We’re so close to the Super Bowl, which sucks because it means football is almost over, but it’s good as heck because everyone loves the Super Bowl. This Sunday’s matchup between Carolina and Denver is the 50th edition of football’s biggest game, which got us wondering: who are the greatest players in the Super Bowl’s history?
Eventually, that turned into an even bigger idea: if someone were to compose a team of the greatest players in Super Bowl history, what would that look like? It’s impossible to come to a consensus on this – invariably, there will be someone who is pissed off because one of their favorite players got left off – but for the most part, these are some of the most outstanding players in league history, whether it be on an individual game level or over the course of a player’s career. Also, in situations where several players could have been argued for a spot, favor went to players who won the Super Bowl MVP.
Quarterback: Joe Montana
This is probably the toughest position to pick on the surface, because so many transcendent signal callers have played well in football’s biggest game. Plus there are guys like, say, Doug Williams who had monstrous individual games but never made it back to the Super Bowl.
But when you think about it, Montana is the no-brainer for an all-time squad. Joe Cool has the top career passer rating (127.83) in Super Bowl history, which is nuts, considering he played in (and won) four of them. Oh, and his three MVPs are tied with Tom Brady for the most ever. He’s also second all-time with 11 touchdowns and third in career completion percentage (68.03 percent) and passing yards (1,142).
So, yeah. Joe Montana. The best quarterback in Super Bowl history.
Running Backs: Emmitt Smith, Timmy Smith
Let’s start with the obvious one here: Emmitt Smith won a trio of Super Bowls, took home a Super Bowl MVP, and was generally great during his career in the NFL’s biggest game. In his three appearances, Smith ran for 289 yards (third-most all-time) and five touchdowns (most all-time).
As for the other option, there are plenty of great candidates, but let’s go with the guy who had the single-best performance as a running back in Super Bowl history. Timmy Smith is not a household name, but in Super Bowl XXII, Washington’s little-known running back rushed for a Super Bowl-record 204 yards and two touchdowns. For his regular season career, he only ran for 190 yards and three touchdowns, but on that one night in 1988, Smith had the best game ever for a running back.
Wide Receivers: Jerry Rice, Deion Branch, Andre Reed
Like everything involving wide receivers, a conversation about the best needs to include Jerry Rice. He played in four Super Bowls and accrued three rings, making up the focal point of his team’s passing attack each time. He caught 33 balls for 589 yards, and eight touchdowns in those games, with his first Super Bowl coming in 1988 as a member of the 49ers and his final one coming as a Raider in ’02.
Surprisingly enough, the only player other than Rice to have 10+ catches in multiple Super Bowls is Branch, who had 11 in Super Bowl XXXIX and 10 in Super Bowl XXXVIII. He was, for years, Tom Brady’s favorite target, and it showed in his all-time stat sheet: three Super Bowls, 24 catches, 321 yards, and a touchdown. He also was named the Super Bowl’s MVP when the Patriots took down Philadelphia in 2005.
As for Reed, it’s a shame that he never won a Super Bowl as a member of the Bills, because he tore it up in football’s biggest game. He is second all-time in Super Bowl receptions (27, behind only Rice) and third all-time in yards (323, behind Rice and Lynn Swann). He is, without any fraction of a doubt, the best wide receiver in Super Bowl history who ever went to Kutztown.
Tight End: Dan Ross
Picking a tight end is kind of hard, because none of them have ever really had a transcendent Super Bowl performance – which is weird, considering Gronk has played in two of them. But in Super Bowl XVI, Ross put on the closest thing that we’ve ever seen to an MVP-caliber performance by a tight end. A member of the Cincinnati Bengals, Ross caught 11 balls for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 26-21 loss to the 49ers.
Offensive Line: 1987-88 Washington Redskins
Trying to pick five individual linemen is tough since there’s no way to quantify individual performances, so let’s go with the line that let Timmy Smith have the best rushing performance ever and gave Doug Williams enough time to throw for 340 yards and four touchdowns. Joe Jacoby, Raleigh McKenzie, Jeff Bostic, R.C. Thielemann, and Mark May made up that year’s version of “The Hogs,” and for 60 minutes during Super Bowl XXII, the line bulldozed Denver’s defense en route to a 42-10 win.
Defensive Line: Richard Dent, Charles Haley, Harvey Martin, Randy White
It’s quite the honor if you’re named the best player in the Super Bowl for the greatest defense of all-time. That’s exactly what happened with Dent, who won the MVP of Super Bowl XX after Chicago shut down New England, 46-10. His entire postseason was monstrous, but his 1.5 sacks, pair of forced fumbles, and batted down pass made life tough on Patriots QBs Steve Grogan and Tony Eason, who combined to go 17-for-36 in the game.
