Top 5 Irish Players in NFL History

[Riddickulous]

Here's mine.

1. Joe Montana - The greatest quarterback in league history. Tom Brady watched his game tape to learn how to win Super Bowls.

2. Tim Brown - Easily one of the top wide receivers in pro history.

3. Alan Page - One of the greatest defensive players in the history of the game. NFL MVP 1971, two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, named first-team All-NFL six times, second-team All-NFL three other times. Ten time all-conference. 9 straight Pro Bowls. 173 career sacks. One of the most underrated players, in my opinion, ever.

4. Ricky Watters - 10,000+ rushing yards, 4,000+ receiving yards, 7 consecutive seasons with at least 1,500 total yards? It's a crime that he isn't in the Hall of Fame.

5. Jerome Bettis - The Bus. 'Nuff said.

Who are your Top 5?

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I'll take Paul Hornung over Ricky Watters

 

[PatsandBostonfan1975]

Here's mine.

1. Joe Montana - The greatest quarterback in league history. Tom Brady watched his game tape to learn how to win Super Bowls.

2. Tim Brown - Easily one of the top wide receivers in pro history.

3. Alan Page - One of the greatest defensive players in the history of the game. NFL MVP 1971, two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, named first-team All-NFL six times, second-team All-NFL three other times. Ten time all-conference. 9 straight Pro Bowls. 173 career sacks. One of the most underrated players, in my opinion, ever.

4. Ricky Watters - 10,000+ rushing yards, 4,000+ receiving yards, 7 consecutive seasons with at least 1,500 total yards? It's a crime that he isn't in the Hall of Fame.

5. Jerome Bettis - The Bus. 'Nuff said.

Who are your Top 5?

George Gibbs over waters and Bettis

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

George Gibbs?

How about the Gipp?

 

[kmoose]

Joe Montana
Paul Hornung
Tim Brown
Nick Buoniconti
Dave Casper

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

swap

swap

Here's mine.

1. Joe Montana - The greatest quarterback in league history. Tom Brady watched his game tape to learn how to win Super Bowls.

2. Tim Brown - Easily one of the top wide receivers in pro history.

3. Alan Page - One of the greatest defensive players in the history of the game. NFL MVP 1971, two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, named first-team All-NFL six times, second-team All-NFL three other times. Ten time all-conference. 9 straight Pro Bowls. 173 career sacks. One of the most underrated players, in my opinion, ever.

4. Ricky Watters - 10,000+ rushing yards, 4,000+ receiving yards, 7 consecutive seasons with at least 1,500 total yards? It's a crime that he isn't in the Hall of Fame.

5. Jerome Bettis - The Bus. 'Nuff said.

Who are your Top 5?

swap 4 and 5 and i agree

 

[cape cod]

A top 25 (in order of rank):
1 Joe Montana
2 George Connor -Hall of Fame, Monster of the Midway, one of greatest Bears ever
3 Alan Page
4 Dave Casper
5 Paul Hornung
6 Tim Brown
7 George Kunz- one of best OT in Pro history (Colts, Falcons)
8 Nick Buoniconti
9 Jerome Bettis
10 Wayne Miller- Pro Hall of Fame Redskins
11 Bryant Young
12 Jim Lynch
13 Jack Snow
14 Mark Bavaro
15 Ricky Watters 16-Theismann 17- Lamonica 18-Thayer 19-Bleier 20-Duerson
21-Pottios 22-B. Golic 23-R. Browner 24-Pietrosante 25Varrichione
HM-A Taylor. Ismail,Stickles, Grunhard, Scibelli

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

nice

nice

A top 25 (in order of rank):
1 Joe Montana
2 George Connor -Hall of Fame, Monster of the Midway, one of greatest Bears ever
3 Alan Page
4 Dave Casper
5 Paul Hornung
6 Tim Brown
7 George Kunz- one of best OT in Pro history (Colts, Falcons)
8 Nick Buoniconti
9 Jerome Bettis
10 Wayne Miller- Pro Hall of Fame Redskins
11 Bryant Young
12 Jim Lynch
13 Jack Snow
14 Mark Bavaro
15 Ricky Watters 16-Theismann 17- Lamonica 18-Thayer 19-Bleier 20-Duerson
21-Pottios 22-B. Golic 23-R. Browner 24-Pietrosante 25Varrichione
HM-A Taylor. Ismail,Stickles, Grunhard, Scibelli

thats how u knock down the open jumper on ur first post

 

