GOAT

For everyone other than Joe Montana, the question as to who is the greatest quarterback of all time was answered on February 5, 2017.

But is he the greatest football player of all time?

First, this seems like the sort of question for trolls and haters who realize the GOAT debate for quarterback has become settled law. They've run out of alternative facts. It's Tom Brady. That 5th Super Bowl ring under any circumstances would've rendered the argument moot. But engineering the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history and winning in OT? Legendary.

Okay, then. What's left? Well, if you're Brandon Marshall, noted pigskin philosopher and football historian, the real question is whether or not Brady is the greatest football player of all time.

While Marshall was certain that Brady wasn't, he was less certain as to who he thought was, acknowledging that it was probably impossible to determine.

His criteria: "When I think about player, I think about a guy that I can put at corner, safety, defensive end, a guy that I can put back on punt return, chase down kicks."

His list…

• J.J. Watt
• Reggie White
• Deion Sanders
• Jerry Rice

Okay, I'll ignore the recency bias in Marshall's short list (for now) and observe that I'm just not seeing Watt or White at corner, safety, returning or covering kicks. Sanders was famous for his allergy to tackling so while he was an electric, game-breaking player, he isn't going to hold up well at defensive end. Rice is worth consideration as he was often referred to when he retired as not just the best wide receiver of all time but the best player, regardless of position. Of course, that was before we knew he was a liar and a cheater.

My initial reactions to Marshall's comments were (a) any list of all time greatest football player that didn't include Jim Brown immediately invalidates the list and (b) if quarterback is the most important position in football - perhaps in all sports - then isn't the greatest QB of all time the de facto best player?

Then I got to thinking about Marshall's criteria and realized the flaw in his list. Modern era players are specialists. There was a time when football players had to play offense, defense and special teams. Chuck Bednarik is the last NFL player to play all 60 minutes. He played center and linebacker. Bednarik is a Hall of Famer but I'm going to dig a little deeper than Marshall did in looking for that greatest football player of all time. A couple of names came immediately to mind.

Jim Thorpe

Thorpe may well have been the greatest athlete of all time. In the 1912 Olympics, he won the pentathlon and decathlon. Let that sink in for a minute. He played professional football, baseball and basketball. His statistics are hardly gaudy by modern standards but if you're looking for a player who could play wide receiver, defensive end, kick punts and cover them, you'd have to put Thorpe on your list.

Slingin' Sammy Baugh

Baugh's Wikipedia page lists him as a quarterback, defensive back and punter. As you can see there (emphasis added here)…

"Baugh led the Washington Redskins to winning the NFL Championship in 1937 and 1942 and was named NFL Player of the Year by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club in 1947 and 1948 for his play. In both of his Player of the Year seasons, he led the league in completions, attempts, completion percentage, and yards. In 1947, he also led the league in passing touchdowns, interception percentage and passer rating.

"Primarily known for his passing prowess, Baugh led the league in completion percentage seven times, passing yards four times, and an NFL record six times in passer rating, among other statistics. However, he was also known for his versatility—having the ability to play at a high level as a punter as well as a defensive back. Throughout his career, he led the league in yards per punt five times, as well as yardage in 1943, a year in which he also led the league in defensive interceptions, with 11. His yards per punt of 51.4 during the 1940 season still stands as an NFL record as of 2016."

And this: "By the time he retired, Baugh set 13 NFL records in three player positions: quarterback, punter, and defensive back."

This guy checks all the boxes on Marshall's list. Hard to believe he missed him. Oh wait. No it isn't. Brandon Marshall is an idiot.

Jim Brown

In college, Brown played football, basketball, lacrosse and ran track. He was All American in both football and lacrosse. He played only on offense as a professional football player and that was probably lucky for opposing offenses. He's listed as a fullback on his Wikipedia page but that was back in the day when fullbacks toted the rock. Brown led the league in rushing in 8 of his 9 professional seasons and retired with 12,312 yards and an average of 5.2 yards per carry.

In his final season in 1965, in just 14 games he scored 21 touchdowns (17 rushing, 4 receiving).

Take a look on YouTube for various compilations of his pro football highlights.

1960 Jim Brown could get in a time machine, land in 2017 and he'd lead the league in rushing yards, yards from scrimmage and scoring. If he was on the Patriots, Bill Belichick would have him return kickoffs and he'd lead the league in return yards, too.

Also, I love him in "The Dirty Dozen."

Whatever...

Maybe Marshall's right that Brady isn't the greatest football player of all time but as the GOAT quarterback I think he has to at least be in the discussion (as noted above, most important position in the game). I suppose he was right about the fact that determining the greatest football player of all time is probably impossible. Consider this crowd-sourced list from Ranker.com that has Steve Largent at #56, three places ahead of Jim Thorpe. Sammy Baugh comes in at #68, just behind DeMarcus Ware.

I guess the bigger question is: Why should I care about anything Brandon Marshall says?