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: National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
Famous quotes containing the word defense:
“Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, every where.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Unlike Boswell, whose Journals record a long and unrewarded search for a self, Johnson possessed a formidable one. His life in London—he arrived twenty-five years earlier than Boswell—turned out to be a long defense of the values of Augustan humanism against the pressures of other possibilities. In contrast to Boswell, Johnson possesses an identity not because he has gone in search of one, but because of his allegiance to a set of assumptions that he regards as objectively true.”
—Jeffrey Hart (b. 1930)
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”
—Barry Goldwater (b. 1909)