Might be a bit premature to put Rashard Lewis on the team… he’s only played one full season in blue, and he wasn’t nearly as big a deal on the court as advertised (though he has been good).
Maybe a little premature but I didn’t feel right putting Dennis Scott in over him and Grant Hill’s numerous injuries while in Orlando led me to exclude him from the list.
New York Jets
- Joe Namath
- Don Maynard
- Curtis Martin
- Wesley Walker (like Namath, when he played, the team won; when he was injured, they lost).
- Mark Gastineau
- George Sauer (retired much too soon; he could have eventually surpassed Maynard)
- Richard Todd
- Gerry Philbin
- Pat Leahy (One of the great field goal kickers ever. Trivia: from 1965-1991 the Jets only had three kickers – Jim Turner, Bobby Howfield, and Leahy).
- Freeman McNeil
Yeah, that’s the hard part about this. Certainly I’m “rewarding” players like Appier and Montgomery for longevity and service to the team, so you try to balance it out with high peaks from Tartabull and such. But what makes Appier’s long term value more than Otis’? I think eventually you just admit that most of those players south of Sweeney are all of about equal talent, and a few just can’t make the Top Ten for whatever reason.
And comparing across eras really is hard - the numbers are so skewed these days.
Brady Quinn, my foot. Give me Tom Clements at QB any day.
I love Tony Rice, but there need to be more defensive players. I’d put LB Jim Lynch in instead.
No reason you can’t make your own list- NOBODY said mine was the last word on anything.
I’ve lived the first half my life in Southern California and the latter half in Minnesota, so this might get long.
This is a combination of franchise all time greats and favorite players.
Brooklyn/LA Dodgers
Jackie Robinson
Pee Wee Reese
Roy Campanella
Duke Snider
Sandy Koufax
Don Drysdale
Don Sutton
Steve Garvey
Fernando Valenzuela
Orel Hershiser
Minnesota Twins
Kirby Puckett
Harmon Killebrew
Tony Oliva
Rod Carew
Bert Blyleven
Kent Hrbek
Frank Viola
Johan Santana
Justin Mourneau
Joe Mauer
Los Angeles/St Louis Rams
Eric Dickerson
Elroy Hirsch
Bob Waterfield
Deacon Jones
Merlin Olsen
Isiah Robertson
Jack Youngblood
Jackie Slater
Kurt Warner
Marshall Faulk
Minnesota Vikings
Alan Page
Carl Eller
Jim Marshall
Paul Krause
Fran Tarkington
Chuck Foreman
Adrian Peterson
Randy Moss
Matt Blair
Scott Studwell
Los Angeles/Minneapolis Lakers
Jerry West
Magic Johnson
George Mikan
Wilt Chamberlain
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Shaquille O Neal
Elgin Baylor
Kobe Bryant
Gail Goodrich
James Worthy
Minnesota Timberwolves
Kevin Garnett
University of Virginia football:
- Bill Dudley
- Shawn Moore
- Herman Moore
- Chris Slade
- Tiki Barber
- Ronde Barber
- Heath Miller
- Matt Schaub
- Ray Savage
- Anthony Poindexter
University of Virginia men’s basketball:
- Ralph Sampson
- Bryant Stith
- Jeff Lamp
- Buzzy Wilkinson
- Barry Parkhill
- Wally Walker
- Cory Alexander
- Roger Mason
- Curtis Staples
- Sean Singletary
Criteria: career value to franchise, post-1970
Philadelphia Phillies
- Richie Ashburn (includes announcing, and because it’s my damn list)
- Michael Jack Schmidt
- Steve Carlton
- Jimmy Rollins
- Chase Utley
- Ryan Howard
- Bobby Abreu
- Lenny Dykstra
- Tug McGraw
- Darren Daulton
- Von Hayes
Philadelphia Eagles
-
Reggie White
-
Brian Dawkins (sigh)
-
Donovan McNabb
-
Bill Bergey
-
Brian Westbrook
-
Wilbert Montgomery
-
Harold Carmichael
-
Stan Walters
-
Mike Quick
-
Eric Allen
-
Tra Thomas (sigh)
University of Central Florida -
Daunte Culpepper
-
Kevin Smith
-
Joe Burnett
4.-10. Seven guys you’ve never heard of
It’s a pretty short list 
I’d throw Ryan Schneider in there; he put up some pretty amazing numbers until he went nutso as a senior. Asante Samuel and Brandon Marshall for what they’ve accomplished in the NFL, too, and Doug Gabriel for what he accomplished in college. Rashad Jeanty has been a pretty solid linebacker for the Bengals.
Plus, Travis Fisher, the first UCF player to be drafted.
Von Hayes? Old Five For One? The guy the Phillies traded a young Julio Franco, Manny Trillo and 3 other guys I can’t remember for? You’re kidding, right? Not Garry Maddox? Bake McBride? Greg Luzinski? Bob Boone? Curt Schilling?
New York Giants
- Lawrence Taylor
- Harry Carson
- Michael Strahan
- Tiki Barber
- Y.A. Tittle
- Sam Huff
- Frank Gifford
- Bart Oates
- Phil Simms
- Sean Landetta (?)
The Giants have had a ton of great LBs. Taylor, Carson, and Huff are legit Hall of Famers, and Carl Banks, Pepper Johnson, Jessie Armistead, are Hall of Very Good type guys.
I wanted to put in Fran Tarkenton, but he only had the five seasons in New York.
I was tempted to put in Chris Snee.
Landeta.
No love for Eli?
I like Eli, but he’s too flawed a player to put him on a Giants’ Top 10 list based on only 4.5 years as a starter. Jessie Armstead, Toomer, and Bavarro would probably be my next three (in that order). Maybe I could consider Eli after that. (Actually, Armstead should probably be above Landetta; I was mostly being cute there.)
Off the top of my head:
Boston Red Sox:
- Babe Ruth
- Ted Williams
- Cy Young
- Carl Yastrzemski
- Pedro Martinez
- Tris Speaker
- Curt Schilling
- Joe Cronin
- Smokey Joe Wood
- Harry Wright
Actually… I can’t believe you left Toomer off, now that I think about it. Isn’t he the Giant’s all-time leading receiver?
Some good choices, but I can’t imagine leaving Cris Carter off this list. I may be biased by the fact that he is one of my favorite receivers, but there is a good reason for that. He is one of the best.
No Randall Cunninghman? I guess I can’t really argue with any of your choices… sigh, what could have been with Randall.
Mikan, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar and O’Neal. That’s a heck of list at the center position. Vlade Divac wouldn’t make anyone’s list, but he wasn’t bad either.
:D:D:D