Toughest Players in NFL History

If you were smart, you didn’t mess with these guys.

Toughest Players in NFL History

Before the toughest players in NFL history can be discussed, we need to define the term. There’s no measure for toughness. It’s an intangible that comes in all shapes and sizes. It can’t be bottled, packaged or weighed. But you know it when you see it. You can even feel it sometimes.

Toughness is 24/7 reliability. Grace under pressure. Laser focus, no matter how big the moment. Supreme self-confidence. Ability to recover when punched in the gut. High pain threshold. Sweat and hard work.

Toughness is not cheap or dirty. Players who go outside the rules to maim opponents are not tough. They’re cowardly. Here’s looking at you, Hardy Brown, Conrad Dobler and Rodney Harrison. You, too, Bill Romanowski, Jack Tatum and Ndamukong Suh.

These 50 made the cut.

50. Tommy McDonald, Flanker

Career: 12 years (1957-68)

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns

Games played: 152

Games missed: 8

Bottom Line: Tommy McDonald

Tommy McDonald was the schoolboy who thumbed his nose at the bully. The 5-foot-9, 178-pound fireball of a flanker bounced off tacklers like a human Super Ball. His favorite route? A slant over the middle, of course.

Here’s more crazy: McDonald played without a face mask for virtually his entire career, the last player to do so.

But an image in the 1960 Championship Game said it all. After a frustrated Green Bay Packers defender shoved "Scooter" into a snowbank on a touchdown reception, he gleefully jumped to his feet, then raced to the bench like his hair was on fire.

49. Cliff Harris, Safety

Career: 10 years (1970-79)

Teams: Dallas Cowboys

Games played: 141

Game missed: 3

Bottom Line: Cliff Harris

Free safeties were primarily cover guys back in the day. Not Cliff Harris, though. "Captain Crash" broke the mold with his two-way play at the position.

Harris spent his entire career in the 1970s and had at least two interceptions in each one of them. The All-Decade first-team selection welcomed contact, a mindset that translated well against the run and on special teams. He even wore kiddie-sized shoulder pads to improve speed and the force of hits.

Washington Redskins coach George Allen wasn’t far off when he likened Harris to a "rolling ball of butcher knives."

48. Ed Sprinkle, Defensive End

Career: 12 years (1944-55)

Teams: Chicago Bears

Games played: 132

Games missed: 7

Bottom Line: Ed Sprinkle

No less an authority than Chicago Bears coach/owner George Halas considered Ed Sprinkle to be the roughest player in franchise history at one point. But when Collier’s Weekly story called him "The Meanest Man in Football," well, the defensive end thought that went too far.

"I think that the article was a bum rap," Sprinkle told National Football Post. "I was about as aggressive as any football player that walked on the field. If I had an opportunity to hit someone, I hit them. ... That doesn’t make me mean or dirty."

Mean, dirty or just plain tough, Sprinkle was a man to avoid between the lines. "The Claw" was known for neck-tie decapitations, which were legal in his time. The southpaw even requested a move to right end so he could behead ballcarriers easier and with more bite.

47. Jackie Slater, Offensive Tackle

Career: 20 years (1976-95)

Teams: Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams

Games played: 259

Games missed: 61

Bottom Line: Jackie Slater

At the time of his retirement, Jackie Slater had played more games than any offensive linemen in NFL history.

The seven-time Pro Bowl tackle protected 24 different quarterbacks and 37 different backs in 20 seasons.

Slater also had an edge to his game, as evidenced by the time he charged Mark Gastineau like a mad rhino while the New York Jets' end performed a sack dance in the backfield.

46. Jim David, Defensive Back

Career: 8 years (1952-59)

Teams: Detroit Lions

Games played: 96

Games missed: 0

Bottom Line: Jim David

Y.A. Tittle was the first pro football player on a Sports Illustrated cover, where he modeled a custom-made helmet that protected his fractured jaw. Who was responsible for it? None other than Jim David with an, uh, accidental knee to the chin.

His career was a true David versus Goliath story. The cornerback stood 5-foot-11, 178 pounds, but include the large chip on his shoulder, and he was much bigger. The 22nd-round draft pick played with a reckless abandon that was oblivious to life and limb. Hard to believe he never sat out a game in eight seasons.

David was a cornerstone of three Lions championships teams in the 1950s, when he made a half-dozen Pro Bowl trips. If he isn't the best player in franchise history not in the Hall of Fame, then he’s the toughest.

45. Anquan Boldin, Wide Receiver

Career: 14 years (2003-16)

Teams: Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions

Games played: 202

Games missed: 22

Bottom Line: Anquan Boldin

A helmet-to-helmet hit laid out Anquan Boldin in the 2008 season, a hit so gruesome that it prompted a prayer circle around him. Most players would have been sidelined for months at least, but Boldin returned without a whimper three weeks later. With seven steel plates and 40 screws in his face.

"That’s always been my attitude," said Boldin, who played in Super Bowl XLIII later that season. "Some people say that’s the best part of me and that’s the worst part of me — my nonchalance."

