Larry Allen, Chuck Bednarik among toughest NFL players ever | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

Larry Allen, Chuck Bednarik among toughest NFL players ever | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

in honor of the late great Larry Allen who was one of the toughest guys to ever put on a football helmet we’re going to do a draft today of the toughest players all time in the National Football League Christopher I will give you the first selection well I don’t know when I when I think of tough like right away I think one of the first guys I think of is Chuck bener right that that’s where I’m going to go I mean chuck chuck B played two ways right offensive lineman middle linebacker I mean if you asked hey Chuck where’s where’s the closest hamburger store he would point and then fingers went six five different ways so he’d be like I which where do I go you over there or over there he walked around with fingers that were going making right turns his whole life I mean so Chuck Beric to me was one of those early figures as a young kid watching NFL films right where it was like whoa him and Dick buckus are like those first guys you learned about and that were enforcers over the middle of the field the image of him standing over Frank right right after he delivered the hit that put gford out of the sport for a full season just incredible and he was the last true two-way player uh the great image of him in the locker room after the Eagles won the 1960 Championship here’s that hit oh there it is just flattening Frank gford and uh and then that that iconic picture unbelievable right that’s one of the things where when you see it for the first time like just you know and it speaks to the brutality of a day gone by in football but that’s the way it was when he played and he had a great there it is hey Smoke him if you got him smoke them if you got Packers over or no Eagles over the Packers excuse me I didn’t want to rewrite history there cigar in one mouth and in his only mouth cigarette in the one hand in the other mouth well there are other openings I guess where you can try to be creative you put it in your ear but uh cigarette in one hand cigar in the mouth enjoying the championship and uh yeah great great player and truly one of the all-time greats and one of the toughest guys of all time okay man you know I don’t want to yeah it’s tough I want there’s one I want to leave for you so I’ll leave that one for you and I’ll just go with a guy that kind of defined my era when I first discovered football I was going to say earlier with hockey players The Telltale sign was the missing teeth with football players The Telltale sign is the fingers that point everywhere except where they want you to point but Jack Lambert a guy who had not necessarily the fingers but he had the missing teeth yeah he was the toughest son of a gun I’ve ever seen because he wasn’t built like a linebacker right he was just like some wiry guy they found hanging out in the parking lot they threw pads on him that were too big for his body they put him out on the field and he destroyed everyone and he was fearless and he struck fear in the hearts of everyone he dealt with and for me one of the most searing images of Youth Super Bowl 10 Roy Jella the Steelers kicker misses a field goal right Cliff Harris decides to get and come out and congratulate Jella a little pat on the head good job thank you Jack Lambert notices it and down I love it and no flag I love it too no flag that’s just nothing he just throws him on the ground I don’t think anybody would have had the nerve to flag him in that moment but down he went that was that and Cliff Harris whining about it instead of engaging with Jack Lambert like hold me and then it’s hold me back hold me back please hold me back please somebody hold me back I wouldn’t have Miss Jack Lambert ever no I I mean you know as we go here we’ll talk about more again I think there’s a few people on that Pittsburgh defense we could probably talk about that are you wouldn’t mess with ever that would go down as like the toughest slbs in the history of football I’m going to go to a guy that’s similar to him but my era right little different position safety Ronnie lot you know Ronnie lot I mean I I have tremendous respect for Ronnie lot I’ve been around him a lot in my life right I played with his son Ryan n in in Tampa Bay so I always see him there I know the passion the love for the game that Ronnie lot had let alone right he’s when you think of hard-hitting safeties I think Ronnie lot for anybody that was alive in that era that’s the number that’s the image that comes to your head the 49ers weren’t known as a physical tough football team right it was the West Coast offense and throw the ball and Joe Mont Montana but really their defenses were incredibly good incredible right and and physical and it all started with number 42 at safety I mean like let’s just be serious one we know he will