Who are the top 10 most influential people in NFL history?

[NeverSurrender]

Players, coaches, anybody who has ever been a part of the NFL can make your list.

Label them 10 to 1, 1 being more important and inftuential than 10.

10. Jim Brown - Yeah, you tell him he doesn't belong here, not me. They should've banned this guy he was so good, and way ahead of his time.

9. George Halas and Red Grange - They brought credibility to pro football when most people laughed at it.

8. Ed Sabol - Yeah, some of you will laugh at this, but most of you are around my age, so I know you watched that little ball spin through the air on tv as a child like I did. It was like crack. Ed Sabol changed my life.

7. Vince Lombardi - "We need a seal here, and a seal there."
Figured out how to bully other teams with his power offense. the offense that still exists in some way in an era of 60 passing attempts a game NFL.

6. Al Davis- Did it his way, sued the NFL and anybody else he felt like, and had incredible vision. He was the only owner whose name I knew before I was a teenager.

5. Johnny Unitas - First "real qb" as we know it now. His teammates believed no matter what the situation was because he was the leader. maybe the Babe Ruth of the NFL, because people that never saw him play a down know he was one of the best of all time.

4. Lamar Hunt - Started the AFL and helped force the merger. Helped keep teams afloat while the league was new. Coined the name "The Super Bowl." One of the main reasons the NFL is what it is today. The first guy I ever read about as a child.

3. Paul Brown - Great judge of talent and great recruiter. Hired black players when nobody else would. Mybe the game's first offensive mastermind. Invented situational subsitutions. 'Nuff said.

2. Pete Rozelle - Without him, and his vision about how perfect the NFL was for tv, it wouldn't be as popular as it is today. He also was in charge before and after the NFL - AFL merger.

1. Tom Landry - When you watchthe NFL, you're watching his game. From the shotgun to the 4-3 defense, this guy is king, imo. He was the te first coach to use a guy primarily on 3rd downs all the time. 5 super bowls and 2 wins doesn't hurt him either. He also played the game.

[johnk5150]

How can the guy who founded the league and kept Green Bay solvent be number 9?

[NeverSurrender]

How can the guy who founded the league and kept Green Bay solvent be number 9?

That's why it's just my opinion, one in which keeping Green Bay alive had nothing to with. Him founding the league is a good point, but my first memory of him is him dying, so that might hurt him. i also didn't feel like his ideas ever changed the game, like Landry's or Brown's ideas.

Still waiting for your list.

[Tymaster]

Loathe as I am to even type his name, you have to throw in Art Modell. Hugely influential in both the merger (willing to join the AFC to make the merger happen) and championing the idea of Monday Night Football when every other owner that it would fall flat on its face. That being said, I want him shot and killed.

[Space Bear]

I'm not enough of a hardcore fan to make my own list, but I'll definitely back you on Ed Sabol. He took a great game and made it look absolutely epic. Plus, the influence of NFL Films has extended far beyond football.

[bigbuttskinner]

I gotta say that is a great list. Can't debate any of them because they belong very high on a list like this. I'll do the best I can, but by no means do I think I am 100% correct. Ed Sabol is huge, but I won't include him since you already did; I'll stick with owners, coaches and players.

**Honorable Mention - Joe Namath, Kurt Warner

10 Mike Ditka
9 Al Davis
8 Tom Brady
7 Reggie White
6 Lamar Hunt
5 Bill Parcells
4 Brett Favre
3 Paul Brown
2 George Halas
1 Vince Lombardi

[demolition23]

I gotta say that is a great list. Can't debate any of them because they belong very high on a list like this. I'll do the best I can, but by no means do I think I am 100% correct. Ed Sabol is huge, but I won't include him since you already did; I'll stick with owners, coaches and players.

**Honorable Mention - Joe Namath, Kurt Warner

10 Mike Ditka
9 Al Davis
8 Tom Brady
7 Reggie White
6 Lamar Hunt
5 Bill Parcells
4 Brett Favre
3 Paul Brown
2 George Halas
1 Vince Lombardi

Tom Brady is a great player, but what has he influenced?

[bigbuttskinner]

Tom Brady, in my opinion, has and will influence anyone who was drafted really late who wants to prove they are worthy enough to play. He got his shot and never gave it up. He continues to play the most difficult position in sports at the highest level. He came back after a severe injury. He doesn't fold under pressure, etc. It goes on and on. He is the best to ever play the position.

[NeverSurrender]

You can't leave Landry off. Just not possible. Half of what we watch now is him.

[The Cusack]

Chuck Noll > Tom Landry. Noll's influence is STILL alive within the Steelers organization over 40 years after being hired by the team. Plus he won more Super Bowls than anyone, including beating Landry twice.

My list, aside from the above change, is pretty similar to yours.

[bigbuttskinner]

Chuck Noll > Tom Landry. Noll's influence is STILL alive within the Steelers organization over 40 years after being hired by the team. Plus he won more Super Bowls than anyone, including beating Landry twice.

My list, aside from the above change, is pretty similar to yours.

Doesn't Bill Walsh have four along with Chuck Noll?

