20 most underrated football players of all time 20 most underrated football players of all time

Mike Kenn began his career playing left tackle for a lumbering 1970s power-running offense. Krieg was a career overachiever who survived 19 seasons on modest talent with defense-driven teams. But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. His 23 fourth-quarter comebacks (20th overall) are more than Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Sonny Jurgensen and Bart Starr, to name a few Hall of Famers at the position. Fletcher followed Gregg Williams from coaching stop to coaching stop, serving as the sometimes controversial, always effective defensive mastermind's field marshal. If the quarterback got rid of the ball before getting crushed, it was up to Allen to make a play. Jordi Alba. Theyre the flat-liners whose drop-dead consistency gets lost with average-to-bad teams, in smaller markets, with brain-challenged organizations that have little, if any, history of success. Marshall reached just two Pro Bowls. One of the most underrated players in AM Football, Brodie Croyle was drafted into the NFL by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006 after being a college football standout with the University of Alabama. Greenlaw is equally effective against the run and pass, a sure tackler, and brings plenty of energy to theNiners' defense. His teams averaged 392.0 yards and 34.0 points in those games. A bit more well-known after recently signing a four-year contract extension, John Franklin Myers is an easy player to root for and deserving of the success he has achieved. Seven times, he surpassed 1,000 yards on pass receptions, most of them on slants and corner routes. Hadl played quarterback, halfback, defensive back and punter for the University of Kansas. Maybe Wright wasn't a Blount-level legend, but he deserves better than to be the forgotten man among the Broncos' forgotten men. In their two Super Bowl seasons that followed, Young was a virtual nonfactor in the matchup. While Graham's sack numbers have never hit double digits, he remains a complete player and Super Bowl champion. Poor Louis Wright has a hard time even making the Broncos' overcrowded All-Snub Team. Matthew Stafford is approaching 50,000 career passing yards, a number only topped by 11 quarterbacks in history. When Da Bears bean counters refused to pay up two years later, Marshall was the odd man out again. You will find some familiar Hall of Fame snubs on this list (like Jim Marshall, pictured above), but also plenty of players who were even snubbed from the Hall of Fame snubs, plus some current players who aren't getting their due. The most underrated player on all 32 NFL teams Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard (20) runs with the ball while being tackled by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters (24) in the second quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. They never had any playoff success, even when they did make it into the postseason. He played left tackle in 1972 and moved to right tackle in 1974. The trade went how you might expect a lopsided midseason deal for an aging quarterback to go. With his career spread evenly across three teams and zero All-Pro selections (a consequence of playing in the same era as Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher), Fletcher is a Hall of Fame long shot. Here on the All-Time Underrated List, it counts for a lot. Tom Jackson. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Those who like to shout "first-ballot Hall of Famer" about Rivers do not know how the Hall of Fame works. Although it is tough to put a second-year player on this list as underrated when he is still relatively unproven, Laviska Shenault has such a unique skill set at wide receiver that will quickly start to garner more attention. Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. Allen made a lot of plays. Quarterback is the most important position in organized football and maybe in all of sports, so it should be no surprise that men who play QB dominate the top spots of this list. Bottom line: Adam Vinatieri was money in the postseason, but Matt Bahr was even better. Craters so big that you could drive a semi through them. Two names that are familiar to even casual football fans sit atop the mountaintop of underrated NFL players for the 2015 regular season. Mason also caught 49 postseason passes and was one of the game's best return men for a few years. in the mid-1960s to early '70s, chances are "Whichever one has Marv Fleming" would have been a correct answer. He accounted for all his teams points in a 15-13 white-knuckler that wrecked the 49ers three-peat bid and sent the Giants to Super Bowl XXV. WebFive players made their "Top 100" debuts -- David Montgomery, Jimmie Ward, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Tucker and Kyle Pitts -- in Episode 1 (Nos. Jones