For the NFL’s 100th season, Sports Illustrated listed the league’s 100 essential figures, in alphabetical order. Some are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, others are not. Most are SI favorites.
Lyle Alzado: PED user
Dr James Andrews: noted joint surgeon
Roone Aldridge: created Monday Night Football
Sammy Baugh: biggest star of the 1940’s
Odel Beckham: star in the social media age
Chuck Bednarik: last great 2 way player
Bill Belichick: mastermind of 2 decade long dynasty
Bert Bell: commissioner
Chris Berman was the face of ESPN
Mel Blount: big CB forced rules changes
Tom Brady won 6 Super Bowls
Jim Brown dominant 60’s RB
Paul Brown: innovator
Earl Campbell: worn out from injuries
Lee Clow created 1984 Super Bowl ad
Don Coryell: passing genius
Howard Cosell
Al Davis challenged the league
Eddie DeBartolo Jr won 5 Super Bowls
Mike Ditka: first great pass catching tight end
Judge David Doty oversaw labor relations
Tony Dungy: first black head coach to win SB
John Elway: first to win SB as QB and GM
Brett Farve: most durable QB
Peter Gent wrote North Dallas Forty
Frank Gifford anchored MNF
Sid Gillman: coaching pioneer
Pete Gogalak: first soccer style kicker
Roger Goodell
Otto Graham won 7 championships
Red Grange boosted league's profile
Mean Joe Greene
George Halas founded NFL
Scott Hanson & Andrew Siciliano host NFL Red Zone
Bob Hayes: Olympic sprinter, HOF receiver
Roy Hofheinz built Astrodome
Paul Hornung: Packer golden boy
Lamar Hunt founded AFL
Don Hutson: receiver ahead of his time
Michael Jackson made SB halftime must see TV
Billy White Shoes Johnson’s end zone celebrations
Jerry Jones created new revenue streams
Wilford Crazy Ray Jones: first of the superfans
Colin Kaepernick
Chip Kelly proved wide open offenses would work
Mel Kiper Jr created draft craze
Curly Lambeau: Packer patriarch
Tom Landry
Dick Night Train Lane: fearsome 50’s DB
Ray Lewis killed a man
Vince Lombardi
John Madden: coach, broadcaster, video games
Tony Mandarich embodied steroid use
Peyton Manning won 5 MVPs
George Preston Marshall: last owner to integrate team
Will McDonough paved way for info-driven media
Joe Montana won four SB’s
Warren Moon: best player to come out of CFL
Anthony Munoz: greatest lineman?
Rupert Murdoch helped rebrand league
Bronko Nagurski: 1930’s tough guy
Joe Namath glamorized the QB position
Ozzie Newsome: HOF tight end, 1st black GM
Lisa Olsen: journalist mistreated in NE locker room
Bennet Omalu: coroner who identified CTE in NFL players
Bill Parcells
Walter Payton
Mike Pereira brought officials into broadcasts
Fritz Pollard coached 1st champs, a great black player
Jerry Rice: greatest football player ever?
Ray Rice's domestic violence abuse exposed NFL failures
Art Rooney waited 40 years for a title
Pete Rozelle oversaw AFL NFL merger
Jamarcus Russell: draft bust forced wage scale
Ed & Steve Sabol’s NFL Films shaped perception
Deion Sanders made CB position sexy
Junior Seau's CTE linked suicide rocked sports
Richard Sherman: outspoken CB gave voice to concerns
Don Shula coached Unitas and Marino
OJ Simpson
Emmitt Smith: all-time leading rusher
Jimmy The Greek Snyder
Ken Stabler personified the Raiders
Leigh Steinberg: original superagent
Darryl Stingley: paralyzed Patriot
Lawrence Taylor: greatest-ever defender?
Sarah Thomas: 1st woman in a NFL front office
Jim Thorpe
Amy Trask: highest-ranking woman in NFL front office
Johnny Unitas: greatest QB of his era
Michael Vick
Herschel Walker: "biggest collegian to join the NFL-rival USFL, centerpiece of a massive trade at the heart of the Cowboys dynasty."
Bill Walsh's west coast offense
Mike Webster: face of CTE
Byron Whizzer White led league in rushing
Reggie White: first major free agent
Doug Williams: 1st black QB to win SB
Ricky Williams brought mental health issues into open
Wilfred Winkenbach invented fantasy football
John Wooden promoted racial diversity
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