You know the names that regularly pop up on these subjective lists, Dan Marino, Barry Sanders, Dick Butkus, Jim Brown, Frank Tarkenton, etc. What about modern players, though?
These are the players you watched growing up that will forever be immortalized in the Hall of Fame if you were born after 1980. Some speeches have yet to occur, but one picture won’t appear when the slide show starts: the coveted Lombardi trophy being hoisted into the air.
Here are the top 5 modern players who never got their ring.
5) Tony Gonzalez, TE
You need to know 14. No, that’s not his jersey number. I know you think it’s the maximum number of electrons that can fit in an f sublevel, but it’s not that. It’s the number of Pro Bowls Gonzalez made it to in his career. Only one person has surpassed that number with 15, and that’s number 12, the GOAT.
Gonzalez’s list of accomplishments is astounding when looking at all his records. 6th in reception yards, 3rd in receptions, and 8th in receiving touchdowns. The stat line you read wasn’t for TEs; that’s all-time. Out of a possible 272 games, he only missed two. In the 270 games played, he only had five games where he didn’t register a reception. For 265 consecutive games, he caught a ball. Durable and dependable.
4) Larry Fitzgerald, WR
I would love to put Fitzgerald at number one. I believe Fitz is the most well-rounded WR ever to play the game. All of his game was strong. He could block you out of the play, break your ankles on short routes or leave you in the dust when he went deep. A true leader on and off the field.
He has one of the wildest stats in sports history, with 41 tackles and only 29 dropped passes. Let that sink in; he had more tackles than dropped passes AS A WR! He had 21 different QBs throw him the ball, and if I said name two of them other than Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer, I would fall out of my chair like Vince McMahon if you knew the answer. Imagine a world where he was coupled with an elite NFL quarterback for his entire career.
Fitzgerald finished second overall with 1,378 receptions and 17,083 receiving yards in the modern era, behind only the great Jerry Rice. Even when the playoffs arrived, Fitz still smashed the stat button. In 9 playoff games, he averaged 104.7 yards per game and scored 10 TDs. Even his Super Bowl, 43 loss versus the Steelers, was one of the most outstanding performances by a WR, with seven catches, 127 yards, and 2TDs. That game will always be debated in the top 5 Super Bowls of all time, and Fitz was a significant cog in the wheel. Antonio Holmes was the MVP that game, and if he hadn’t made that catch in the corner through triple coverage, Fitz would have retired as a champion on paper and potentially a Super Bowl MVP.
3) Junior Seau, LB
For 20 seasons, Seau challenged all defenders as the greatest of his time. In 1994 Bill Belichick called him the best defensive player in the league. That season Seau had a career-high 155 tackles, including an NFL-best 124 solo tackles and 5.5 sacks. He earned 12 consecutive Pro Bowls, Walter Payton Man of the Year, 1990’s All-Decade team, the NFL’s 100th Anniversary Team, and his number 55 retired with the Chargers. Much like the following individual on the list, he fell short of a perfect season with the Patriots in 2007. Two Super Bowl appearances weren’t enough for the “Tasmanian Devil.” Seau ranked 3rd all-time with 1,847 total tackles, and 1,077 of those were solo. The last feather in his cap, he is 1 of 3 players to have 50+ sacks and 15+ interceptions. May he rest in peace.
2) Randy Moss, WR
When you ask Freak how he will pay his fines, he’ll tell you, “Straight cash, homie.” Moss had an exciting career, to say the least. The 2007 Patriots season was remarkable, and the Mossiah was at the epicenter of it, breaking the record for most receiving TDs in a season with 23.
The Dallas Cowboys will forever be remembered as the team to back out on drafting Moss and was fed more than stuffing on their 1998 meeting against the Vikings—a poetic stat line of revenge. Moss only had three receptions that day; he also took every single one to the house, totaling 163 receiving yards. Love him or hate him, he was a game-changer. His highlight reels look like the NFL’s all-time greatest catches. Moss will forever be debated as one of the best, and a Lombardi could have helped persuade the conversation.
1) LaDainian Tomlinson, RB
It’s fitting that he had a lightning bolt on his helmet. Tomlinson had a jump cut that made him look like the Flash. You could never tell which way he would shift at a high speed. MVP, Walter Payton Man of the Year, a handful of Pro Bowls, rushing records, and TD records, his list of accomplishments is long.
Tomlinson’s MVP season came with the Chargers in 2006, and they finished 14-2. In the divisional round, he put up 187 total yards and 2 TDs, only to watch Tom Brady jog off with a classic comeback victory. That summed up his career; he had everything but a ring. Tomlinson finished 10th overall in NFL history for all-purpose yards. Not 1 yard was contributed from punt or kickoff returns. It was all him from the RB position, incredible.
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