is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection. "Hate to say it, but I do believe I should be there (in Canton)," Marshall once said. He was a eight-time Pro Bowler and one-time Super Bowl champion. Coaches rave about his work off the field and his dedication to improving his craft. WebLet's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. WebA key ingredient of arguably the best back four to grace the game Mauro Tassoti, him, Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini the Milan central defender made more than 450 The career active leader in games started by a defensive lineman is Julius Peppers with 227. The best we can offer is a little bit of credit where a lot is due. Bates started every game during his first three seasons since entering the league in 2018, recording three interceptions in each season and averaging over 100 tackles. That makes sense: Both started their careers late, played with workhorse running backs, won a championship and had their careers curtailed by vicious hits. He was a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro. Graham has only missed one game since 2012 prior to 2021, and similar to Hughes is a winning culture type of player. He finished his career by doing something almost impossible: signing with the Patriots as a veteran role player during one of the few years they didn't reach the Super Bowl. Franklin-Myers has the ability to play anywhere on the defensive line and is off to a strong start in the Jets' new 4-3 defense under head coach Robert Saleh. We could just trudge onward to the next player right now. Rote was the first quarterback who regularly beat defenses with his legs as well as his arm. He has started every game he has played in since 2014 (with four different franchises). He covered receivers (38 career interceptions). Bottom line: The 1970s Steelers won four Super Bowls two with a power run game, two with a potent pass attack and who better than Jon Kolb to do the heavy lifting? His stardom was spread among three teams, robbing him of local hero status (or Hall of Fame momentum) in any one city. Far from it. It's better to be remembered for one of the most painful moments in your career than to not be remembered at all. Nothing screams underappreciated like rumors you're about to be traded to make room for a late first-round pick. Buckner is rarely discussed with the likes of Cameron Heyward, Fletcher Cox, or Grady Jarrett among the top interior defensive linemen (next tier behind Aaron Donald), but he is every bit as talented. Sad to say, Morgan was woefully miscast in a run-first offense in a less pass-friendly time. Buckner is a smart player and one of the better-run defenders in football. Butler has never even been a Hall of Fame semifinalist, and it's not going to happen for him soon. They didnt allow a sack in 84 pass attempts. But so were teammates like Len Dawson, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, Bobby Bell, Curley Culp and Jan Stenerud, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame. The problem with Dierdorf is he played for a lot of bad Cardinals teams. Drew Brees endured an average of just 24 sacks per season in Evans' All-Pro seasons, despite typically dropping back to pass over 650 times per year. There would not be another exchange of current Pro Bowlers in the NFL until the Broncos and Redskins exchanged Champ Bailey and Clinton Portis in 2004. Web12. That made Hull one of the first centers to make line adjustments on the fly. Perhaps Hull would be in the Hall of Fame if the Bills had won even one Super Bowl. Mostly Schlereth and sidekick Tom Nalen, who were masters of zone-blocking schemes, a major reason why Davis is in the Hall of Fame today. No, what youll see are lots of gaping holes the size of Boulder. On the final play a year later, he picked off a Roger Staubach pass in the end zone that put the Cowboys to rest. While Kreig didnt possess fleet feet or a bazooka arm, he could read defenses and throw an accurate ball. He's also among the top 100 in games started (83rd), interception return yardage (89th) and interception return touchdowns (31st). But the diminutive Brees would not have been able to lead the Saints to a Super Bowl and several seasons as top contenders without a clean pocket, particularly right in front of him. An ever-growing backlog of outstanding safeties is queuing up outside Canton, as Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed will soon joinJohn Lynch and Brian Dawkins. WebThis list is for those players the ones who were great football players and did not get the credit they deserve. We look at the 10 most underrated players in football at the moment. That's where the politics of Hall voting come in. They lost to the Vikings 30-14 in the 1974 Wildcard Round, and they were defeated by the Rams 35-23 in the opening round of the playoffs in 1975. There are no official sack