National_Football_League_50th_Anniversary_All-Time_Team

NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team

NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team

Add article description

The National Football League 50th Anniversary All-Time Team was selected in 1969 by Pro Football Hall of Fame voters from each franchise city of the National Football League (NFL) to honor the greatest players of the first 50 years of the league.[1] A total of 16 players were named, including 15 position winners and one special "legend" category for Jim Thorpe,[2][3] who was described "as the star that never diminishes."[4] At the time, all but three of the players had played in 20 prior years; four were on NFL rosters at the time of the selections: Johnny Unitas, Gale Sayers, John Mackey, and Ray Nitschke.[4] Additionally, two runners-up were also named for each of the 15 positions.[3]

Seven of the sixteen players from the 50th Anniversary All-Time Team also made the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team: Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Don Hutson, Gino Marchetti, Ray Nitschke, and Dick "Night Train" Lane.

Eleven of the sixteen players from the 50th Anniversary All-Time Team also made the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team: Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Don Hutson, Elroy Hirsch, John Mackey, Cal Hubbard, Chuck Bednarik, Gino Marchetti, Dick "Night Train" Lane, and Emlen Tunnell.

With Jerry Kramer making the Hall of Fame class of 2018, all members of the 50th Anniversary All-Time Team have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Offense

Source:[3]

More information Position, Player ...

Defense

Source:[3]

More information Position, Player ...

Special teams

Source:[3]

More information Position, Player ...

Runners-up

Two runners-up were selected for each of the 15 positions as follows:

QB: Sammy Baugh and Norm Van Brocklin; FB: Bronko Nagurski and Joe Perry; HB: Harold Grange and Hugh McElhenny; SE: Raymond Berry and Dante Lavelli; FL: Boyd Dowler[lower-alpha 2] and Lenny Moore; TE: Mike Ditka[lower-alpha 2] and Ron Kramer; OT: Forrest Gregg[lower-alpha 2] and Joe Stydahar; G: Dan Fortmann and Jim Parker; C: Mel Hein and Alex Wojciechowicz; DE: Len Ford and Deacon Jones[lower-alpha 2]; DT: Art Donovan and Ernie Stautner; LB: Joe Schmidt and Clyde Turner; CB: Herb Adderley[lower-alpha 2] and Jack Butler, S: Jack Christiansen and Larry Wilson;[lower-alpha 2] PK: Ernie Nevers and Ken Strong.[3][5]

See also

Notes

  1. Special category[2]
  2. Active at time of selection

References

  1. [1]
    "Ten blacks named to NFL's 'dream team'". The Indianapolis Recorder. September 13, 1969. pp. 8, 11. Retrieved April 8, 2020 – via Hoosier State Chronicles. Open access icon
  2. [2]
    Oates, Bob Jr., ed. (1969). The First Fifty Years: A Celebration of the National Football League in Its Fiftieth Season. Simon and Schuster. p. 94. LCCN 74-77093.
  3. [3]
    "All-Time NFL Team Announced". San Bernardino Sun. September 7, 1969. p. D-1. Retrieved April 8, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection. Open access icon
  4. [4]
    "Unitas QBs NFL Team". The Tampa Tribune-Times. AP. September 7, 1969. p. 5-F. Retrieved April 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. [5]
    Oates 1969, pp. 96–99.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article National_Football_League_50th_Anniversary_All-Time_Team, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.