Boldin went on to play in all but six games over the next eight seasons before his retirement.

44. Joe Kapp, Quarterback

Career: 4 years (1967-70)

Teams: Minnesota Vikings, Boston Patriots

Games played: 51

Games missed: 5

Bottom Line: Joe Kapp

Joe Kapp spent the brunt of his career in Canada, where he was a Grey Cup champion, but the brute quarterback left an indelible imprint in his four NFL seasons. Actually, it was more like a purple bruise. At 215 pounds, the Vikings' inspirational leader often led with his head on draws, sneaks, sweeps and rollouts.

"A hell of a leader," teammate Dale Hackbart called him in Sports Illustrated. "He picked us up. There are three kinds of quarterbacks. There’s the brain like Bart Starr and the arm like Joe Namath and the leader like Joe Kapp."

In the 1969 season, Kapp guided the Vikings to the first Super Bowl in their history. He punched their ticket against the Cleveland Browns one week earlier, when he knocked out linebacker Jim Houston despite a 25-pound disadvantage.

43. Mark Bavaro, Tight End

Career: 9 years (1985-90, 1992-94)

Teams: New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles

Games played: 126

Games missed: 18

Bottom Line: Mark Bavaro

Mark Bavaro had his coming-out bash on Monday Night Football in San Francisco, where he dragged a half-dozen 49ers defenders some 22 yards after a short pass reception. The Giants won Super Bowl XXI one month later.

"Probably the signature play of the whole season," quarterback Phil Simms would call it.

A man of few words, Bavaro allowed his blue-collar play to speak for him. Asked to describe himself, he said simply, "Tough."

Got no argument here.

42. Jim Marshall, Defensive End

Career: 20 years (1960-79)

Teams: Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings

Games played: 282

Games missed: 0

Bottom Line: Jim Marshall

If not the toughest player in football history, then Jim Marshall may be the most underrated in that regard.

He took part in every game over 20 seasons, the last 270 as a starter. He played through pneumonia and an ulcer, among other health issues.

Even Marshall couldn’t stop Marshall. He survived two bizarre accidents, one in which he accidentally shot himself in a leg, the other when his snowmobile rode off a sloped cliff in bad weather.

41. Lorenzo Neal, Fullback

Career: 16 years (1993-2008)

Teams: New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens

Games played: 239

Games missed: 17

Bottom Line: Lorenzo Neal

Lorenzo Neal may have been the best blocking back of his era and the most respected. The 5-foot-11, 255-pound tank escorted a 1,000-yard rusher in 11 consecutive seasons. The list included Warrick Dunn, Eddie George, Corey Dillon, LaDainian Tomlinson and others.

"You see guys from the other team jog out on the field before the game, and they always talk to him," Tomlinson observed. "They say, 'Hey, Lo!' When somebody does that, you know they respect him. I’ve seen it time and time again."

40. Bruce Matthews, Offensive Guard/Center/Tackle

Career: 19 years (1983-2001)

Team: Houston/Tennessee Oilers

Games played: 296

Games missed: 8

Bottom Line: Bruce Matthews

Bruce Matthews was more stubborn than a grease stain. The 14-time Pro Bowler played more games than any offensive lineman in NFL history.

Do you you realize how much biting, gouging, grunting, punching, shoving and slobbering that covers? At one time or another, he played every line position.

Said quarterback Warren Moon, Matthews' former teammate, "Bruce was kind of a laid-back, quiet guy, but he was very, very competitive."

39. Walt Garrison, Fullback

Career: 9 years (1966-74)

Teams: Dallas Cowboys

Games played: 119

Games missed: 7

Bottom Line: Walt Garrison

Walt Garrison was born to be a cowboy. An Oklahoma State Cowboy. A Dallas Cowboy. A plain ol' cowboy. A regular on the rodeo circuit in the offseason, the sawed-off fullback played the game as if it were a national finals competition. He aimed to get the bull before the bull got him.

In the first quarter of the 1970 NFC championship game, the San Francisco 49ers got Garrison so badly that he had to be carried off the field. Turned out he had a broken collarbone and sprained right ankle. Somehow, he returned to gain 121 total yards and score a touchdown. He led all rushers in Super Bowl V two weeks later.

That wasn’t quite as bad as the time that Garrison nearly sliced a thumb off with a knife. He wrapped the dangling digit in tape and played the next day.

Oh, and Garrison also played through a separated shoulder, a broken nose, and fractured collarbone. Hey, the NFL wasn’t his first rodeo, you know.

38. Larry Wilson, Safety

Career: 13 years (1960-72)

Teams: St. Louis Cardinals

Games played: 169

Games missed: 9

Bottom Line: Larry Wilson

For decades, safeties were pass-stoppers first, run-stoppers last. That changed in the early 1960s, when Larry Wilson freed the free safety position forever.

The Cardinals had tinkered with the safety blitz before, but it wasn’t until Wilson arrived with uncommon football sense and fearlessness that it became a staple in their game plan. Coupled with terrific ball skills, as evidenced by his 52 career interceptions, the rookie morphed into the most valuable moveable piece in the league. Offenses had to be aware of him on every play.