statistics before 1982, but the Minnesota Vikings credit Jim Marshall with 127 career sacks. Efficient? WebWhile positional drills may be more indicative of a player's success in the NFL, other events like the 40-yard dash, three-cone drill and bench press are less obvious. But Hadl had to do something to make the Packers think he was worth two armfuls of draft picks. Bottom line: For 16 seasons, Henry Ellard wreaked havoc as a pass receiver and punt returner. Unlike many of Marshall's teammates, however, he wasnt an obnoxious self-promoter, which partly explained his absence from the NFC Pro Bowl roster that season. But a double whammyplaying center and playing for the Broncoshas kept him miles from Hall of Fame consideration. Wouldnt you know it? He was a Pro Bowler in 1974 and 75, and he was an All-Pro selection from 1976-78. In addition to the most underrated and overrated Raiders of all time, Adam Rank goes on a mini-tirade about a criminally underrated coach. It takes bad timing and bad luck. Bottom line: Few remember Glen Edwards as the fearless strong safety with the Steelers first two Super Bowl teams. That's a higher sack total than Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis. The best teams in the AFL proved to be NFL-caliber, but the bottom of the league was populated with a nearly bankrupt franchise or two, so the best players clumped on the best teams and stood out from the crowd. 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Jacksonville Jaguars overtake Detroit for No. Kolb set the Super Bowl standard for left tackles in Super Bowl IV, when he smoked undersized Minnesota Vikings end Jim Marshall like a bad cigar. A great story off the field and rare talent on it, Waller appears to still be getting better at age 29. Saleh has compared Franklin-Myers to Arik Armstead, whom he coached in SF while registering 10 sacks in 2019. But what peak years they were: 14- and 13-win seasons, annual playoff appearances, routine 4,000-yard, 30-touchdown seasons. Then it was off to Carolina, where he earned an All-Pro selection for leading the Panthers to the NFC Championship Game as a second-year expansion team during his age-37 season. Brett Favre may be the player most responsible for bringing spectacle and success back to Titletown, but Butler brought back celebration. original sound - ftbl vids 221. He must either play for teams so good that they overshadow his accomplishments, or teams so bad that he had to do it all by himself. As a pass blocker, Moton has developed into a steady presence capable of holding his own, and at times even dominating top pass rushers that include Joey Bosa and Cameron Jordan. He had the speed to get to the edge and beat defenders down the sideline, the power to plow through tackles, the elusiveness to make things happen in the open field and receiving chops to rival contemporaries Roger Craig or Thurman Thomas. "No one was going to catch no ball.". He is now stuck in a rebuilding cycle that may take a few years. He also doesn't play in the shadow of a legend. ), Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Super Bowl championships: Two (1974, 1975). Then again, the fourth-round draft pick had no choice. Because he is one of the NFL's best defensive players, for one thing. There's a statue outside of Lambeau Field commemorating the Lambeau Leap, perhaps the most recognizable and beloved (except to Packers opponents) end-zone celebration in the NFL. Young played for some great 49ers teams, including a Super Bowl-winning squad as a rookie in 1994. Taylor rushed for 1,000-plus yards in seven seasons. To understand why he is not in the Hall of Fame, you must familiarize yourself with both the era he played in and the vagaries of Hall voting. Rivers had neither, but he possessed just about everything else. Six All-Pro selections. Smith wasnt a no-show on third-and-long, either. Franklin-Myers went from fourth-round draft choice of the Rams in 2018, to a final roster cut in 2019. McDole, nicknamed "The Dancing Bear" because of his boogie on the dance floor rather than his on-field footwork, was known as more of a run defender than a pass-rusher. But c'mon: 289 regular-season and postseason starts, 127 sacks and four Super Bowl appearances, yet the Hall of Fame turns up its nose at Marshall as just a pretty good defender with a long career? The Steelers rushed for a then-record 249 yards and did not allow a sack. Norton made the key play of the game in the second period, when he stood up Buffalo Bills back Kenneth Davis mere inches from the goal line. Dunn finished his career with 15,655 all-purpose yards, 25th in league history, one of the best players never to be a champion. But don't write him off as some 1960s product of the system. WebDuring the next few weeks, we here at NFL.com will unveil our Most Underrated and Overrated Players of All Time for all 32 teams and allow users to determine their WebTop 