There has only been one time where co-MVPs have been selected in the Super Bowl. Both guys played for the Dallas Cowboys, both guys played on the defensive line, and both helped make life hell on the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII. Those guys are White and Martin, who in addition to being the first co-MVPs were the first defensive linemen to earn the honor. As members of the Broncos’ “Doomsday Defense,” the duo helped force eight turnovers – four interceptions and four turnovers.
Finally, we get to Haley, who played in and won five Super Bowls in his career. He’s on this list because he is the league’s all-time Super Bowl sack master with 4.5, with his most prolific performance coming against Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII. A member of the Niners at the time, Haley recorded two sacks in the game.
Linebackers: Derrick Brooks, Ray Lewis, Malcolm Smith
Brooks is one of the biggest badasses in NFL history. His overall ability as a linebacker was on display during Tampa Bay’s blowout win of Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII. Despite only having three tackles in the game, Brooks was all over the field and made life hell on Raiders QB Rich Gannon. Most notably, he had a pick six that sealed the game for the Buccaneers, which famously led to Buccaneers radio announcer Gene Deckerhoff saying “the dagger’s in, we’re gonna win the Super Bowl.”
Sure, Lewis didn’t have his best game statistically in Super Bowl XXXV – seven total tackles is a very un-Ray Lewis game – but he was the lynchpin for the Raven’s defense that completely shut down the New York Giants’ offense. New York had 178 yards of total offense and seven points, while the Lewis-led Ravens’ defense forced five turnovers.
We’ll give credit to the other linebacker to win the Super Bowl’s MVP honors since the turn of the 21st century in Smith. He came into the game as someone who was somewhat unknown, at least compared to some of the other monsters on Seattle’s defense. By the time the game ended, Smith was the standout performer in the Seahawks’ 43-8 drubbing of Denver. He accrued 10 tackles, recovered a fumble, and returned an interception 69-yards for a touchdown.
Defensive Backs: Larry Brown, Dwight Smith, Jake Scott, Rodney Harrison
Only one cornerback has ever been named the MVP of the Super Bowl: former Cowboys starter Larry Brown. Lining up across from Deion Sanders, Brown recorded a pair of interceptions in Super Bowl XXX to help propel Dallas to a 27-17 win against Pittsburgh.
Brown isn’t the only defensive back to take home MVP honors, though. One such player is Jake Scott of the Miami Dolphins. Scott was the second defensive player to win the game’s MVP due to his performance in Super Bowl VII, and like Brown, he won the award for hauling in a pair of interceptions. He was a key member of the Dolphins’ team that took down Washington, 14-7, to finish the year as the only undefeated team in league history.
The final DB to win the Super Bowl’s MVP award is Tampa Bay’s Dexter Jackson, but we’re going to give the nod on here to one of his teammates: Dwight Smith. In the aforementioned Buccaneers win over Oakland, Smith hauled in two receptions and returned them both for touchdowns. One went for 50 yards, the other went for 44. He also had five tackles in the game.
As for the final guy, let’s give Harrison some love. He was especially great in Super Bowl XXXIX against Philadelphia, as he had seven tackles and a pair of interceptions in the game. For his career, he had 28 total tackles in four games, one of which he didn’t even record a stop. As for how his final Super Bowl ended, well, he probably doesn’t want to talk about that.
Kicker: Adam Vinatieri
I honestly had no idea that Vinateri has missed multiple kicks in Super Bowls during his career. It seems like he’s never missed a postseason kick in his life, mostly because Vinatieri has made 52 field goals during the playoffs, the most in league history. For his career, Vinatieri is 7-for-10 in the Super Bowl, and while that’s not the best percentage in league history, he has nailed a pair of kicks that have won championships. Not bad.
Punter: Jerrel Wilson
Sure, Ray Guy is the best punter to ever live, but for this, we’ll turn to Wilson, who booted the ball during his two appearances in the Super Bowl. Wilson had 11 kicks between Super Bowl I and Super Bowl IV, and averaged a Super Bowl-record 46.5 yards per kick (minimum of 10 punts). Not bad!
Returner: Desmond Howard
When it comes to single-game special teams performances, it’s hard to say that anyone was better than Howard was for the Packers during Super Bowl XXXI against Patriots. Now an analyst for College GameDay, Howard tore up New England in the return game, going for 244 all-purpose yards (90 on punt returns, 154 on a kick return) and one touchdown. He is still the only return specialist to win the Super Bowl MVP.