literally knock your head off going over the middle or as a running back or whatever the guy chopped his finger off instead of like wait I’m going to sit out the game if you have to do surgery and repair this well then just chop it off and I’ll play and he did that I mean I don’t know if that doesn’t embody tough love for the sport all of that and I got to give him a little extra credit cuz he was this close to kicking the out of big Phil so you know big Phil’s pretty tough but he don’t want Ronnie lot he don’t want to mess with that uh so that’s always one of my favorite favorite ones there but yeah but Phil you got to give Phil credit he’s grabbing his jersey and he’s in his face yeah well Phil ain’t gonna back down either Phil’s you know part Irish Pub fighter so that’s in his background as well and and yeah he want going to back down but I don’t know if I liked his chances staying out of it I mean fararo knows I’m not getting between those two guys no way yeah that was a good one I was staying up late on a Monday night when I was 10 years old right there I was probably crying at that moment mad that they lost the game that’s funny though Bavaro knows he’s got to go help but he really ain’t gonna help I’m not messing with Ronnie lot and I’m not gonna catch his stray from Phil so that’s pretty good um I can go a lot of different directions let’s give um an offensive guy a little love here uh Earl Campbell and again he had a reputation for just constantly answering the bell and running the ball in an era of football where it was far more Rough and Tumble than it is today but I think of iconic moments things that become seared into your brain that become imprinted on your sports-loving soul the hit that Earl Campbell delivered on Isaiah Robertson the Rams linebacker oh my gosh this is an alimer it’s illegal now but it wasn’t that and then and then the back end of it the Jersey ripped apart you forget that part and they had those tear away jersey where’s the Jersey who is that guy he’s look at that the Jersey’s completely gone but that was after he delivered this now Tony dunie tells a great story back to Jack Lambert Tony dunie said when they were getting ready to play the Oilers they played that that specific moment in the film room and Jack Lambert said never show that in here again ever wow wow so uh they didn’t want to be intimidated they were Intimidators and seeing something like that is the kind of thing that could cause an intimidating defense to lose its Edge a little bit yeah no I mean he had a lot of highlights like that right where people thought they were going to come up and you know clean Earl Campbell out and he sees him with the last second and you get cleaned out definitely I mean he epitomizes right bcow between the tackles power Runner did that at Texas being the Tyler Rose and then of course continued that with the Houston Oilers like yeah Earl Earl the man the absolute man and got the privilege to be around him a lot at my Texas days love Earl Campbell uh all right oh I know you’re right we didn’t give offensive guys a lot of love here but I’m going to go to a guy that I just I had experience against that you know I never experienced anything like this guy in my playing career uh and you know like we know middle linebackers are tough we know that they’re all tough right but then there’s some that are like physically mentally tough and bring it to another level and that’s Ray Lewis right Lewis was so tough this kind of just says it all he was so tough he could sing on the football field right and like a high-pitched voice and everybody was like in my in my huddle during the commercial timeout like oh man Ray’s crazy he’s scary I and you’re like he’s singing a song but that’s that doesn’t go on in football and then like some weird little dance right he’s doing it right and it wasn’t his come out of the you know come out of the tunnel dance but he literally never forget 2006 first game of the year we’re nervous as hell it’s the Ravens we know they’re the big bad defense and he’s singing a song that he’s made up on the Fly about being football time and he’s like it’s football and I’m telling you my offensive line is looking over their shoulder while we’re in the TV commercial break and they’re all like looking like this every 3 seconds oh man man he’s still singing he’s not scared at all today he’s very loose right and then he calls out a few plays and knocks a few guys down and it’s just like yeah so Ray Lewis as tough as they had come mentally physically smart all of it amazing well I I I skipped over this guy a few times because I thought you would take him I’m gonna go ahead and take him I mean we think of him as a great pass rusher you don’t become as dominant as he was in the era of playing on green cement if you are not a tough SOB or as I know from the shirt that I have that he signed at the very bottom a bad mother hubard and it’s not hovered at the bottom I was telling