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Sports Then and Now



Best Players Not In The Pro Football Hall of Fame: Linebackers 18

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Dean Hybl
Chuck Howley is the only player to be named Super Bowl MVP while playing on the losing team.

Chuck Howley is the only player to be named Super Bowl MVP while playing on the losing team.

Our position-by-position look at the best eligible players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame continues with a position that includes both players who served as the quarterback of the defense and others that disrupted offenses with their prowess rushing the passer.

Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, many top middle linebackers became familiar figures as the defensive quarterback on the field. Players like Ray Nitschke, Dick Butkus, Tommy Nobis, Willie Lanier, Bill Bergey, Lee Roy Jordan, Jack Lambert, Harry Carson, Nick Buoniconti and Mike Singletary were recognized as the defensive leader for their team and every team looked to find their own stuffer in the middle.

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  • Vintage Athlete of the Month

    • Rusty Staub: A Man For All Ages
      April 8, 2024 | 1:26 pm
      Rusty Staub

      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.

      Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.

      Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.

      Read more »

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