Best football player of all time is?

"Best football player" is tough because, unlike other sports, the roles of each position in football are often so different from each other.

On offense, I'd say Jerry Rice.

On defense, Lawrence Taylor.

I don't know-- John Elway?

Joe Namoth

This is truly a hard question. In baseball you don't have as varied a criteria to go off of. Pitchers and hitters. Fielding comes in to play of course, especially by position, but at the end of the day you're going to stay on the field if you dominate hitting. So you have to decide between those two options really. In hockey you've got scoring and defense and goaltending. I doubt goal tenders would get much love for best hockey player. Eventually I think hockey players would come down mostly to scorers.

But in football, wow. QB, WR, RB, OL, DL, LB, secondary. Three levels of differing defensive players and four levels of offensive players, including two different ways of getting into the endzone to actually score. I mean, Joe Montana? Or LT? JIm Brown? These guys played vastly different games and positions but all had a tremendous impact on the game. I tend to default to Montana but . . .

Jerry Rice. Another scoring monster that was so consistently scary. This is the "best player" I feel least comfortable about picking though.

and

Dolf Lundgren

Larry Csonka

Johnny Unitas

Sean Taylor RIP

I live in Northern Virginia and I'm a HUGE Washington Redskins fan! If Sean Taylor would have stayed alive, could you imagine what kind of player he would have been. He would be an instant inductee into the Hall of Fame!!!!

thought it all over--John Unitas....

I am going with Joe Willy Namath. He said he'd win and he did! What he accomplished on a bum set of knees was very remarkable! His throwing style is still taught and you see somke of that style in Peyton Manning as an example.

Mr Ronaldo!

wait... this is american football?
woops thought ya meant soccer

In soccer ... for best player ... anybody who doesn't say "Pele" has to be asked why!

whose pele? what team is he in?

He's like 70 years old, so obviously, he doesn't play soccer anymore.

The question was about the greatest football player "of all time."

I'm not a soccer expert, but I know that when it comes to its greatest player ever, most people generally say it's Pele.

In fact, I think he was chosen in a FIFA vote as the greatest player ever.

Here's more about him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

is he still alive?

thats a hard decision but im going to have to go with Jerry Rice on this one best wide receiver to ever play the game

Great Choice! And on the very 1st season he sure showed he can dance! He is also a very accomplished golfer.

Great pick. This one was hard for me. But I've eventually come around to him.