Wilson also had toughness that belied his 6 feet and 190 pounds. That was never more apparent than on the pass that he famously picked off in the 1965 season. With a cast on each hand to protect his broken wrists.

37. Ernie Stautner, Defensive Tackle/End

Career: 14 years (1950-63)

Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers

Games played: 173

Games missed: 1

Bottom Line: Ernie Stautner

Ernie Stautner made his Hall of Fame name through savvy, quickness and dogged determination. That was the only way he could last 14 seasons as a 230-pound defensive lineman.

In "Passion For Sports," teammate Andy Russell recounted the time that Stautner had a thumb problem of some sort. Upon further review, Russell noticed a bone had pierced the skin, but the veteran continued to play on without a word.

When the defensive unit returned to the sideline, Russell assumed that Stautner would seek medical attention for what looked to be a compound fracture. Except that all Stautner would say was, "Gimme some tape."

Then Stautner rolled the hand into a ball that he used as a club for the rest of the game.

36. Bob St. Clair, Offensive Tackle

Career: 11 years (1953-63)

Teams: San Francisco 49ers

Games played: 119

Games missed: 19

Bottom Line: Bob St. Clair

Bob St. Clair was called "The Geek," named after a movie character who was fed live animals in a cage. The 6-foot-9, 263-pound road grater ate raw meat, defensive ends and linebackers, usually not in that order. Only two torn Achilles heels could stop him.

St. Clair may have been the best kick blocker ever. In the days of the single-bar face mask, the future Hall of Famer rejected 10 kicks in the 1956 season, more than one with his face. By his count, he lost six teeth on one blocked punt alone.

35. Steve McNair, Quarterback

Career: 13 years (1995-2007)

Teams: Tennessee Titans

Games played: 161

Games missed: 47

Bottom Line: Steve McNair

Steve McNair had 153 starts at quarterback despite a separated right clavicle, a bone spur in his right shoulder, a dislocated right ring finger, torn cartilage in his right knee, a strained calf, a hip pointer, a ruptured disk, back spasms, strained rib cartilage, bruised ribs, a sprained left knee, a sprained MCL, a sprained left ankle, turf toe, a cracked bone spur in his left ankle, a bone spur in his left big toe and a severely bruised sternum.

Convinced yet?

34. Y.A. Tittle, Quarterback

Career: 17 years (1948-64)

Teams: Baltimore Colts (AAFC-NFL), San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants

Games played: 179

Games missed: 9

Bottom Line: Y.A. Tittle

Y.A. Tittle hated "The Blood Picture," as the quarterback called it, but it would define his career.

The gruesome image showed the fearless pocket passer in a daze after a sack, hands on knees, while blood streamed down his bald head. He suffered a concussion and cracked sternum on the play. Then led the Giants to a victory the next week.

Tittle wasn’t called "Old Reliable" for nothing, you know.

33. Bob Lilly, Defensive Tackle/End

Career: 14 years (1961-74)

Teams: Dallas Cowboys

Games played: 196

Games missed: 0

Bottom Line: Bob Lilly

As the heart of the "Doomsday Defense," Bob Lilly was the target of as many double-teams as any lineman of his time. He exploded off the ball from a four-point stance that rendered the collisions even more violent.

As one might imagine, Lilly played through a slew of health issues over 14 seasons — ripped-up knees, broken hands, fractured ribs and a torn hamstring. When his Hall of Fame career was over, the Cowboys named a leadership award after him.

"I played my entire career and never missed a regular-season game," Lilly said. "I did miss one playoff (game). It was a struggle. But tough people do that."

32. Reggie White, Defensive End/Tackle

Career: 15 years (1985-98, 2000)

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers

Games played: 232

Games missed: 8

Bottom Line: Reggie White

Mention Reggie White and words like "passionate" and "relentless" immediately come to mind. The "Minister of Defense" had a motor that wouldn’t quit until the final whistle. Consider that he started every game in 11 of his 15 seasons, and his compete level was even more remarkable.

White once pulled his hamstring so severely that the team medical staff feared a complete tear that would require a lengthy rehab period. Only a higher authority believed otherwise, apparently. The future Hall of Fame played through the injury without a setback, a remarkable recovery that he credited to the power of prayer.

31. Jim Otto, Center

Career: 15 years 1960-74

Teams: Oakland Raiders

Games played: 210

Games missed: 0

Bottom Line: Jim Otto

Jim Otto played every game for 15 seasons and had the scars to prove it. By his recollection, the Hall of Fame center broke his helmet, face mask, nose, cheekbone and zygomatic arch bone. He also detached the retina in his left eye.

All on one play courtesy of Green Bay Packers enforcer Ray Nitschke in the 1972 season. In Otto’s home state of Wisconsin, no less.

"I was blind for six months in my left eye," Otto said. "It was really bad. It all swelled up, and I couldn’t see, but I kept playing. I never went out of the game."

