Happy Martin Luther King Day!

 

Today is the 3^rd Monday in January, and has since 1986 been observed as a federal holiday in the United States of America after the actual legislation passed in 1983. Under the Uniform Holidays Act, Martin Luther King’s birthday was finally recognized as a federal holiday. Even though, he was actually born on January 15, 1929. The day is a day used to honor, commemorate, and celebrate Dr. King’s legacy, and accomplishments. The famed Reverend, and Civil Rights leader, who led peaceful protests since the 1950s up until his assassination in 1968, for the equality and basic civil rights for Americans of brown skinned, and black skinned African descent, that are supposed to be guaranteed to all Americans of every race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, and physical stature under the Declaration of Independence, and United States Constitution. Some of his accomplishments of significance to name a few: organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, the marches beginning in Selma, Alabama, and ending in Montgomery, Alabama between March 7th-March 25th, 1965. And most significantly, the famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Great Emancipator-and-Chief Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 28th, 1963.

Brad Freeman’s All-Time Lifetime NFL Football Team

As promised, here is my all-time football team during my 35 years of life.

Offense:

QB1: Brett Favre (Green Bay Packers)

QB2: Drew Brees (San Diego Chargers/New Orleans Saints)

RB1: Barry Sanders (Detroit Lions)

RB2: Emmitt Smith (Dallas Cowboys)

RB3: Marshall Faulk (Indianapolis Colts/St. Louis Rams)

RB4: LaDanian Tomlinson (San Diego Chargers)

WR 1: Marvin Harrison (Indianapolis Colts)

WR2: Jerry Rice (San Francisco 49ers)

WR3: Randy Moss (Minnesota Vikings/New England Patriots)

WR4: Terrell Owens (San Francisco 49ers/Dallas Cowboys/Philadelphia Eagles)

WR5: Isaac Bruce (St. Louis Rams)

TE1: Tony Gonzalez (Kansas City Chiefs/Atlanta Falcons)

TE2: Shannon Sharpe (Denver Broncos/Baltimore Ravens)

TE3: Rob Gronkowski (New England Patriots)

LT1: Jonathan Ogden (Baltimore Ravens)

LT2: Orlando Pace (St. Louis Rams)

LG1: Nate Newton (Dallas Cowboys)

LG2: Randall McDaniel (Minnesota Vikings)

OC1: Bruce Matthews (Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans)*can double as a guard for depth

RG1: Larry Allen (Dallas Cowboys)

RG2: Will Shields (Kansas City Chiefs)

RT1: Jon Runyan (Tennessee Titans/Philadelphia Eagles)

RT2: Walter Jones (Seattle Seahawks)

Special Teams:

K1: Adam Vinatieri (New England Patriots/Indianapolis Colts)

P1: Shane Lechler (Oakland Raiders)

KR1: Devin Hester (Chicago Bears)

PR1: Devin Hester (Chicago Bears)

Defense:

DE1: Reggie White (Philadelphia Eagles/Green Bay Packers)

DE2: Bruce Smith (Buffalo Bills)

DE3: Neil Smith (Kansas City Chiefs/Denver Broncos)

DE4: Dwight Freeney (Indianapolis Colts)

DE5: Jason Taylor (Miami Dolphins)

DT1: John Randle (Minnesota Vikings)

DT2: Warren Sapp (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

DT3: Bryant Young (San Francisco 49ers)

DT4: La’ Roi Glover (Dallas Cowboys)

OLB1: Lawrence Taylor (New York Giants)

OLB2: Derrick Thomas (Kansas City Chiefs)

OLB3: Junior Seau (San Diego Chargers)

OLB4: Derrick Brooks (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

MLB1: Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens)

MLB2: Jeremiah Trotter (Philadelphia Eagles)

MLB3: Zach Thomas (Miami Dolphins)

MLB4: Brian Urlacher (Chicago Bears)

CB1: Deion Sanders (Atlanta Falcons/San Francisco 49ers/Dallas Cowboys)

CB2: Rod Woodson (Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens) *Played Safety with Ravens

CB3: Darrell Green (Washington Redskins)

CB4: Charles Woodson (Oakland Raiders/Green Bay Packers)

CB5: Champ Bailey (Washington Redskins/Denver Broncos)  

FS1: Ronnie Lott (San Francisco 49ers) *Played Corner 1^st 5 years in SF.