somebody that story the other day that it’s there it is at the bottom that’s just to make sure you there in case you had any doubt he is a bad self-described mother effer but yeah you’ll see this and I trip across this from time to time the the the there’s highlight reels of the stuff he could do it was incredible oh incredible unbelievable what he did on a football field yes incredible exactly right I mean as as tough as they come no no like just to one game Pete says one game one game against the the hapless Lions who look even more ha look how fast I mean this isn’t about toughness but the guy did everything yes at the highest levels we’ve ever seen Reckless abandon had no regard for his body just like just brought it every football ball game Run game pass game didn’t matter right it was red you know needle to the red they’re going to he was going to redline it no matter what so yeah I I mean I saw so many unbelievable physical plays and like Jameson Garrett talked about with Charles Haley from the stories I’ve heard with my dad right I mean Lawrence Taylor was a little that way too right you had a you had a deal with him in the locker room he wasn’t just go out and play guy you know he he loved football right he might have been in the weit room and doing that but he loved football and all that from everything I said and here’s a great story you’ll like they’re getting ready the Giants 1986 divisional playoff game they’re going to play you know the 49ers Joe Montana it’s the game where Jim Burke crushes Joe Montana like a ragd doll and knocks him out late in the game and and then Lawrence Taylor picked six for a touchdown but they were missing a wide receiver at warm-ups right they’re missing Bobby Johnson number 88 good player for them but he’s not there at warm-ups and as they’re walking into going into the tunnel before the game right and it’s we’re done with warm-ups now we’re going to go in the locker room one more time they see Bobby Johnson walking down the ramp to come into the locker room right like and and like you know kind of casual and whatever else and of course the team’s a little mad at them or whatever and they’re in the locker room a few minutes later and Lawrence goes over there and you know he Pats him on the shoulder as my dad says and it looks like he’s going to say something kind of warm and cozy and he goes hey hey Bobby Bobby it’s it’s okay man it’s all right you’ll be good you’ll be good just get dress and get ready but just know after the game I’m going to f you up right so he had that that enforcer of the locker room type of attitude as well now they won 49 to3 and things were happy and I don’t think anything ever happened but uh nonetheless tough SOB Lawrence Taylor yeah let’s do another round that’s good story let’s let’s I I like to give some of these guys from from uh the NFL’s past a little love who else do you have well I I mean Jack Young Blood right that’s one that come that’s another early grow up right NFL films what what he played a Super Bowl with a broken leg I mean what like at and wait he was a defensive lineman and he did it like how is that possible so Jack Young Blood certainly one of those that is up there and then off your Steelers team again Mean Joe Green how could he not be you know in in this conversation for one of the toughest guys we’ve ever seen in football so apparently this final round was two and one so that’s fine I’ll give you two more as well sorry yeah go ahead one of the great things about Jack young blood and I think of those moments that again become seared into your brain and never go away right yes playing in the Super Bowl against the Steelers with the broken leg I I think we’ve talked about this before his brother Jim was on the team as well right so instead of the initial he had his whole name on The Jersey I still have to get me one of those Jack Young Blood jerseys that was so cool to a kid who Lov football yeah they got their last name on The Jersey man if you’re really good you get your first name on The Jersey too that’s how I thought of it this is just great you got Jack just so in case anyone doesn’t know it’s Jack young blood and I met him one time at a Super Bowl great guy and just you could tell he could probably put a uniform on then and go pop somebody and that was well after he had finished playing so great pick and Mean Joe Green as well I got to give some love to a guy that I don’t think ever really got the appreciation Nationwide he should have he finally did get to the Hall of Fame he has one of those moments that we’ll always remember Steve Atwater the Broncos safy my gosh when he when he decided to lay the lumber not just to some little scatback but to the biggest baddest Earl Campbell of his day in Christian AOA that was I think was a Monday night game or Sunday night it was a night game in Denver uh he delivered a hit and he he was not concerned he was miked up teammates said they got aoy at fullback and Steve