This is being commemorated as the 100th anniversary of the NFL. Lists like this will pop up.
I'm not going to rank the players here, that takes more time than I'm allotting for the project. Here I'll just group them by position. The next 25 are in the (just missed) group
Quarterbacks (20)
Peyton Manning
Tom Brady
Drew Brees
Brett Favre
Fran Tarkenton
Dan Marino
John Elway
Steve Young
Aaron Rodgers
Ben Roethlisberger
Joe Montana
Johnny Unitas
Philip Rivers
Matt Ryan
Dan Fouts
Otto Graham
Warren Moon
Terry Bradshaw
Ken Anderson
Roger Staubach
(Just missed: Starr, Dawson, Jurgensen)
Running Backs (12)
Emmitt Smith
Marshall Faulk
Bronko Nagurski
LaDainian Tomlinson
Barry Sanders
Franco Harris
Tony Dorsett
Walter Payton
OJ Simpson
Eric Dickerson
Jim Brown
Marion Motley
(Just missed - Thomas, Allen)
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends (12)
Jerry Rice
Tony Gonzalez
Marvin Harrison
Terrell Owens
Randy Moss
Paul Warfield
Michael Irvin
Don Hutson
Larry Fitzgerald
Lance Alworth
Steve Largent
Raymond Berry
(Just missed - Maynard, Wayne, Gronkowski, Johnson, Gates)
Offensive Linemen (12)
Bruce Matthews
Anthony Munoz
Mike Webster
Gene Upshaw
Jim Otto
Forrest Gregg
John Hannah
Jim Parker
Larry Allen
Jonathan Ogden
Art Shell
Dwight Stephenson
(Just missed - Brown, McDaniel, Jones,)
Defensive Linemen (18)
Reggie White
Bruce Smith
Alan Page
Julius Peppers
Michael Strahan
Merlin Olsen
Randy White
Henry Jordan
Gino Marchetti
Bob Lilly
Warren Sapp
Chris Doleman
Willie Davis
Joe Greene
Leo Nomellini
Jason Taylor
Deacon Jones
JJ Watt
(Just missed - Donald, Robustelli)
Linebackers (14)
Ray Lewis
Dick Butkus
Bobby Bell
Derrick Thomas
Ted Hendricks
Joe Schmidt
Brian Urlacher
Jack Lambert
Chuck Bednarik
Mike Singletary
Jack Ham
Junior Seau
Lawrence Taylor
Derrick Brooks
(Just missed - George, Lanier, Nitschke, Ware)
Defensive Backs (12)
Rod Woodson
Ronnie Lott
Deion Sanders
Paul Krause
Charles Woodson
Herb Adderley
Night Train Lane
Willie Brown
Ed Reed
Ken Houston
Mel Blount
Willie Wood
(Just missed - Barber, Revis, Bailey)
(Just missed - two way: Baugh, Groza, Lary, Hein)