FS2: Ed Reed (Baltimore Ravens)

FS3: Brian Dawkins (Philadelphia Eagles)

SS1: Troy Polamalu (Pittsburgh Steelers)

SS2: Rodney Harrison (San Diego Chargers/New England Patriots)

*I also liked a lot of 90s Pittsburgh “Blitzburgh” Steelers defensive players, as well as the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, ’85 Chicago Bears, 2010 Green Bay Packers/Pittsburgh Steelers, 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers,  1999 Tennessee Titans, and 2004 Philadelphia Eagles. Couldn’t fit everybody. Defense is my preferred side of the ball. 

Brad Freeman's All-Time NFL Football Legends Team

With this year being the 100^th anniversary of the NFL, and 150^th anniversary of college football, as a student of the game, here is my list of the legends of the game if I was to create a team.

I was born July 1984, and will create a separate list for the players I grew up watching. Therefore, as the historian I am, I feel it only right to do a list for the players before my lifetime, and then during my lifetime.

Legends Team

Offense:

QB1: Otto Graham (Cleveland Browns)

QB2: Bart Starr (Green Bay Packers)

RB1: Jim Brown (Cleveland Browns)

RB2: Walter Payton (Chicago Bears)

RB3: Eric Dickerson (Los Angeles Rams)

RB4: Gayle Sayers (Chicago Bears)

WR1: Fred Biletnikoff (Oakland Raiders)

WR2: Lance “Bambi” Alworth (San Diego Chargers)

WR3: Paul Warfield (Cleveland Browns/Miami Dolphins)

WR4: Steve Largent (Seattle Seahawks)

WR5: Raymond Berry (Baltimore Colts)

WR6: Don Hutson (Green Bay Packers)

WR7: Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (Los Angeles Rams)

                                                                                                                                   

TE1: John Mackey (Baltimore Colts)

TE2: Mike Ditka (Chicago Bears)

TE3: Kellen Winslow, Sr. (San Diego Chargers)

LT1: Roosevelt Brown (New York Giants)

LT2: Art Shell (Oakland Raiders)

LG1: Jim Parker (Baltimore Colts)

LG2: Gene Upshaw (Oakland Raiders)

OC1: Mel Hein (New York Giants)

RG1: John Hannah (New England Patriots)

RG2: Dan Fortmann (Chicago Bears)

RT1: Forrest Gregg (Green Bay Packers)

RT2: Cal Hubbard (Green Bay Packers)

Special Teams:

K1: Jan Stenerud (Kansas City Chiefs)

P1: Ray Guy (Oakland Raiders)

KR1: Gayle Sayers (Chicago Bears)

PR1: Gayle Sayers (Chicago Bears)

                

Defense:

DE1: David "Deacon" Jones (Los Angeles Rams)

DE2: Gino Marchetti (Baltimore Colts)

DE3: Doug Atkins (Chicago Bears)

DE4: Bill Hewitt (Chicago Bears)

DE5: Lee Roy Selmon (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

DT1:”Mean” Joe Greene (Pittsburgh Steelers)

DT2: Alan Page (Minnesota Vikings)

DT3: Merlin Olsen (Los Angeles Rams)

DT4: Junious "Buck" Buchanan (Kansas City Chiefs)

DT5: Bob Lilly (Dallas Cowboys)

MLB1: Joe Schmidt (Detroit Lions)

MLB2: Dick Butkus (Chicago Bears)

MLB3: Jack Lambert (Pittsburgh Steelers)

MLB4: Willie Lainer (Kansas City Chiefs)

OLB1: Chuck Bednarik (Philadelphia Eagles) *Doubles as your backup Center on offense

OLB2: Bobby Bell (Kansas City Chiefs)

OLB3: Jack Ham (Pittsburgh Steelers)

OLB4: Ted Hendricks (Oakland Raiders)

CB1: Mel Blount (Pittsburgh Steelers)

CB2: Dick "Night Train" Lane (Detroit Lions)

CB3: Willie Brown (Oakland Raiders)

CB4: Michael Haynes (New England Patriots/Los Angeles Raiders)

FS1: Emlen Tunnell (New York Giants)

FS2: Paul Krause (Minnesota Vikings)

SS1: Ken Houston (Houston Oilers/Washington Redskins)

SS2: Larry Wilson (St. Louis football Cardinals)

Happy New Year!

I just want to take the time to wish everybody a Happy New Year! With every new year comes a chance to start over, new adventures, new opportunities, and a reason to forget the past, and be optimistic about the future. It’s a chance for new endeavors to blossom, and future goals to become reality!