Defense
Source:
| Position | Player | Team(s) played for | College |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defensive end | David "Deacon" Jones | Los Angeles Rams (1961–1971) San Diego Chargers (1972–1973) Washington Redskins (1974) |
Mississippi Vocational South Carolina State |
| Gino Marchetti | Dallas Texans (1952) Baltimore Colts (1953–1964, 1966) |
San Francisco | |
| Reggie White | Memphis Showboats (USFL) (1984–1985) Philadelphia Eagles (1985–1992) Green Bay Packers (1993–1998) Carolina Panthers (2000) |
Tennessee | |
| Defensive tackle | "Mean" Joe Greene | Pittsburgh Steelers (1969–1981) | North Texas State |
| Bob Lilly | Dallas Cowboys (1961–1974) | TCU | |
| Merlin Olsen | Los Angeles Rams (1962–1976) | Utah State University | |
| Linebacker | Dick Butkus | Chicago Bears (1965–1973) | Illinois |
| Jack Ham | Pittsburgh Steelers (1971–1982) | Penn State | |
| Ted Hendricks | Baltimore Colts (1969–1973) Green Bay Packers (1974) Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders (1975–1983) |
Miami (FL) | |
| Jack Lambert | Pittsburgh Steelers (1974–1984) | Kent State | |
| Willie Lanier | Kansas City Chiefs (AFL) (1967–1969) Kansas City Chiefs (1970–1977) |
Morgan State | |
| Ray Nitschke | Green Bay Packers (1958–1972) | Illinois | |
| Lawrence Taylor | New York Giants (1981–1993) | North Carolina | |
| Cornerback | Mel Blount | Pittsburgh Steelers (1970–1983) | Southern |
| Mike Haynes | New England Patriots (1976–1982) Los Angeles Raiders (1983–1989) |
Arizona State | |
| Dick "Night Train" Lane | Los Angeles Rams (1952–1953) Chicago Cardinals (1954–1959) Detroit Lions (1960–1965) |
Scottsbluff JC | |
| Rod Woodson | Pittsburgh Steelers (1987–1996) San Francisco 49ers (1997) Baltimore Ravens (1998–2001) Oakland Raiders (2002–2003) |
Purdue | |
| Safety | Ken Houston | Houston Oilers (AFL) (1967–1969) Houston Oilers (1970–1972) Washington Redskins (1973–1980) |
Prairie View A&M |
| Ronnie Lott | San Francisco 49ers (1981–1990) Los Angeles Raiders (1991–1992) New York Jets (1993–1994) |
Southern California | |
| Larry Wilson | St. Louis Cardinals (1960–1972) | Utah |
Read more about this topic: NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
Famous quotes containing the word defense:
“If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country.”
—Malcolm X (1925–1965)
“He said, truly, that the reason why such greatly superior numbers quailed before him was, as one of his prisoners confessed, because they lacked a cause,—a kind of armor which he and his party never lacked. When the time came, few men were found willing to lay down their lives in defense of what they knew to be wrong; they did not like that this should be their last act in this world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“... most Southerners of my parents’ era were raised to feel that it wasn’t respectable to be rich. We felt that all patriotic Southerners had lost everything in defense of the South, and sufficient time hadn’t elapsed for respectable rebuilding of financial security in a war- impoverished region.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 1 (1962)