Few if any made a greater physical sacrifice than Otto for his team and sport. After retirement, he battled arthritis, acute neck problems, life-threatening infections and a leg amputation, among other health issues.

There’s a fine line between physical toughness and blind loyalty, but "Double O" had one foot over it.

30. Mel Blount, Cornerback

Career: 14 years (1970-83)

Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers

Games played: 200

Games missed: 8

Bottom Line: Mel Blount

Mel Blount was like a Marvel superhero. Not many ballcarriers could run around the future Hall of Fame cornerback. Fewer wanted to run through him. He could intimidate by mere presence alone.

Blount even scared the hell out of NFL and television officials, who feared his bump-and-run tactics would all but take the forward pass out of the game. After the 1977 season, the competition committee adopted the "Mel Blount Rule," which prohibited contact with receivers beyond five yards of the line of scrimmage.

Didn’t matter much, though. At 30, Blount still had three Pro Bowl seasons left in him.

29. Bill Pellington, Linebacker

Career: 12 years (1953-64)

Teams: Baltimore Colts

Games played: 141

Games missed: 7

Bottom Line: Bill Pellington

Bill Pellington was known to cross the line every once in a while. OK, the Colts' defensive captain crossed the line quite a bit, but he was an honest badass, more rugged than dirty.

The strongside linebacker was a physical run-stopper who was agile enough to drop back in pass coverage. Forearm shivers and clothesline tackles were Pellington specialties at a time when both were within the rules.

Is it any wonder that the guy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's by the time he was 60 years old?

28. Kam Chancellor, Safety

Career: 8 years 2010-present

Teams: Seattle Seahawks

Games played: 109

Games missed: 19

Bottom Line: Kam Chancellor

Kam Chancellor was the Seahawks' gatekeeper of Super Bowls past, the ballhawking, ball-busting strong safety who put the boom in the "Legion of Doom."

Here’s what Atlanta Falcons coach and former Seahawks defensive coordinator coach Dan Quinn had to say about Chancellor:

"He’s an impactful guy on and off the field. He’s an excellent player, and as good a player as he is, he’s that and more as a teammate. There’s been a couple of guys who have stood out as leaders, and his toughness is what totally sets him apart."

27 Bronko Nagurski, Fullback/Linebacker

Career: 9 years (1930-37, 1943)

Teams: Chicago Bears

Games played: 97

Games missed: 14

Bottom Line: Bronko Nagurski

Chicago Bears coach/owner George Halas once remarked that Nagurski "blasted through would-be tacklers as though they were a pair of old saloon doors." Papa Bear nailed it. The 226-pound brute knew only one direction — straight ahead.

Problem was, Nagurski wouldn’t stop until he ran headfirst into the brick wall at Wrigley Field, as he did at least once in his nine seasons. When Nagurski was unable to squeeze a dime out of tight-fisted management prior to the 1938 season, he went on to become a two-time championship wrestler.

And the NCAA thought so highly of him, it named college football's Defensive Player of the Year Award after him.

26. Larry Csonka, Fullback

Career: 11 years (1968-79)

Teams: Miami Dolphins, New York Giants

Games played: 146

Games missed: 10

Bottom Line: Larry Csonka

Before Gronk, there was Csonk, a human 237-pound club who beat down defenders with a bevy of shoulders, forearms and fists. On the signature hit of his career, the fullback literally knocked out a defender on a blow to the head — and he was penalized 15 yards for it.

Larry Csonka wasn’t particularly quick, and he certainly wasn’t fast. But at his best, there was no better back in short-yardage situations. He broke his nose 10 times and bloodied it more than he could count.

Early in 1972 season, the Minnesota Vikings smacked Csonka so hard that he crawled off the field with what was thought to be a serious back injury. Minutes later, the Dolphins warhorse was back on the field to set up the game-winner on a ball fake into the line, the closest call in their 17-0 season.

25. Mel Hein, Center/Linebacker

Career: 15 years (1931-45)

Teams: New York Giants

Games played: 170

Games missed: 3

Bottom Line: Mel Hein

There’s not much hard data this far back, but a case can be made for Mel Hein as the most durable, if not toughest, player in the toughest era of pro football. The charter Hall of Fame member sat out only a handful of plays over 15 seasons.

Hein served as a center and field general on offense, ferocious linebacker on defense and trusted ball-snapper on special teams. So highly efficient was "Old Indestructible" at all three roles, he became the first and last lineman to be selected league Most Valuable Player in the 1938 season.

24. Jack Youngblood, Defensive End

Career: 14 years (1971-84)

Teams: Los Angeles Rams

Games played: 202

Games missed: 8

Bottom Line: Jack Youngblood

Has any human ever milked more pub out of a measly hairline fracture than Jack Youngblood did in the 1979 postseason? Big whoop-de-do. Give the man a gold star. Wait — I was just joking. That’s a fact, Jack. Honest.

Actually, Youngblood was John Wayne in shoulder pads. In the playoff opener that season, the future Hall of Fame defensive end writhed in pain with what was found to be a cracked fibula above his right ankle.

"You need to tape it," the Rams' co-captain instructed the team trainer in the locker room.