[NeverSurrender]

Chuck Noll > Tom Landry. Noll's influence is STILL alive within the Steelers organization over 40 years after being hired by the team. Plus he won more Super Bowls than anyone, including beating Landry twice.

My list, aside from the above change, is pretty similar to yours.

Chuck Noll was good at drafting talent, not inventing offensive and defensive settings. Noll is a great coach, but I don't think of him at all when I watch NFL football now.

Me may have beena better coach, but not more important, imo.

[SkyDog112046]

There are some very influential people on that list with some great additions along the way. I have a couple more to add/emphasize.

I think Bill Walsh and his west coast offense belong in there somewhere. The last 20 years have been dominated by versions of that offense. In terms of influential coaches he is right up there with Lombardi & Landry.

Joe Namath not so much for his play but or his star power and cache. He was one of the first celebrity athletes and is what gave the AFL it's credibility. Superbowl III is the single most important game in league history. Had the Colts blown out the Jets it would have been very difficult to sell Superbowls going forward.

For current people, I think Robert Kraft goes on the list. He solved two disputes that threatened to turn into long stoppages. The first one was between the owners and involved revenue sharing and then the most current one with the recent lockout

[NeverSurrender]

SKy, I'd agree with all except Kraft. That's a homer pick on your end.

[Tymaster]

Chuck Noll > Tom Landry. Noll's influence is STILL alive within the Steelers organization over 40 years after being hired by the team. Plus he won more Super Bowls than anyone, including beating Landry twice.

My list, aside from the above change, is pretty similar to yours.

Doesn't Bill Walsh have four along with Chuck Noll?

No. Seifert has the 4th 9er ring.

[NeverSurrender]

Super Bowl rings meant very little on my list, and most of the people on my list were around before the super bowl was even created. Actually, all of them were.

[Space Bear]

I'd like to add Howard Cosell. He blazed the trail on Monday Night Football.

[SkyDog112046]

SKy, I'd agree with all except Kraft. That's a homer pick on your end.

Kraft is one of the most influential current NFL figures. I'm not comparing him to the guys like Halas and Hunt but in terms of today's NFL owners he is near the top. There might not have been games in September if it wasn't for Kraft.

[NeverSurrender]

The pats are so good, they stopped the lockout.

[The Cusack]

Chuck Noll > Tom Landry. Noll's influence is STILL alive within the Steelers organization over 40 years after being hired by the team. Plus he won more Super Bowls than anyone, including beating Landry twice.

My list, aside from the above change, is pretty similar to yours.

Doesn't Bill Walsh have four along with Chuck Noll?

George Seifert was the head coach for their 4th Super Bowl win. Walsh has 3 and Seifert 2.

[The Cusack]

Chuck Noll > Tom Landry. Noll's influence is STILL alive within the Steelers organization over 40 years after being hired by the team. Plus he won more Super Bowls than anyone, including beating Landry twice.

My list, aside from the above change, is pretty similar to yours.

Chuck Noll was good at drafting talent, not inventing offensive and defensive settings. Noll is a great coach, but I don't think of him at all when I watch NFL football now.

Me may have beena better coach, but not more important, imo.

Noll's influence may have been primarily with the Steelers but they've been a totally different franchise that's been molded in his vision from 1969 to this very day. Also, the fact that they have more Super Bowl victories and appearances than any other team is a huge influence. But I do see your point with Landry as an innovator of defense. What about Allie Sherman though? He was the head coach that groomed both Lombardi and Landry when they were his assistants with the Giants?

[NeverSurrender]

I agree, he's more influential to the Steelers, but this is about the NFL as a whole.

I'd put Noll in top 5 coaches or top 10 best judges of talent in NFl history, but he's far from an influential figure.

[*flick*]

Don Coryell. One of the first pioneers of the I Formation running game and the father of the modern NFL passing attacks. He also invented the nickel and dime defenses by default. Somebody had to try and stop him on the other side of the ball.

[metalpowerman5000]

OJ Simpson, he kills

[bigbuttskinner]

I think Bill Walsh and his west coast offense belong in there somewhere. The last 20 years have been dominated by versions of that offense. In terms of influential coaches he is right up there with Lombardi & Landry.

I would have possibly included Walsh but since technically the West Coast Offense was made by Paul Brown, I found it hard to include him in the top ten.

[El Metalico]

OJ Simpson, he kills

From players perspective, have to add Walter Payton. He is like the Jimi Hendrix of the NFL.

[NeverSurrender]

OJ Simpson, he kills

From players perspective, have to add Walter Payton. He is like the Jimi Hendrix of the NFL.

Hell, I'm a Vikes fan and I love Walter.

[FullDJacket]

Al Davis is number one because in addition to all those things you mentioned he also killed football in L.A.

[Crazy Levi]

Can we put Slingin' Sammy Baugh on the list?

He pretty much invented the forward pass.

[Kid-Wicked]

Plaxico Burress
Najeh Davenport
Eugene Robinson
Kenyatta Jones
Shaun Rogers
Fred Smoot
Bryant McKinnie
Pat McAfee
Randy Moss
JaMarcus Russell
O.J.