20 Most Underrated NFL Players of All Time 20 Drew Brees. Its hard to think of a player more dominant and less talked about over a long period of time than Chandler Jones. As some players continue to grow their stardom and gain league-wide recognition, others are less talked about, often flying under the radar for several seasons or even entire careers without proper acknowledgment. Bottom line: Warrick Dunn overcame the murder of his mother, bouts with depression and 5-foot-9 size to have a successful 12-year NFL career. Many of those catches occurred down the field, with Anderson serving as a de facto possession receiver. Bottom line: Wilber Marshall was the most athletic and versatile linebacker with the legendary 1985 Bears defense he often replaced the celebrated Mike Singletary in pass situations. After spending a season on the practice squad and injured-reserve with the Jets, Franklin-Myers made the most of his opportunities as a rotational player throughout most of 2020, leading to a starting role in 2021 and a massive $55M extension. C'mon, who doesn't love Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert? Kenny Anderson may be the most "so underrated that he's overrated" player in NFL historya darling of the stat-head community and common first-guy-mentioned when Hall of Fame snubs come up. No one else is even close. Dont know about you, but I want Mason on my retro fantasy league team. The AFL was an eight- to 10-team league, so All-Pro selections were easier to come by. He announced his retirement from pro football in 2010, not long after signing with the Arizona Cardinals. When London Fletcher retired after the 2014 season, Robert Klemko of The MMQBasked him if he was motivated by feeling underappreciated for most of his career. Guards don't make the Hall of Fame unless they win multiple Super Bowls or play forever. Moton started all 16 games each of the last four years, gradually improving and joining the conversation of best right tackles in football. WebBUY OUR MERCH: https://www.thegivengo.com/merchTIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegivengoSPOTIFY: And no Hall of Famers allowed. Karl Mecklenburg. Kenn was one of the leaders of the NFL Players Association during the era of replacement players and court battles over free agency. Ground rules: A max of three Pro Bowl invitations. He once threw three touchdowns in a shutout victory in a title game. And Jackson spent a generation as a pre- and postgame show staple, which puts him in a whole different category. McDole was known as "The Dancing Bear" because of his nimble feet, one of the coolest nicknames ever. Even without the same speed and athleticism as when he entered the league, David continues to find ways to make impact plays like a seasoned veteran. The Hall of Fame has turned up its nose on all of them. But his Hall of Fame candidacy has been stuck in semifinalist limbo. Know who created those wide-open spaces? Mike Williams is an elite deep threat at wide receiver and has maintained an average YPC of over 15 every year since 2018. Upon entering the league in 2019, Johnson recorded 59 catches as a rookie and then topped that mark in 2020 with 88 catches. WebDon't hesitate to comment below with underrated players who you believe should have been on this list. The converted all-purpose athlete became one of the fathers of modern quarterbacking. Bates has still developed into a leader in the Bengals secondary and arguably their best player on defense. He played the run with authority (721 career solo tackles). Roberston is the guy getting head-butted in the sternum and knocked backward by Campbell before the running back's jersey gets torn off. There are a ton of names in the conversation for best offensive linemen of all time, but Dierdorf never seems to have his name mentioned. Finally, at last, the cornerback was selected to play in his first Pro Bowl game as some kind of lifetime achievement award. Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Super Bowl championships: Two (1979, 1990). He took over as the Bears' featured offensive weapon after the Super Bowl Shuffle years. Two 10-interception seasons, with 57 career interceptions. But three of his best seasons are not listed in the encyclopedias. A Colts defender delivered some payback in the all-star game. Ronald Koeman is a bonafide legend of Dutch football. Travis Kelce and George Kittle dominate the conversation at tight end but Darren Waller is quickly emerging as a name that should be discussed as well. During his first four seasons, three with the Ravens and one in Oakland, Waller caught just 18 passes on 29 targets while also being suspended all of 2017. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. Angel Di Maria. The Jaguars, meanwhile, slowly descended to their current status as the NFL's punching bag. