t be going over all 100 men selected. I
first want to celebrate the fact that my Bucs, the punchline of the league for most
of the last 40 years in NFL history, had two full-time Bucs on this list and
one short-term Bucs player. I was elated when Lee Roy Selmon, the first ever Bucs
legend, and Derrick Brooks, my all-time favorite Bucs player, made it on the
list. The other player was former Vikings legend, Randall McDaniel who played
for the Bucs for one season before he retired.
Selmon and Brooks were greats of the game during their eras
and will now be part of NFL history as part of this team and future anniversary
teams. They are now immortal and it would have been great if Brooks’ teammates
of Warren Sapp, John Lynch and Ronde Barber could have been a part of this
group. Nonetheless, a good argument can be made for all three making it on the
NFL’s 125th Anniversary All-Time Team, if the NFL does one in 2045, when the
team expands from 100 to 125.
I thought Warren Sapp was an obvious choice to make it to
the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team based on the fact that he was a member of
both the NFL's All-Decade team of the 90s and 2000s. Yet, John Randle, who was
a phenomenal player, got the nod over Sapp. Perhaps Sapp lost some votes because
of his personality during and after his playing concluded. Nevertheless, he
should be on the next All-Time Team.
Another surprise omission had to be not seeing Terry Bradshaw
as one of the quarterbacks on the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Without a
doubt, many wanted to see which quarterbacks were going to make the list. On the
75th Anniversary All-Time Team, only four were selected while ten
quarterbacks were going to be selected for this team. Bradshaw was the first
quarterback to win four Super Bowls in the Super Bowl era, yet he was not
deemed good enough to make it on the list. However, Roger Staubach made it on
the list, even though he lost in two Super Bowls against Bradshaw. This was an
odd choice seeing as they played in the league at the same time and Bradshaw’s
stats were slightly better than Staubach’s. Hopefully Bradshaw won’t be
overlooked in the next team.
Overall, I agreed with most of the selections made for the 100th
Anniversary All-Time Team. NFL kept the players they chose for the 75thAnniversary All-Time Team and just added 25 more players and head coaches. My
only complaint about the team was the inclusion of players from the early years
of the league such as Sammy Baugh, Elroy Hirsch, Dan Fortmann, Cal Hubbard, and
Bill Hewitt. I understand the league wants to show respect to those who were
pioneers in their positions in the old days of the NFL, but were they better
than those who played their position in the last twenty years? Perhaps the NFL
should have had an honorable mention to those who impacted the game such as Bo
Jackson and those beforementioned players.
100 years of the NFL are now in the books. The 100th
Anniversary All-Time Team was certainly interesting and we will have twenty-five
more years of entertaining football before we debate who will be on the 125th
Anniversary All-Time Team. Until then, we should enjoy the NFL one play at a
time.