out said I don’t give an f uh and uh I don’t know if we got that video well it’s I I mean nobody messed with Christian AOA at the time right he was the Nigerian Nightmare he was famous for running everybody over so it was the first time in his career where Christian AOA giant power running back huge shoulder pads it’s the first first time ever somebody sent him backwards oh my God I mean and it was mono imano it wasn’t like he didn’t see him coming or anything like that and yeah Steve and he said him backward backwards like stop here go backwards and well you know you know because you’ve seen him but Steve Atwater is a specimen I mean he is a big dude big Square shoulders thick neck right you could certainly see he wasn’t afraid to afraid of anybody I mean he’s one of those guys in the Super Bowl right Super Bowl 31 against the ERS basically knocked himself out and I think Brooks at Receiver right late in the game uh the second to last play of the game before you know they make far throw the ball incomplete on fourth down but yeah he was an enforcer in the middle of the field this is another great moment from him too at a goal line play where he fills the hole and he blows the guy up and I feel in my memory and I prefer the memory to reality on this one in my memory it was a snowy night in Denver but I are you sure you’re not thinking the Giants versus the Broncos and Gary reasons knocking out the earpiece that’s it all right it’s okay hey Oldtimer don’t worry I’ll get your M blend together they’re all starting to blur together you’re right it was Gary reasons it wasn’t Steve Atwater but for me I’ll still say it was Steve Atwater okay those are just some of the alltime toughest guys in NFL history let’s look over Jones dick buckus we haven’t talked about right they would certainly be in that Iron Head Hayward c word he was as tough as they get college level and pro level right I think like one of the first enforcer safeties in football and you could tell me more right because you were around but I mean Jack Tatum to me was the first guy I remember being talked about in that way in the secondary right just had this Aura of like you better watch out because Jack’s gonna hit you and he ain’t scared of anything he’s certainly another guy that was on the list here Bronco nersi just one of the alltime great football names like what else would you do with your life if your name is and play football on a touchdown against Washington he took two linebackers in opposite direction stomped on a defensive back crushed to safety and then bounced off the goal post and cracked the brick wall at Wrigley Field when he went back to the Huddle for the extra point he said that last guy hit me pretty hard so that’s great and and also we gotta go more recent a guy who retired earlier this year Aaron Donald yeah uhuh he was a nice guy away from the field he was Stone Cold killer on the field and on the practice field don’t make him mad swinging your helmet around yeah yeah he is he is definitely like another guy that when it when it comes football game or football time between the lines he can turn a switch on you know as good as anybody we’ve ever seen yes and uh I mean you got to be tough to be 283 lbs and play the position he did and have to block and hold his ground and beat up guys that were sometimes 60 70 pounds bigger than he was and he can make them look like a fool I mean yeah that that Aaron Donald is special that way and and last one say what you will about postf football Brett Favre yeah right but I mean to be one of the toughest ever man at that position before the rules were enforced and written in a way to protect quarterbacks and he answered the Bell constantly and and you just unbelievable longevity and it wasn’t that he shied away from hits he got banged around he got concussed and he’s talked about that in the past pre 2009 the guys who played the bulk of their careers before the NFL woke up to the issues with concussions they they were in games with concussions maybe sometimes we just called it aell Bell got rung that’s all we call right right think about Junior SE the late Junior se he played his entire career all except for maybe one year before the NFL finally realized probably not you know Safe and Smart for guys to get their Bell rung and go back onto the onto the football field but he kept doing it and kept doing it and played at a very very high level for a long time and was also one of the all-time greats hi it’s Mike Florio thanks for watching PFT on YouTube hit subscribe for the latest news an analysis from pro football talk

In honor of Larry Allen, Mike Florio and Chris Simms reflect on some of the toughest NFL players of all time. #NBCSports #ProFootballTalk #NFL #LarryAllen
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Larry Allen, Chuck Bednarik among toughest NFL players ever | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC
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