The Athletic's 100 Greatest Players of All-Time

In 2021, the Athletic published its list of the "100 best players in the history of the NFL." The handful of players who aren't in the Hall of Fame will all likely get in on the first ballot.

Rank	Hall of Fame?	Player	Legends Score
1	Eligible 2028	Tom Brady	143
2		Jim Brown	88
3		Jerry Rice	104
4		Lawrence Taylor	80
5		Reggie White	98
6		Joe Montana	91
7		Peyton Manning	125
8		Walter Payton	82
9		Johnny Unitas	85
10		Dick Butkus	63
11		Otto Graham	40
12		Anthony Munoz	77
13		Don Hutson	42
14		Joe Greene	51
15		John Elway	55
16		Deacon Jones	48
17		Ray Lewis	80
18		Dan Marino	42
19		Ronnie Lott	67
20		Bruce Smith	84
21	Active	Aaron Rodgers	89
22		Brett Favre	76
23		Sammy Baugh	34
24	Eligible 2029	Aaron Donald	62
25		John Hannah	77
26		Rod Woodson	59
27		Barry Sanders	76
28		Deion Sanders	59
29		Emmitt Smith	63
30		Merlin Olsen	72
31		Bob Lilly	76
32		Alan Page	61
33		Bronko Nagurski	12
34		Gino Marchetti	67
35	Eligible 2028	J.J. Watt	42
36		Forrest Gregg	59
37		Jack Lambert	60
38		Randy Moss	41
39		Ed Reed	58
40		Eric Dickerson	41
41		O.J. Simpson	55
42		Jim Parker	60
43	Eligible 2026	Drew Brees	38
44		Bruce Matthews	73
45		Larry Allen	62
46		Tony Gonzalez	71
47		Randy White	70
48		Sid Luckman	40
49		Steve Young	57
50		Dick Lane	43
51		LaDainian Tomlinson	53
52		Jack Ham	56
53		Gale Sayers	41
54		Chuck Bednarik	59
55		Lance Alworth	21
56	Eligible 2027	Rob Gronkowski	37
57		Mike Webster	55
58		Herb Adderley	48
59		Junior Seau	66
60		Jonathan Ogden	61
61		Bart Starr	52
62		Ray Nitschke	32
63		Raymond Berry	39
64		Walter Jones	50
65		Joe Schmidt	65
66		Earl Campbell	38
67		Gene Upshaw	43
68		Charles Woodson	51
69		Terry Bradshaw	58
70		Marshall Faulk	40
71		Mel Blount	36
72	Eligible 2027	Adrian Peterson	57
73		Marion Motley	18
74		Bobby Bell	36
75		Paul Warfield	33
76		Art Shell	39
77		Ted Hendricks	64
78		Roger Staubach	28
79		Mike Haynes	52
80		Willie Lanier	21
81		John Mackey	32
82		Kellen Winslow	38
83		Leo Nomellini	55
84		Mel Hein	20
85		Clyde Turner	49
86		Buck Buchanan	16
87		Champ Bailey	54
88		Darrell Green	27
89		Bobby Layne	37
90		Willie Brown	51
91		Willie Davis	42
92		Lenny Moore	44
93		Mike Singletary	63
94		Elroy Hirsch	25
95		Fran Tarkenton	26
96		Mike Ditka	24
97		Jim Otto	34
98		Steve Van Buren	37
99		Dermontti Dawson	52
100		Derrick Brooks	63

Share