The guy wanted no part of it.

"You’re gonna do this!"

But the X-rays showed a broken bone.

"I understand that. Tape it up! I can still go play."

So Youngblood went out and led his team to an upset victory over the Cowboys in Dallas. Then he led it to a shutout victory over the Buccaneers in Tampa. Then he almost led the Rams to an enormous upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII.

Then Youngblood started in the Pro Bowl the next week. I said Pro Bowl, people. The game that players beg out of because of ingrown nose hairs.

We're pretty sure Youngblood also planted the flag at Iwo Jima.

23. Mike Ditka, Tight End

Career: 12 years (1961-72)

Teams: Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys

Games played: 158

Games missed: 10

Bottom Line: Mike Ditka

One memorable play in the 1963 season told the story of the first great tight end in pro football. After Mike Ditka caught a short pass, he eluded/dragged five Pittsburgh Steelers defenders before exhaustion finally took him down 54 yards later.

"Ditka was just a tough son of a gun," former teammate Roger Staubach recalled. "Nobody wanted to mess with Iron Mike."

Out of that toughness was born a leader. Championships followed Ditka to Chicago and Dallas as a player and Chicago again as a head coach.

Midway through the 1971 season, the Cowboys season at the crossroads, Ditka was the voice of inspiration at a team meeting. They didn’t lose another game en route to the Super Bowl VI title.

22. Ray Nitschke, Linebacker

Career: 15 years (1958-72)

Teams: Green Bay Packers

Games played: 190

Games missed: 12

Bottom Line: Ray Nitschke

That Ray Nitschke played every game in a borderline rage should have come as no surprise. The converted fullback spent his formative years on the mean side of Chicago, most of them without parents, who both passed away before he was in high school.

The transformation from a rookie named "Wildman" to Pro Bowl middle linebacker didn’t come easily. It wasn’t until Nitschke laid off the booze, hooked up with coach Vince Lombardi and hit the film room that he came into his own. But the hyper-aggressiveness and mean streak never left him.

As Nitschke once explained, "I’ve always learned that the best way to play the game is to hit your opponent a little harder than he hits you. It’s self-preservation."

21. Steve Atwater, Safety

Career: 11 years (1989-99)

Teams: Denver Broncos, New York Jets

Games played: 167

Games missed: 9

Bottom Line: Steve Atwater

Forget John Elway. Never mind Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe, too. If Steve Atwater hadn’t set the physical and emotional tone, the Broncos wouldn’t have hoisted consecutive Vince Lombardi Trophies. They darn well wouldn’t have won Super Bowl XXXII, which saw the safety shrug off shoulder problems to make a half-dozen tackles, break up two passes and force a fumble on a sack.

In Denver, folks still talk about the hellacious hit that Atwater laid on Kansas City Chiefs behemoth Christian Okoye early in the 1990 season. The so-called "Nigerian Nightmare" wasn’t the same thereafter.

It wasn’t long before the Broncos were a different team themselves. The next season, they won their first of three AFC West division titles in the 1990s, when Atwater was a first-team All-Decade team selection.

20. Hines Ward, Wide Receiver

Career: 14 years (1998-2011)

Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers

Games played: 217

Games missed: 7

Bottom Line: Hines Ward

Too many modern-day wide receivers double as opera singers. You know — me-me-me-me. Hines Ward didn’t do diva. The guy played the position like the selfless, multipurpose athlete he was in college.

Ward was a reliable possession receiver who never whined about his role in the offense. What set him further apart was a Pittsburgh-tough mindset that made him an integral part of the run game, possibly the best blocker at his position ever.

If you liked Ward, his greatest hits were well-executed things of beauty. If you hated him, they were bleepin' dirty. Either way, the NFL saw fit to adopt the "Hines Ward Rule" that made it illegal to blow up opponents on crack-back blocks to the head or neck area.

Ward didn’t put up gaudy stats like so many Hall of Famer receivers, but he was a guy you wanted on your side.

19. Marshawn Lynch, Running Back

Career: 11 years (2005-15, 2016-19)

Teams: Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders

Games played: 149

Games missed: 28

Bottom Line: Marshawn Lynch

For those who butted heads against him, Marshawn Lynch was about as much fun as a colonoscopy in his heyday. The 215-pound "Beast Mode" scattered would-be tacklers like Skittles, his other addiction of choice.

In his best four-year period, Lynch scored 56 touchdowns. Twenty-three were runs of three yards or less. The man was made for short-yardage situations. Like second-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the final minute of a close game, for instance. The Seahawks faced that exact situation with Super Bowl XLIV on the line.

But rather than hand the ball to Beast Mode in a closed formation, the offense did the unthinkable — threw an interception out of a spread alignment instead. It’s just not right that Beast Mode will be remembered for the touchdown that he didn’t score, not for any of the ones that he did.

18. Mike Curtis, Linebacker

Years: 14 years (1965-78)

Teams: Baltimore Colts, Seattle Seahawks

Games played: 166

Games missed: 30

Bottom Line: Mike Curtis

Never mind his crucial interception late in Super V, which saw the Colts claim the first such championship in their history.

