Now, this really comes down to the definition of the "best NFL athlete." If we are using that term loosely to mean the most athletic NFL player ever to wear the jersey number 21, Neon Deion Sanders could certainly be considered. He couldn't really tackle, but he had phenomenal quickness and athleticism. And don't forget that he was also a fairly good baseball player with the Yankees, Braves and Reds.
BUT....for our purposes, we're talking about the most complete, most impressive, highest impact, most renowned, NFL athlete (substitute the word player, if you'd like,) to ever wear the number 21. In this case, that athlete in LaDainian Tomlinson.
The 5' 10" dynamo in the backfield for the San Diego Chargers was drafted out of TCU in 2001. He had an immediate impact for the Chargers, playing in all 16 games of his rookie campaign, rushing for 1,236 yards and 10 TDs, while receiving for 367 yards. His numbers only went up from there.
In his first seven years in the NFL, LaDainian's racked up 10,650 rushing yards and 115 rushing TDs, with 3,375 receiving yards and 14 receiving TDs, all in the regular season. And oh, by the way, he's also passed for 7 career TDs.
Did you know......Tomlinson's college jersey number 5 was retired by TCU?
There's no way you can't give 21 to deion. He is the best cornerback to ever wear an NFL jersey and he could play WR when they needed him.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way Florida STate retired #2. Check who that belongs to
Bob Sanders (Colts Safety) is the best. No question. You didn't even take him into consideration! Best defensive player of the year in 2007. Your man Bobby!
ReplyDeleteEasily Deion, LT's on his way to greatness, but no way hes gonna surpass Deion.
ReplyDeletethis awards needs to go back to where it belongs. on the corner of 21st and primetime. DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION DEION
ReplyDeleteLT was great, but did he revolutionize his position? No. The same can't be said about "Prime Time", Neon Deion Sanders. People still use Deion as the standard to compare other cornerbacks to. I even heard it recently at the 2012 draft when one of the talking heads said Morris Claiborne could be as good as Deion and Claiborne himself said he was glad to be following in Deion's footsteps as a Cowboy. As good as LT was did he play defense AND offense? Special teams? Deion did all three. No one was as versatile as Deion was.
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