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. Anderson became a footnote to the Ditka era, but fans who saw him play know he was far more than that. Entering 2021, Moton had allowed only 10 sacks in over 2,000 pass-blocking snaps. Today we look back at the most underrated Quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, and a few of these should be in Canton. He was overshadowed by more famous teammates throughout his career. His .588 win percentage ranks second to Wilson in team history. Jacksonville's all-time leading receiver is now beginning what he calls the "second chapter in his life." Playing in Detroit can stifle any career. Evans is a long shot to do either, which is a shame. He also scored 35 touchdowns on the ground in that span. It takes more than mere greatness to be considered one of the most underrated players in pro football history. The Packers were a team with more history than identity when Butler arrived. McDole's Bills defenses held opponents to fewer than 3.1 yards per carry across three consecutive seasons. Waller overcame addiction and his suspension to emerge in 2019, catching 90 passes for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns while starting all 16 games for the Raiders. At 67 Buckner also has a wide arsenal of pass rush moves to pressure the quarterback. Jackson then moved on to Atlanta just after the collapse of the Mike Smith playoff teams but before the rise of the current Dan Quinn contenders. Other than Steve Largent and Kurt Warner, Pro Bowlers were harder to find in the Seahawks offense than a haystack in the Space Needle. Maybe Rivers takes his place among the all-time greats. If the soft-spoken scatback had been in the right place at the right time, he would have filled his one nagging void a Super Bowl title and the exposure that accompanied it. A beast in coverage, Jones continues to round out his game as one of the top overall linebackers in football. ", Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Pro Bowl appearances (AFL All-Star Game): Two (1965, 1967). There are a ton of names in the conversation for best offensive linemen of all time, but Dierdorf DeForest Buckner plays great team defense and has done so successfully for two franchises. One of the greatest defenders of his era reduced to stuntman status in Campbell's action movieall it takes is a moment to make a player underrated forever. Yes, Marshall amassed that sack total by playing foreverhe started270 games (plus 19 playoff starts) from 1961 through 1979. Smith produced nine 1,000-yard seasons in 10 years, including two 100-plus-catch seasons in an era when they were still relatively uncommon. Mason had seven seasons of at least 70 pass receptions, 1,000 yards and five touchdowns. He played center, as well, before his career was over. That feeling never really went away.". The Hall of Fame eluded Ellard for several reasons: comparisons to Rice, the Rams' move to St. Louis (it takes hometown writers and buzz to mount a campaign) and those five early seasons in a ground-and-pound offense. Teams: Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1993, 1995, 1997), Super Bowl championships: Three (1992, 1993, 1994). If Isiah Robertson is famous at all, it's for being "posterized" by Earl Campbell in one of the most famous NFL Films highlights of all time. Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield was on the receiving end of many of Ryan's touchdowns. And he played in one stinking Pro Bowl game. Why retain an expensive vestige of the last regime, or really the last three regimes? One look at the logjam forming outside the entrance to Canton tells you Wisniewski isn't moving up the ladder anytime soon. WebMost Underrated NFL Players of All Time These men did so much but received so little credit in return. That "something" was throwing for more than 29,000 yards and going to four AFL All-Star Games and a Pro Bowl with the Chargers and then leading the Rams to a 12-2 record in 1973. He's rarely mentioned as an all-time great. He was arrested four times after his abrupt retirement. For a few years, he was not only the best guard in the NFL, but the most important. But his Rams had a running back named Eric Dickerson and quarterbacks named Dieter Brock and Jeff Kemp. But the run-'n'-shoot took away more than it provided, and the early 1990s Lions kept getting obliterated by better defenses in the playoffs. Butler is all but guaranteed to get lost in the shuffle. The 49ers are installing a new system and reshaping their roster. In both New England and Arizona, Jones has wreaked havoc on quarterbacks, demonstrating versatility as a 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE. Not only was Fleming good enough to stick with great teams, but he also was the luckiest son of a gun on the face of the earth. Player B was a one-time MVP who played in two Pro Bowl games. Ryan was Jim Brown's quarterback and then Leroy Kelly's quarterback. Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Bottom line: Fred Taylor once tweeted, "I earned respect on the field. WebTop ten under-capped England players is a list Foden and Maddison want to avoid Matt Le Tissier won 10 fewer England caps than Carlton Palmer. He had one sack in four games, all Rams victories. Teams kept doing something special to get their hands on Hadl. McLaurins route running continues to improve while routinely making contested catches look easy. Addiction soon began consuming Smith's career, and then his life. Young was a devastating interior pass-rusher who recorded 30 sacks in the three-year span from 1998 through 2000. Anderson was not Payton, and the later-era Mike Ditka Bears could never approach the heights reached by the 1985 Bears. He once sacked Dan Marino twice on the first two plays of a gamea remarkable achievement, as Marino was one of the least sacked quarterbacks in NFL history. While most Giants fans remember Meggett, he is still one of the most underrated players of all time. The least glamorous position on the field, a so-so team, a franchise moveWisniewski pulled three lemons on the recognition slot machine. Web20 most underrated football players of all time 1. He played in the run-'n'-shoot offense, which means he was on an island against the NFL's best pass-rushers on every snap for a half-decadeno tight end flanking him, no blocking back behind him. Super Bowl championships: Two (1996, 1999). But Wright never posted massive interception totals, and his teams ended up on the receiving end of a pair of Super Bowl beatings. Evans, the best pass-protecting guard of his era, was charged with making sure pass-rushers didn't get close enough to Brees to bat his passes down, let alone sack him. Rivers' excellence, longevity and ability to barely dodge immortality make him the John Hadl of his era. Hull never lived to see himself make a Hall of Fame semifinalist list, as he died of liver failure at age 50 in 2011. During his time at Fiorentina, he was the best player, 2. In Jahri Evans' four All-Pro seasons (2009-12), the Saints ranked first, sixth, first and second in the NFL in total yards. Even so, Smith was pretty much a well-kept secret outside Pittsburgh despite meeting or approaching Pro Bowl standards for almost a decade. They're the working stiffs who bust their butts at so-called lesser positions, on teams that are seldom seen on highlights shows, let alone national television. He then became a staple of trivia questions and All-Time Worst Trades listicles, as the Lawrence Welk trade overshadowed an even more impressive moment in Hadl's transaction history. Peppers will have to play three more seasons to catch Marshall, and Peppers' starts are non-consecutive. He routinely beat defenders with quickness out of his breaks and clever change-of-pace moves, qualities that also served him well as a punt returner. The fullback has become a non-factor in many of todays NFL offenses, but Juszczyk remains an integral part of how the San Francisco 49ers run their offense. The correct answer is Player A (Ken Stabler), and if youre Player B (Brodie), you have to wonder if one Super Bowl should make that much difference. 1 overall pick, NFL coverage map 2021: TV schedule Week 16, Seattle Seahawks: 3 players who wont be back in 2022. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he didnt wow anyone physically. But outside of Wisconsin, his accomplishments were mostly forgotten shortly after his career ended in 2001. Waller was a sixth-round draft pick at wide receiver by the Ravens in 2015 and struggled to find targets early in his career in spite of his 66 frame. Hence, the Campbell video. He was an All-Pro for the Orange Crush defenses of the 1970s, and then he stuck around to play for the 1986 Broncos Super Bowl team. Now that's underrated. For years, the team couldn't even harken back to its glory days properly, as Smith's Pride of the Jaguars induction was delayed until he was sober and no longer under house arrest. Or as astute NBC broadcaster Dick Enberg scored it, "KO for Ken Norton.". The Cardinals were 0-3 in the playoffs in Dierdorfs time with the team, and none of the games were particularly close. The Lions drafted him as a running back. The Packers believed they were a veteran quarterback away from a playoff run in 1974, so head coach/GM Dan Devine acquired the 34-year-old Rams quarterback by surrendering a ransom of draft picks huge enough to cause even Ryan Pace to do a spit take: two first-rounders, two second-rounders and a third-rounder. Anderson is no Hall of Famerthe middle of his career is a morass of ordinary-at-best seasonsbut he was a pioneer and an innovator. A mauler of a right guard, Timmerman also was agile enough to escort Marshall Faulk on screens and sweeps. Along with the legendary Johnny Unitas, Rote probably did more to change the quarterback position than anyone in the pre-merger era even if so few know it.