I'm a defense man so here goes my top defensive players
1) Dick Lane. A player who ended people's careers with his hits. His hits were so nasty that the league had to make special rules about the kinds of tackles one could make, banning his trademark clothesline.
2) "Dick Butkus is a special kind of brute whose particular talent is mashing runners into curious shapes" - Dan Jenkins in Sports Illustrated
3)Lawrence Taylor. Ask Joe Theisman why he's on my list.
4)"Mean" Joe Green , the monster of the steel curtain. Dwight White should be #5 but you can't seperate men who stood side-by-side.
And soon to be added...
Derrick Brooks. NFL’s best linebacker the last 10 years and a great man off the field. How many LB's can drop back into coverage on a WR?