Who is the greatest NFL Linebacker of all time?

Question

Personally, Ray Lewis is mine. His labels say enough, 7 time probowler(could have been eight but he declined to let Bart Scott go) two time defensive player of the year, Super bowl 35 MVP, with many other lesser titles but I won't mention those, I would be up all night. He has the perfect size, 6'1" 245, runs a 4:40 forty, and he plays the game how its supposed to be played, with nastiness, leadership(to the entire league), and a good amount of smack talk to go with it. He has played 11 years, been injured for two of them so its like he has played nine years, put up 1400 tackles, 28 sacks, 23 interceptions, and many more impressive stats. Overall Ray is the best(and still is the best and will be for years to come), if you disagree please argue your point, im very interested in how anyone could disagree.

Answer 1

My top 5 are Ray Lewis; Lawrence Taylor; Dick Butkus; Mike Singletary and Ray Nietzsche

Answer 2

Outside Linebacker: Lawrence Taylor Inside linebacker: I take Ray Nitschke over Butkus, Nitschke was the clear leader of a stingy Packers defense that won 3 NFL championships and the first 2 Super Bowls during the 60s.

Answer 3

Dick Butkus - Chicago Bears. 8 time pro-bowler. 6 time All-NFL. Member of the Pro-Football Hall of Fame. Named by the NFL in 2000 as a member of the All-Time team. 6'3" 250, and defined the position of middle linebacker (hence the Butkus Award). In 9 seasons, put up 1020 tackles, 489 assists, 22 interceptions and 27 fumble recoveries, one for a touchdown (sacks were not a statistic until after his retirement. His career was shortened due to a serious knee injury. With today's medical technology, there is no telling how much longer he could have played and what stats he would have amassed. He played the game at only one speed - 100 percent all the time. He was the most feared player of his era. Lewis is good, but Butkus is the measure by which Lewis and all others are measured.

Answer 4

Lawrence Taylor was clearly the best Linebacker ever he was the perfect linebacker he has 132 career sacks (Most ever by a Linebacker) he was named MVP in 1986 he has 9 career interceptions he has 33 forced fumbles and 12 fumbles recovered, he has over 1100 career tackles he had amazing speed, strength, he was a hard hitter he intimidated any QB due to the fact that he was a sacking machine he has tons of NFL records, he went to 10 straight Pro Bowls, he was also 3 time Defensive Player Of The Year, he was about 6'3 240-50 pounds, he was simply the perfect linebacker.

That's why I think he is the greatest Linebacker of All-Time, Ray Lewis is definetly one of the top Linebackers every but Lawrence Taylor is the best Linebacker ever.

Answer 5

Lewis is great, not the greatest of all time though; currently I would consider Urlacher as a better choice than Ray, though it is very close.
For a the physical stats you have, and the accolades, Urlacher can flat out cover guys in the open field, which is where it seems he is better than Ray Lewis. Lewis has also been blessed with some great players where Brian has had good players.
All time brings about the different eras of the league, and you'd have to wonder how Ray would do; there is the argument of his nastiness would work out, but chopping defenders was as legal as clothesline tackles. The muddy fields and poor turf would have countered his speed in the later parts of the season. Today's fields are kept in immaculate shape and many stadiums have field turf; and of course the players play differently. Ditka, Jim Brown, Kellen Winslow, Van Eagan, et al. didn't run out of bounds they ran until they collided with someone. On that not, I wonder how Urlacher would far in Butkus' time.
Zach Thomas also needs to be mentioned a bit, as he was drafted 154th in the same year that Ray Lewis was a first round pick. Yet any defense with one of these 3 would be better.

Answer 6

Lawrence Taylor revolutionized the position. He was faster and stronger than any who came before him. Before him, linebackers were typically big, slow, behemoths who were very skilled at getting in the way of offenses rather than chasing them down. His numbers might not be the same-- some might be better--but although Ray Lewis is an amazing player, linebackers today are a lot like him. Most aren't as talented--see Urlacher and Briggs of Chicago--but the style they try to play with is very similar to his. Taylor had a style all his own which transformed the position on a whole.

Answer 7

Lawrence Taylor
Ray Nitchski
Dick Butkis
Derrick Thomas
Ted Hendrix
Ray Lewis
Brain Urlacher

Answer 8

I would have to say Lawrence Taylor. He was also the greatest Defensive player who ever lived. His size, 6' 4" and 260 was perfect. He was also usually the fastest guy out on the field, and because of it, teams had to rewrite the playbooks around him because of his unbeliveable speed and ability to be anywhere on the feild in a matter of seconds. And theres no way Ray Lewis runs a 4.4 today.

You also have to put Mike Singletary and Dick Butkus up there.

Answer 9

Ray Lewis

Answer 10

well, u have a great point. but i think there are a few more that are more noticable. like mike singletary. he led one of (if not the) finest defences in history. then there's dick butkus*sp. he is known for his nastiness. then u got the great steelers linebacker jack lambert. he was nasty, he called plays and unlike many, his plays were right. he was extremely talented and ran one of the premire defences ever as well. the steel curtain. You also have to include Chuck Bednarik. he gave such a devestating hit to Frank Gifford that it pretty much ended his career. he was pretty much the roughest linebacker ever. then there's Joe Schmidt. he was the best olb of all time in my opinion. there's also Lee Roy Jordan. he was one of the best tacklers in the league. he was part of the doomsday device of dallas. so take ur pick. but like i said, just let Ray Lewis finish up his career and let him finish racking up his stats and im sure he'll always be mentioned with the best. he's a definate future hall of famer. well hope this helps.

o and also to all of those people talking about "the real L.T." the only reason he was so good was cuz of "enhansments" so in my opinion that should be thrown out of the drawing. he's a lousy cheater.