Mike Curtis is better known for his decapitation of some yahoo who strayed onto the field at Memorial Stadium later that year in 1971.

Then again, what did you expect from a maniacal middle linebacker named "Mad Dog," who played football because he could inflict pain legally?

17. Walter Payton, Running Back

Career: 13 years (1975-87)

Teams: Chicago Bears

Games played: 190

Games missed: 12

Bottom Line: Walter Payton

Walter Payton ranks as the No. 2 ground-gainer in league history, but no back brought more physicality to the position. "Sweetness" didn’t wait for contact. He initiated it with well-timed shoulders, stiff-arms and helmet butts.

Nobody worked harder than Payton off the field, either, where his regimen was legendary. While the season was in progress, he began each day with exhaustive sprints up and down Payton’s Hill in suburban Chicago. In the offseason, he pushed himself on a self-made obstacle course and the beaches in his native Mississippi.

Now you know how Sweetness could lug the ball 4,330 times in the regular season and rarely sit out a play, let alone game.

16. Leo Nomellini, Defensive/Offensive Tackle

Career: 14 years (1950-63)

Teams: San Francisco 49ers

Games played: 174

Games missed: 0

Bottom Line: Leo Nomellini

Leo Nomellini had no choice but to tough it out. The Italian immigrant was raised by his grandmother from a young age and worked after school. His first football game came as a member of a Marines squad in North Carolina. Heck, it was the first football game that he saw in person — period.

But Nomellini caught on quickly on both sides of the ball, where he was among the best two-way tackles of all time. At 6-foot-3, 259 pounds, "The Lion" was a beast. He surprised opponents with quickness or overwhelmed them with upper body strength. He could wrestle with the best of 'em — yes, even after retirement, when he competed on the local pro tour.

Nomellini was an All-Pro offensive tackle in two seasons, then an All-Pro defensive tackle in four more. Remarkably, he played in every game over 14 seasons and started all but nine of them.

15. Jack Lambert, Linebacker

Career: 11 years (1974-84)

Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers

Games played: 146

Games missed: 22

Bottom Line: Jack Lambert

Lynn Swann was Super Bowl IX Most Valuable Player, but Lambert was the emotional MVP. In the second quarter, Cowboys toughie Cliff Harris chided the Steelers' placekicker after a shanked field field. "Jack Splat" immediately stepped in, threw Harris on his ass, then added a few choice words, punctuated by a pointed finger. From that point on, the Cowboys melted into a puddle.

Lambert had that way about him. All 220 tall, skinny pounds of him. What the middle linebacker lacked in beef, he more than made up for in testosterone. "Count Dracula" was a scary sight, what with his absent front teeth, but he also packed underrated smarts. The guy was an inspiration all over the field.

14. James Harrison, Linebacker

Career: 15 years (2002, 2004–17)

Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals New England Patriots

Games played: 193

Games missed: 32

Bottom Line: James Harrison

In a Tampa Bay Times poll to determine the "most badass" player in the league, James Harrison was the runaway winner. Kind of like the epic play that he pulled off in Super Bowl XLIII, the one that defined the five-time Pro Bowl linebacker in a matter of seconds.

First, Harrison faked a blitz, then suddenly dropped back into coverage (quickness, instincts). He picked off the pass at the goal line (focus, coordination). He bolted 45 yards upfield (speed). He wobbled but wouldn’t go down (strength, balance) for 35 more yards. He cut back (mobility), then accelerated again (more quickness). Fairly exhausted, he collapsed on the goal line (determination, more strength).

Yeah, that’s badass, all right.

13. Bob Brown, Offensive Tackle

Career: 10 years (1964-73)

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders

Games played: 126

Games missed: 14

Bottom Line: Bob Brown

Bob Brown posed one of the biggest physical mismatches of his or any other time. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound offensive tackle was so massive he could have dried off with a tarpaulin after games.

To hear Brown tell it, he was "about as subtle as a 16-pound sledgehammer." He had a notorious mean streak. Even Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame tackle Joe Greene admitted only "The Boomer" could unnerve him.

Indeed, Brown didn’t bother much with finesse and fundamentals, especially in his early years. Rather, the future Hall of Famer mauled opponents with strength and quickness. Come the fourth quarter, The Boomer was ready to lower the boom.

12. Lawrence Taylor, Linebacker

Career: 13 years (1981-93)

Teams: New York Giants

Games played: 184

Games missed: 24

Bottom Line: Lawrence Taylor

Know that video, the one in which Lawrence Taylor implores teammates, "Hey, baby, let’s go out there like a bunch of crazed dogs!"? Well, L.T. was more like a Doberman on steroids — muscular and powerful with the speed, intimidation and endurance to match.

You never, ever wanted to rile the guy, because as linebacker Harry Carson said of his teammate, "When he got angry, he got angry."

So relentless and sometimes reckless was his approach, Taylor played through a slew of injuries over 13 seasons. In 1988, he famously tore shoulder ligaments and detached a pectoral muscle against the Saints in New Orleans. L.T. remained in the game with the help of a harness that kept the limb in place. He finished with seven tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles in a 13-12 victory.

