The Monuments Men: NFL

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk because of an interview that LeBron James gave with NBATV where he was asked which 4 NBA players would be on his Mt. Rushmore of the best to ever play the game. The discussion that has swirled around this got me thinking. And, I want to present my Mt. Rushmore for each of the 4 major American sports: NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. This will be the first part of a five part series. In this first presentation I will choose my NFL Monuments Men. My criteria for choosing each player depends on stats, winning, era played in, and contribution to the game. Without jumping directly into who I choose, I want to touch on some guys who barely missed the list along the way.

The Architects

There are leagues of men who made major contributions to the game of football. They go beyond being the best at their position during a period and truly make a change to how the game is played. One of the names that comes to mind is Walter Camp, the guy who literally wrote the book on American Football. Another is Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th President of this great country, with his political influence making the game safer and ushering in the forward pass. (Ironic that the guy on the real Mt. Rushmore has a chance to make this one, too.) Vince Lombardi is another name that makes the finalists in the architects of the game. If this was a Green Bay Mt. Rushmore then he'd have his face on it 4 straight times, but it isn't. So, while Lombardi transformed a field in Wisconsin into a NFL powerhouse, others made bigger impacts. The same goes for Hank Stram, who made my list as a finalist and one of the most cerebral coaches to ever lead a football team. While all of these architects made major impacts to the game of football, the one who I am choosing from this group to grace the NFL Mt. Rushmore is Bill Walsh. 

Bill Walsh started in the NFL as an assistant to Paul Brown and after proving to be brilliant with offenses he found trouble finding his opportunity at head coaching because Brown told people he was too soft in his approach to football. This sent Walsh to coach at Stanford University. During this time he started to fine-tune his quick hitting pass attack. Walsh utilized an approach of short passes that he saw equally as risky as handing off to a running back. This offensive style moved the chains with quick routes, and allowed the deep passing and running game to play off of the quick slant routes. Famously, the style became known as the West Coast Offense, and revolutionized the game of football. Why did this beat out the introduction of the forward pass? The forward pass was done out of necessity as an attempt to save the game. It was an extremely bold move and deserves a ton of praise sent toward Theodore Roosevelt for it. But, the West Coast Offense was ingenuity from a man to revive the forward pass. The rules and mentality at the time allowed defensive backs to manhandle receivers who ran deep patterns. With Walsh's change, passing was once again a true weapon against defenses. Add to Walsh's ingenuity, his reach into the sport today are still staggering. Below is a list of the assistants that became head coaches that stem from the Bill Walsh School of Coaching.

Source: Wikipedia

You can take each guy under Bill Walsh and assign one to each NFL team. Yes, his 6 most prominent assistant coaches had 26 assistants who all became head coaches in the NFL. Add to it how many have won Super Bowls or made appearances and if that's not enough to get a place on Mt. Rushmore, then what is?

The Obvious Choice

I open argument for every other selection that I make on the list of NFL's Mt. Rushmore but this one isn't debatable. This is the best player to ever step on a NFL field. He wasn't the most athletic. He wasn't the fastest nor smartest. He was simply the best. He was the best because of his work ethic. Who is it that I'm talking about? Jerry Rice, of course.

Rice has almost 7,000 more receiving yards (22,895) than any other WR to ever step on the field. He has 41 more TDs (195) than any other receiver. He was a 13 time Pro Bowler, won 3 Super Bowl rings, and got to work with a guy named Bill Walsh to help both of them make this Mt. Rushmore. 

The case is pretty clear that Jerry Rice's contribution to the game of football is a monumental one. He has the stats to make the list, the wins to make the list, and he was the father to the era of glamorizing the WR position. Without Jerry Rice, those guys who were stretching for his heels in the record books wouldn't have ever become receivers. Jerry ushered in an era of Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, Terrell Owens, Cris Carter, Calvin Johnson, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison and every other receiver that's stepped on a field since Sept. 5, 1994 when Jerry Rice broke Jim Brown's career touchdown record. Many of these receivers were finalists on my list of potential Mt. Rushmore representatives, but I couldn't put another on the list with Jerry Rice. He's the best receiver, hands down. Special mention to the No. 2 leader in receptions, Tony Gonzalez. Similar to how Jerry Rice became a truly dominant receiver and opened the door for those to follow, Gonzalez made the basketball to tight end transition one that happens more and more each year because of his performance as a TE in the NFL. Currently in the NFL today are Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas, and Antonio Gates, who all have basketball backgrounds. That gets Tony Gonzalez special mention as a player who narrowly misses making my Mt. Rushmore.

