It's one of those great bar discussions: Who is the best football player of all time?

Joe Montana? Jim Brown? Emmitt Smith? Bronko Nagurski? Walter Payton?

I've gone with Sammy Baugh (just partly because we're both TCU alums).

It's really pretty simple for me. Baugh revolutionized the passing game in the NFL and wasn't just a great quarterback, but was also the best cornerback and punter of his day.

Here's Sammy's bio from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But -- and it's just part of the great debate -- a guy I went to grad school with (Murray Greenberg) has a new book out about Benny Friedman.

Friedman was a star at Michigan before entering the pro ranks. His career started before Baugh's and he's credited with being the first great passer. Even before Baugh.

Friedman's bio from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where he was enshrined in 2005 -- the same year as Dan Marino and Steve Young -- and 71 years after Friedman last played.

The book is "Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football."

Here's The Washington Post review.

Here is the info on Amazon.

Let the debate begin.

4 Comments

jerry w said:

Jim Brown was the greatest football player to ever live.

January 21, 2009 12:51 PM

Stevo said:

Lawrence Taylor or Jim Brown

January 28, 2009 12:30 PM

Stevo said:

Jim Brown was the best athlete
Lawrence Taylor was the most dominating
But the toughest guy and the guy who helped win the most games for his team was Brett Favre. He also had the most fun.

January 28, 2009 12:35 PM

Stevo said:

Jim Brown was the best athlete
Lawrence Taylor was the most dominating
But the toughest guy and the guy who helped win the most games for his team was Brett Favre. He also had the most fun.

January 28, 2009 12:36 PM

Leave a comment

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.