There would be those who would agree and many, many more of those who would not.
It was a gargantuan task, to say the least.
In an effort to be as complete, and fair, as possible, I put together a panel of former players from across all eras to create criteria on which to judge the candidates. Bill Mackrides, the backup quarterback on the 1948 and '49 championship teams, was gracious enough to participate, as were Bill Bergey, Ron Jaworski, Mike Quick, Jim Gallagher and Gov. Rendell. Troy Vincent offered his suggestions via telephone.
We started our three-hour session by talking about how tough it was to judge players from such vastly different eras. The game has changed so much since the early days. The rules are different. The training is different. The money is different. The expectations are different.
Even so, there was a consensus on who should be in the top three, if not on the order: Steve Van Buren, Reggie White and Chuck Bednarik.
All of the panelists submitted a top 10, in order. I assigned a point system, giving 10 points for a No. 1 vote, nine for a No. 2, eight for a No. 3, and so on. Nearly 30 players got at least one point, which is how the first part of the list was constructed.
As the moderator of the panel, I reserved the right to break ties and account for panel bias.
As we went, two unexpected items came up. Should Terrell Owens be included in the list of 75, and should Westbrook?
Both answers were unanimous. No and no.
The reasons for Owens' omission are fairly obvious. While he did have a stellar season in 2004, injecting the team with an undeniable swagger and producing one of the most dramatic Super Bowl performances in recent memory, his subsequent actions were abhorrent. He systematically dismantled the team, acting like a spoiled brat as he caused controversy after controversy. The bad negated the good, so Owens was out.