The Golden Position

Since the invention of the forward pass, one position has become the sexiest in sports: Pro Football Quarterback. From "Broadway" Joe Namath guaranteeing victory in Super Bowl III, to Joe Montana thriving in Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, and John Elway and Dan Marino going in the same draft and dominating the sport for a decade, the QB is the ultimate glamour spot. All of the aforementioned guys deserve a thought at getting a spot on the list. Marino held almost every passing record until Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning dethroned him in recent years. Joe Namath made a statement for the AFL, and Montana and Elway added championships with great stats. But one guy has beaten all of the odds. Every other QB that I've mentioned so far was a first or second round pick. Except one. That one is Tom Brady. He was selected in the sixth round with the 199th pick. He was kept on the New England Patriots roster as a No. 4 QB in his rookie season. He worked like crazy to become the back-up, and when he got his chance, he wasn't giving it back. Minus one season of Randy Moss, Brady hasn't had a Hall of Fame receiver to throw to. He's barely even had Pro Bowl receivers to throw to. That hasn't stopped him from winning 3 Super Bowls and leaving the field with his team leading in 2 others. He found a way to will a injury riddled team to the AFC Championship this season and displays a work ethic rivaled by few. The logic of making Tom Brady one of four on the NFL Mt. Rushmore is this: I knew I was going to put a QB on the list, and the QB that I put at the top on my all-time list is Tom Brady. When it's all said and done after Brady plays another 5-6 years, he might have 4 Super Bowl wins and 7 appearances. He'll be Top-5 in every QB category, be among the most winning QBs in the game, and has a work ethic to be idolized by everybody. 

First Down vs Sweetness

The final piece of the stone to be chiseled in the metaphorical mountain comes down to Jim Brown and Walter Payton. Two NFL running backs that did it anyway necessary. They worked hard, ran hard, and made defenses look silly. Walter had more rush yards than Brown but he also played 70 more games. The way Walter ran was something special, though. He did things on the field that were unheard of. He also started his career 10 years after Brown's ended. So a certain amount of comparison is difficult because defenses, offensive lines, the passing game, and so many other factors changed from 1957 when Brown entered the league to 1987 when Payton exited it. Add to it the fact that other than highlight reels, I didn't get to see either of them enough to really pick out nuances that puts one above the other. After watching several packages of highlights, I've come to a conclusion: If they were both wearing the same uniform, I couldn't differentiate between the two of them. They both ran angry with a bizarre elegance. They'd hit three guys head on and then do a bit of a twist and bend that would score a 10 from even the Russian judge. Their abilities from the eye test are so even that it's hard to pick one over the other. So, I have to rely on the stats in front of me and go with the original. With more yards per game, yards per attempt, and overall touchdowns in fewer games, the final portrait hammered into my NFL Mt. Rushmore is Jim Brown. 

If they all played together, one ball wouldn't be enough

There you have it. My four selections to be etched on the NFL Mt. Rushmore are Bill Walsh, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, and Jim Brown. Could you imagine if these four played in the same era on the same team. They'd have to have two balls. One for Brady to throw to Rice and another one he'd hand to Brown. All while Bill Walsh was working his schemes of the West Coast Offense to run his team like a well oiled machine. Now that the NFL Mt. Rushmore has been selected, tomorrow you'll get the NBA version, Wednesday the NHL, Thursday the MLB, and Friday the top from each sport will be selected to create the Major American Sports Mt. Rushmore. Now we just need some mountains in Canton, Ohio to build this football one..