11. Sam Huff, Linebacker

Career: 13 years (1956-67, 1969)

Teams: New York Giants, Washington Redskins

Games played: 168

Games missed: 4

Bottom Line: Sam Huff

Sam Huff was more abrasive than steel wool, the first great spit disturber at the middle linebacker position. His robust style inspired chants of "Huff! Huff! Huff!" at Yankee Stadium, star treatment that was unheard of at his side of the ball.

Huff became so popular in the late 1950s he rivaled teammate Frank Gifford in that regard.

Huff even appeared on a 1959 Time magazine cover of all things. "We try to hurt everybody," he was quoted to have said. "We hit each other as hard as we can. This is a man's game."

The Huff-versus-Jim Brown matchups were classics. In fact, his most underrated achievement could well be this: He was the only player to knock the Browns' fullback out of a game.

10. Jim Taylor, Fullback

Career: 10 years (1958-67)

Teams: Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints

Games played: 132

Games missed: 2

Bottom Line: Jim Taylor

The backbone of the Green Bay Packers' dynasty of the 1960s was their power run game. Jim Taylor personified it better than anyone with physicality and tenacity at the fullback position.

In his first nine seasons, Taylor was the only player not named Jim Brown to lead the league in rushing. Although a bit undersized at 6 feet, 214 pounds, Taylor consistently ran over defenders with great leverage and leg drive. No back ran harder in his era.

Taylor simply could not be intimidated, not by New York Giants toughie Sam Huff or Yankee Stadium or brutal weather or the big stage. Quite the opposite. In the 1962 championship game, Huff targeted the workhorse back from the start, only to have Taylor grind out 105 total yards and one touchdown in a 16-7 snot-knocker. It would be the signature performance of Taylor's 10-year career.

9. Chuck Bednarik, Linebacker/Center

Career: 14 years (1949-62)

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles

Games played: 169

Games missed: 3

Bottom Line: Chuck Bednarik

Chuck Bednarik was tougher than rump roast. He was the last of the full-time two-way players, a center on offense and linebacker on defense. It was hard enough to deal with "Concrete Charlie" for 30 minutes. Imagine what it was like for 60.

The clean lick that Bednarik put on Frank Gifford late in the 1960 season was No. 1 on his greatest hits album. The blow was so wicked that the concussed New York Giants star returned as a flanker. Twenty months later.

Bednarik scored his most significant tackle in the league championship game only weeks later. He brought down Green Bay Packers fullback Jim Taylor on the final play then announced, "This game is o-vah!"

That was Concrete Charlie all right — hard and to the point.

8. Ronnie Lott, Safety/Cornerback

Career: 14 years (1981-94)

Teams: San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets

Games played: 192

Games missed: 32

Bottom Line: Ronnie Lott

There are tough guys, there are maniacs, and there are just plain sickos. And then there was Ronnie Lott, the uber-competitive cornerback/safety who was a lot of all three.

That became painfully apparent in the final game of the 1985 regular season, when Lott had his left pinkie badly fractured, one of several serious injuries in his career. Either the future Hall of Famer would have a surgical procedure and sit out the playoffs, or he would have the digit amputated at the third knuckle and continue to play. Lott did the almost unthinkable and played the next week.

Years later, Lott said he regretted the unkindest cut of all. But consider what made the guy tick inside — and it’s even money that he would do it by himself next time.

7. Night Train Lane, Defensive Back

Dick Lane — Detroit Lions defensive back Night Train Lane defends a pass against the Chicago Bears in 1962.

Career: 14 years (1952-65)

Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions

Games played: 157

Games missed: 19

Bottom Line: Night Train Lane

"Definitely, the best hitting corner(back) I’ve ever seen," said Raymond Berry, the longtime Baltimore Colts rival and Hall of Fame split end.

That was the kinder, gentler way to say that Night Train Lane scared the living daylights out of opponents for 14 seasons. If Night Train didn’t turn out the lights by the neck or face mask, he would do it with a bold shoulder to the chest or chin. All were allowed back then, but at 6-foot-1, 194 pounds, he took them to another level. Finally, the rules committee stepped in, lest there be a casualty on its hands.

Yet Night Train intimidated by more than style alone. As the first great athlete at the position, he routinely suckered quarterbacks into throws that he would pick off or knock down. And on the rare occasion that he gambled and lost, well, Lord help the guy with the ball in his hands.

6. Deacon Jones, Defensive End

Career: 14 years (1961-74)

Teams: Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins

Games played: 191

Games missed: 3

Bottom Line: Deacon Jones

"When I first came up, defensive linemen were dull as hell," Deacon Jones told The Los Angeles Times after retirement. "Some were great performers, but nobody knew who they were. I set out to change that."

Deacon was a lot of things, but dull was not one of them. The 6-foot-5, 272-pound sack monster was a matchup nightmare, not to mention the No. 1 cause of concussions and hearing impairment in pro sports for the better part of 14 seasons. He invented the head slap, the vicious open-handed punch that cracked helmets and wills.

