Len Dawson for leadership and wins
Bobby Bell for pure athleticism and tenacity.

John Elway? I'd say he's like their fourth best. Maybe.

Willie Lanier played great on shitty teams in the early 70's and he NEVER mailed it in.

Guy is tops in my book.

He was a Jersey boy who wrecked shit in high school, college and pros. He played in NJ for both high school and college. He had a chip on his shoulder and was a tough tackling machine. I remember watching him in high school and college.

Very underrated.

too young to have seen Willie Lanier play. But he was pretty good for me in Madden's ultimate team when I was doing a Chiefs theme team. Bobby Bell sucked but I never got to watch him either, but Lanier was a hell of a coverage LB in that game lol.

Manning wasn’t even the best hall of famer on those Colts teams.

In terms of pure talent, pre knee injury Edgerrin James was the best player I ever saw.

The thing that sticks out about both of them is how big they were compared to other players on the field. Fast too.

Lanier was a complete LB, who played sideline to sideline, as well as shooting the gap. He was a hard hitter who was always throwing his body around. And as you mention, he could play coverage too, finishing his career with 27 career interceptions, ninth in KC history to this day. This is a pretty good representation of how he played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpNgf1X7eHs


Bell was just incredibly athletic for a big man. He shared many characteristics with Lanier, including ability to play both the run and the pass, finishing with 26 career interceptions. Smaller sample of plays, but you'll get the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wwxeHN5uXc&t

It's a really good, well researched list.

If I would make a change, it would be Johnny Unitas over Peyton Manning.

I'd pick Bell over Lanier but it's splitting hairs IMO

LOL. Edgerrin, is that you?

I assume you were mostly watching the Chiefs and the AFC then? Sam Mills was pretty ****ing good but he played for an NFC team that did not play a lot of primetime games and he played for the Saints when they sucked.

Hank Stram would agree with you.
He said Bobby Bell was the best player/athlete he ever coached.

In the video about Bobby Bell there is a play beginning at 1:53 against the Colts. That game was the second ever Monday Night Football game played in 1970. That was the first year after the merger. The Colts, Browns, and Steelers had agreed to move to the AFC.

After the Chiefs lost the 1st Super Bowl there were some NFL players that ran their mouths about how the Chiefs sucked. The Chiefs players heard it all. Johnny Unitas was one of the more outspoken NFL players in that regard. The Chiefs couldn't wait for that game. Remember that the Colts 1970 team won the Super Bowl that year, but the Chiefs were out for blood. The Chiefs won the game 44-24. The clip at 1:53 shows Bell hitting Unitas just about as hard as he possibly could. You can actually see Unitas bounce off the turf a bit. It was a very satisfying win.

I remember Mills but I'm surprised Julius Peppers isn't the Carolina choice. Mills only played several seasons in Carolina later in his career. Peppers was there longer and was one of the league's best pass rushers at the time.

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