[nd1]

1. joe montana

2. tim brown

3.alan page

4.jerome bettis

5. justin tuck

 

[BGIF]

A top 25 (in order of rank):
1 Joe Montana
2 George Connor -Hall of Fame, Monster of the Midway, one of greatest Bears ever
3 Alan Page
4 Dave Casper
5 Paul Hornung
6 Tim Brown
7 George Kunz- one of best OT in Pro history (Colts, Falcons)
8 Nick Buoniconti
9 Jerome Bettis
10 Wayne Miller- Pro Hall of Fame Redskins
11 Bryant Young
12 Jim Lynch
13 Jack Snow
14 Mark Bavaro
15 Ricky Watters 16-Theismann 17- Lamonica 18-Thayer 19-Bleier 20-Duerson
21-Pottios 22-B. Golic 23-R. Browner 24-Pietrosante 25Varrichione
HM-A Taylor. Ismail,Stickles, Grunhard, Scibelli

Q.E.D

Reps!

 

[cape cod]

kickers etc.

kickers etc.

I discriminated against kickers in my earlier list of ND pro players:

John Carney
Bob Thomas-Bears
Jim Martin-Colts
Greg Hentrich

also Wayne Millner #10 was misspelled on the list above

some other with lengthy pro careers (add to HM):
Dick Lynch-Giants
Szymanski-Colts
Mutscheller-Colts
Carollo-Rams
Andy Heck
Wetoska-Bears
Toneff SF
Dave Waymer

 

[Michael Kane]

1) Brady Quinn
2 The Shark
3) Nick Eddy
4)The Rocket
5) George Gipp (when eligible. He never graduated from high school in Michigan.)

 

[DirtySecret]

1) Brady Quinn
2 The Shark
3) Nick Eddy
4)The Rocket
5) George Gipp (when eligible. He never graduated from high school in Michigan.)

Jeff Samardzija isn't playing in the NFL.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

1) Brady Quinn
2 The Shark
3) Nick Eddy
4)The Rocket
5) George Gipp (when eligible. He never graduated from high school in Michigan.)

I hope you thought this was top 5 ND players....

Because well Brady Quinn is definitely not #1 and Jeff never played in the NFL.

 

[TerryTate]

I hope you thought this was top 5 ND players....

Because well Brady Quinn is definitely not #1 and Jeff never played in the NFL.

I don't think they are in the Top 5 best players at ND either

 

[Riddickulous]

I don't think they are in the Top 5 best players at ND either

I agree. Not even close.

 

[wakeuptheechoes]

The Gipper never played in the NFL either.
I am not sure of the top five, although imo it starts with Joe Montana and Tim Brown, I would take Bettis over Waters. He outrushed him by three thousand yards as a pro and actually scored more touchdowns, although Waters was a better receiver out of the backfield.
There have been many really good players come from ND to the NFL some of those players never lived up to their promise some exceeded it. Although, I put Montana as the best "Pro" quaterback to come out of ND. He was not the best "college" QB to ever play at ND.

 

[irish1958]

Leon Hart, Johnny Lujack, Johnny Lattner weren't too bad either. There can be no top five as the game in 1890 and in 1990 and in 2010 are so vastly different you cannot compare them. Having a career in the NFL has nothing to do with ND.
ND's players should be judged on what they did at ND, not San Diago or Seattle.

 

[DirtySecret]

The Gipper never played in the NFL either.
I am not sure of the top five, although imo it starts with Joe Montana and Tim Brown, I would take Bettis over Waters. He outrushed him by three thousand yards as a pro and actually scored more touchdowns, although Waters was a better receiver out of the backfield.
There have been many really good players come from ND to the NFL some of those players never lived up to their promise some exceeded it. Although, I put Montana as the best "Pro" quaterback to come out of ND. He was not the best "college" QB to ever play at ND.

If it wasn't for Watter the 9ers wouldn't won the superbowl and since his exdous they haven't won it again.