Finally, three years after he retired, the rules committee came to its senses and abolished the move.

True to his word, Deacon Jones was a household name long before he played his final down. Well, to those who could remember it, anyway.

5. Johnny Unitas, Quarterback

Career: 18 years (1956-73)

Teams: Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers

Games played: 211

Games missed: 31

Bottom Line: Johnny Unitas

Johnny Unitas made it through 18 seasons despite a torn Achilles tendon, fractured ribs, a punctured lung and enough knee problems to require two replacements after retirement. His fingers were more crooked than a Baltimore politician.

So it came as no surprise that, when asked to name the toughest Colt of them all, Hall of Fame tackle Art Donovan said without hesitation, "Unitas, because he took the most punishment — and never said a word about it."

In a 1960 showdown against the Bears in Chicago, Unitas was bloodied beyond repair but refused to leave the game as usual. Finally, guard Alex Sandusky shoved a clump of mud up his nose to limit the damage. Johnny U went on to throw the game-winner in the final minute.

Did I mention that Unitas also played the entire season with fractured vertebra?

4. Joe Greene, Defensive Tackle

Career: 13 years (1969-81)

Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers

Games played: 181

Games missed: 9

Bottom Line: Joe Greene

Watch game films of Joe Greene in his athletic prime, and you see a 6-foot-4, 275-pound man who couldn’t be blocked. "Mean Joe" could shoot the gap to take down the ballcarrier on one play, run down the quarterback on the next, swat aside a pass attempt on the next. The guy just didn’t play fair.

Midway through his career, Greene began to line up at a 45-degree angle over the center. The so-called tilted nose alignment was a stroke of genius for the "Steel Curtain" defense, but for Mean Joe, not so much. Because opponents had no choice except to put two or three blockers on him regularly, his left shoulder was pounded on repeatedly for years.

Greene played in the first 91 games of his career before a pinched nerve in the shoulder grounded him for a brief time in the 1975 season. The pain never went away. Even with one functional arm, he remained the heartbeat of two more Super Bowl championship teams, a testament to his legendary strength and steely resolve.

3. Dick Butkus, Linebacker

Career: 9 years (1965-73)

Teams: Chicago Bears

Games played: 119

Games missed: 7

Bottom Line: Dick Butkus

If the NFL ever wanted to do away with those silly dances, it would only have to ask Mr. Buttkick, er, Butkus to intervene.

"If a guy celebrated like that on me, I’d wait for the next series of downs and do a little celebration of my own on him," Mr. Butkus once said on a CBS telecast. "Then after he woke up — if he did — I’d say, 'Well, want to dance some more, hot dog?' "

Mr. Butkus was so nasty he intimidated intimidators. That larger-than-life persona tended to overshadow his skills on the field, where he recovered 25 fumbles and probably forced at least that many over nine seasons. He did all this with chronic knee issues that forced an early retirement.

2. Jim Brown, Fullback

Career: 9 years (1957-65)

Teams: Cleveland Browns

Games played: 118

Games missed: 0

Bottom Line: Jim Brown

No player in pro football history wore a bigger bulls-eye than Jim Brown did in his legendary career. None. The Browns' franchise back was Nos. 1, 1a and 1b on the priority list of every opponent, every week, every season.

Defenses tried everything to stop Brown within and outside the rules. They gang-tackled him. Shoved him. Kicked him. Punched him. Speared him. Even sweet-talked him. Didn’t matter. He lugged the ball 2,662 times in the regular season and never sat out a game.

Brown and his well-chiseled 232 pounds dished out punishment almost as well as he received it. For all his otherworldly physical traits, his smarts and mental toughness were no less off the charts. He rented space inside the heads of many opponents.

"Jim was smart," said New York Giants linebacker Sam Huff, his longtime rival. "He’d psyche you. I would hit him and hit him, and he'd get up, pat me on the back and say, 'That was a nice tackle, big Sam.' "

There’s way to understate this: Brown was the closest there was to an indestructible force in pro football history.

1. Brett Favre, Quarterback

Career: 20 years (1991-2010)

Teams: Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings

Games played: 302

Games missed: 18

Bottom Line: Brett Favre

Brett Favre had a career best seen in 3-D — Drive, Determination and Durability. That "Country" started 297 consecutive games at the most vulnerable position in sports made him the captain of the All-Time Tough Guy Team alone.

Based on sheer volume, no player took more physical punishment than Favre in a career. He attempted 10,169 passes, most in league history. He was sacked 525 times, one more record. Add 604 planned and unplanned runs and even pass receptions, and he touched the ball a mind-blowing 11,298 times, yet another record.

"I think my stubbornness, hardheadedness and stupidity is what has allowed me to play for 20 years," Favre tried to explain how he lasted 20 seasons.

Remember, Favre accomplished this believe-it-or-not in the NFL, not the National Touch Football League, as it would become known later. Dude, the New Orleans Saints even put a bounty on his head and couldn’t take him out.