Top 10 Greatest Football Players in NFL History

Few debates will get the blood flowing and the mean words flying between you and your football-loving friends than by simply asking the question: Who’s the best NFL player of all time? 

It’s a debate that pits generation versus generation, fans of one team versus fans of an opposing one, or even those who prefer a specific position to another for time immemorial, and we’re here for it. 

Think quarterbacks deserve more love? Think defensive players get the short shaft? Think running backs are overrated? There’s space for all of you here. 

Here are the best NFL players of all time. 

Born: July 16, 1968 (Wichita, Kansas) 

Position: Running Back

Teams: Detroit Lions (1989-98)

Career highlights: NFL Most Valuable Player (1997), two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1989), 10-time NFL All-Pro (1989-98), 10-time Pro Bowl (1989-98), PFWA All-Rookie Team (1989), NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team

Bottom Line: The only player to make this list who ended his career without a championship, Barry Sanders is always in the discussion for the greatest running back of all time and, like Jim Brown, shocked the sports world by retiring in his prime.

When Sanders retired following the 1998 season, he not only had the NFL career rushing record directly in his sights but could have put it into an almost unreachable territory. 

Sanders’ highlight reels are still see-to-be-believed type of stuff, dating back to when he won the 1988 Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma State, and he quit playing football just one year after he was named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1997. 

Oh, he was also an NFL All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl for all 10 seasons he played. 

Born: July 25, 1954 (Columbia, Mississippi)

Died: Nov. 1, 1999, 46 years old (South Barrington, Illinois) 

Position: Running Back

Teams: Chicago Bears (1975-87)

Career highlights: Super Bowl champion (1985), NFL Most Valuable Player (1977), NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1977), eight-time NFL All-Pro (1976-80, 1984-86), nine-time Pro Bowl, NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, NFL 75th Anniversary Team, NFL 100th Anniversary Team

Bottom line: Walter Payton — “Sweetness” — was possibly the greatest running back the NFL has ever seen. He rushed for at least 1,200 yards in 10 of the 13 seasons he played for the Chicago Bears, won NFL Most Valuable Player in 1977 and a Super Bowl after the 1985 season on arguably the greatest team in NFL history. He was also no slouch catching passes out of the backfield, with 4.538 receiving yards and was named an NFL All-Pro eight times. 

Sadly, Payton died of a rare liver disease in 1999, at just 45 years old. 

Born: Aug. 9, 1967 (Fort Myers, Florida)

Positions: Cornerback/Return Specialist

Teams: Atlanta Falcons (1989-93), San Francisco 49ers (1994), Dallas Cowboys (1995-99), Washington Redskins (2000), Baltimore Ravens (2004-05)

Career highlights: Two-time Super Bowl champion (1994, 1995), eight-time NFL All-Pro (1992-94, 1996-98), NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1994), NFL 100th Anniversary Team

Bottom Line: Simply the greatest defensive back of all time, Deion Sanders played with a flash and exuberance that seemed to transcend the game itself.

Arguably the fastest human who ever lived, Sanders also played Major League Baseball full-time for his first seven seasons in the NFL, led the National League in triples in 1992 and returned for two more seasons in the majors in 1997 and 2001. Sanders won Super Bowls in back-to-back years with two different teams, the 49ers and Cowboys, and retired from the NFL for three years before returning for two seasons with the Ravens in 2004 and 2005. 

Born: March 24, 1976 (New Orleans, Louisiana) 

Position: Quarterback

Teams: Indianapolis Colts (1998-2011), Denver Broncos (2012-15) 

Career highlights: Two-time Super Bowl champion (2007, 2016), Five-time NFL Most Valuable Player (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013), Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (2007), 10-time NFL All-Pro (1999, 2000, 2003-06, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013), 14-time Pro Bowl (1999, 2000, 2002-10, 2012-14) 

Bottom Line: Peyton Manning was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft out of Tennessee and took a dead-in-the-water franchise with the Indianapolis Colts and turned it into a billion-dollar, Super Bowl winner. 

Manning would eventually win five NFL Most Valuable Player awards and two Super Bowl titles — the second of which came with the Denver Broncos. As far as being the people’s champion, few NFL players can compete with Manning who is as beloved and as recognized as any football player who ever lived.