 

[Irish To The Core]

1. Joe Montana (arguably the best qb of all time)
2. Alan Page (how many def. players win the league MVP?)
3. Paul Hornung (last of the great versatile offensive backs)
4. George Kunz (dominated the line in his time)
5. Tom Brown (mad to play wr)

I left out some great players but I kept to the list of 5.

 

[chyrspchuck]

where are all these new people coming from?

 

[Praytorian]

Well, I started watching-following- ND in 1988 so I can't state ALL-TIME GREATEST, but I can give you my 5 favorite.

1. Jerome Bettis.
2. The Rocket.
3. Zibby
4. Arnaz Battle
5. Marc Edwards

 

[ARALOU]

HEY GUYS! NICE POLL! Let's live in the past. Montana is the obvious choice for NFL career, followed closely by Page for football and being a general superb success in the judiciary. Zorich is someone to be quite proud of also. Theisman is another. The BUS, Tim Brown, many o-lineman, much too more to even mention in my present state of mind. I will be back.

 

[phgreek]

HEY GUYS! NICE POLL! Let's live in the past. Montana is the obvious choice for NFL career, followed closely by Page for football and being a general superb success in the judiciary. Zorich is someone to be quite proud of also. Theisman is another. The BUS, Tim Brown, many o-lineman, much too more to even mention in my present state of mind. I will be back.

Thanks for mentioning the other "Joe" QB...guy won a superbowl ...has to be thought of as an ND great...love him or hate him, he won at ND and in the NFL...

 

[irish1958]

Well, I started watching-following- ND in 1988 so I can't state ALL-TIME GREATEST, but I can give you my 5 favorite.

1. Jerome Bettis.
2. The Rocket.
3. Zibby
4. Arnaz Battle
5. Marc Edwards

I became an ND fan in 1946, if I recall correctly, after watching the ND football games on the old DuMont network on a small B&W tv with a round picture tube.
I don't think the games were live, but were an hour or so replay on Sunday AM. They later were televised live, but the NCAA stopped them from doing this and they went back to the Sunday AM replays.
Hence, I have to consider the greats from that era, such as Lujack, Lattner, Hart, Conner, etc.

 

[IrishGiant]

1) Montana
2) Brown
3) Hornung
4) Page
5) Theismann
HM) Bettis
HM) Watters

 

[Old Man Mike]

I shouldn't bore you guys with this, but with the exception of Montana [who is the NFL icon] and Alan Page, the top NFL ND grad should be Nick Buoniconti. Nick came to ND at 5'11" and 188 pounds ["grew" to 215] and was a legitimate two-way all-american, who actually did make tackles sideline-to-sideline. In the pros he was first team middle-linebacker year after year and is now in the Hall. Nick played for winners and he was a great reason why [even our intramural basketball team with Nick as a very undersized forward won]. Obviously I'm prejudiced, but Buoniconti is at risk of being forgotten for the great one he was --- too far back in time---too far out of the QB/WR/RB limelight. Yeay Nick! I refuse to let everyone forget you.

 

[IrishGiant]

I shouldn't bore you guys with this, but with the exception of Montana [who is the NFL icon] and Alan Page, the top NFL ND grad should be Nick Buoniconti. Nick came to ND at 5'11" and 188 pounds ["grew" to 215] and was a legitimate two-way all-american, who actually did make tackles sideline-to-sideline. In the pros he was first team middle-linebacker year after year and is now in the Hall. Nick played for winners and he was a great reason why [even our intramural basketball team with Nick as a very undersized forward won]. Obviously I'm prejudiced, but Buoniconti is at risk of being forgotten for the great one he was --- too far back in time---too far out of the QB/WR/RB limelight. Yeay Nick! I refuse to let everyone forget you.

I'm not so sure if it is LB bias, as opposed to AFL vs NFL bias. I know the AFL was a pro league, and obviously the Jets proved that they were on par with the NFL, but I personally feel that the other players I picked were good picks. I like Nicky B, he was a great player, I just feel that the other 7 players I mentioned left more of an impression on me.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

I shouldn't bore you guys with this, but with the exception of Montana [who is the NFL icon] and Alan Page, the top NFL ND grad should be Nick Buoniconti...

Hardly boring to hear true stories from true Domers. Keep em coming!

 

[GoingGreen]

1. Joe Montana
2. Tim Brown
3. Dave Casper
4. Paul Hornung
5. Alan Page