Ray Lewis is the greatest MLB to ever play the game.

[Sweetwater Red]

Period.

[Bull Butter]

Sproles never had a chance

[Looking4number8]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
Period.

I would agree with you but the last time your post was simply "period" you completly changed your mind in less that 24 hours

[Pudlugger]

No. He. Isn't. Wrong Ray!

Ray Ntschke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Nitschke) was better young fella! And he had a toothless grin to prove it (you cupcakes never played a game without your steel cage face masks. Try playing with a broken nose and a tooth knocked out sometime. Yeah, your mommy wouldn't let you). Bwaaaaa ha ha :evillol: :evillol: :evillol:

from Wikipedia:

Nitschke was known for his strength and toughness. Once, a metal tower on the Packers practice field fell over on top of Nitschke. Lombardi ran over to see what had happened, but when told it had fallen on Nitschke, said, "He'll be fine. Get back to work!" According to Nitshcke's biography, the tower drove a spike into his helmet, but didn't injure him. The helmet (with the hole) is currently on display in the Packer Hall of Fame in Green Bay.

[coach]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
Period.

id take willie mays, jen griffey jr, barry bonds, and babe ruth before i took him

[Pudlugger]

Originally posted by coach
id take willie mays, jen griffey jr, barry bonds, and babe ruth before i took him

LOL: MLB=major league baseball

[Mcguirk]

I'd have to throw Butkus in the mix also.
I read a story in the Fort Worth Startelegram several years ago concerning Ray Nitschke. I think it was Lenny Randle when he was playing for the Rangers, who laughed at a balding middle aged man wearing glasses, who tripped entering an elevator. The tripee was Ray Nitschke. Nitschke was ready to rumble, but luckily for Randle, someone calmed him down before punches were thrown.

[bigwood33]

These types of things are impossible to determine but the list of all time great middle linebackers can probably be whittled down to a short list of the greatest ever.

Sam Huff (original middle linebacker in the original 4-3 defense), Ray Nitzke, Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Mike Singletary, and Ray Lewis.

Stack Ranking them is an exercise in futility because there is no way to fairly evaluate them. They were/are all GREAT in their own right!

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by bigwood33
These types of things are impossible to determine but the list of all time great middle linebackers can probably be whittled down to a short list of the greatest ever.

Sam Huff (original middle linebacker in the original 4-3 defense), Ray Nitzke, Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Mike Singletary, and Ray Lewis.

Stack Ranking them is an exercise in futility because there is no way to fairly evaluate them. They were/are all GREAT in their own right!

I think I'd add Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds in that bunch as well. He was an absolute beast and leader on the best defense in his day.

[bigwood33]

Originally posted by STANG RED
I think I'd add Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds in that bunch as well. He was an absolute beast and leader on the best defense in his day.
If this was a debate on who was the toughest, he would certainly be in the conversation but most people would have said that he was the 2nd best linebacker on his own team. Isiah Robertson was generally regarded as the better of the 2. Also, the Rams never had a GREAT defense. All of the ones I listed were the undisputed leader of absolutely dominate defenses. In the 70's the Steelers, Cowboys, Raiders, and Vikings all had better defenses than the Rams.

[Matthew328]

was Reynolds the one who played with a broken leg?

[bigwood33]

No, that has defensive end Jack Youngblood...on the same team though.

BTW, Hacksaw Reynolds got his nickname for cutting a Volkswagon (pretty sure it was a VW) in half with a hacksaw when he was in college.

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by bigwood33
If this was a debate on who was the toughest, he would certainly be in the conversation but most people would have said that he was the 2nd best linebacker on his own team. Isiah Robertson was generally regarded as the better of the 2. Also, the Rams never had a GREAT defense. All of the ones I listed were the undisputed leader of absolutely dominate defenses. In the 70's the Steelers, Cowboys, Raiders, and Vikings all had better defenses than the Rams.

897 career combined tackles (Second in the Rams History)
6 seasons leading the team in tackles
top 1 tied with David "Deacon" Jones
Most combined tackles by a linebacker in the Rams History


Rams leader in Tackles by years stats


Tackles
Year Solo Assists Total
Jack Reynolds
1973 58 28 86
Jack Reynolds
1974 72 29 101
Jack Reynolds
1975 74 38 112
Jack Reynolds
1976 89 31 120
Jack Reynolds
1979 83 61 144
Jack Reynolds
1980 81 38 119

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by bigwood33
No, that has defensive end Jack Youngblood...on the same team though.

BTW, Hacksaw Reynolds got his nickname for cutting a Volkswagon (pretty sure it was a VW) in half with a hacksaw when he was in college.

Reynolds earned his nickname in 1969 by cutting an abandoned 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air in half with a hacksaw after his previously unbeaten University of Tennessee team returned from an embarrassing 38-0 road loss to Ole Miss. "I came back to school and I was very upset," Reynolds said. "I had to do something to relieve my frustration." He decided to turn the abandoned car into a trailer for his newly purchased Jeep. After working through the night on the project, chewing through 13 hacksaw blades, he returned the next day with some teammates to show off his handiwork. However, when they arrived, both halves of the car were gone. For the remainder of his career, the nickname stuck

[turbostud]

What about Lawrence Taylor?

[Txbroadcaster]

Originally posted by turbostud
What about Lawrence Taylor?


not a MLB

[turbostud]

Originally posted by Txbroadcaster
not a MLB

Oh ok.

[goosealaniz]

i think ray is the best... who else can "allegedly" kill somebody and still play football

[Bullaholic]

The young Ray lewis was a gang-banging thug who could play football and did little else. The older Ray Lewis is a great football player who seems to have his life straightened out and tries to work with young men to keep them from making the mistakes he made. I say ONE of the greatest of all-time.

[bigwood33]

Originally posted by STANG RED
897 career combined tackles (Second in the Rams History)
6 seasons leading the team in tackles
top 1 tied with David "Deacon" Jones
Most combined tackles by a linebacker in the Rams History


Rams leader in Tackles by years stats


Tackles
Year Solo Assists Total
Jack Reynolds
1973 58 28 86
Jack Reynolds
1974 72 29 101
Jack Reynolds
1975 74 38 112
Jack Reynolds
1976 89 31 120
Jack Reynolds
1979 83 61 144
Jack Reynolds
1980 81 38 119

As a comparrison-

Lee Roy Jordan- Dallas Cowboys

NFL Highlights

• 2-Time All-Pro
• 5-Time Pro Bowl
• Set Cowboys Record with 1,236 career tackles
• Set Cowboys Record with 743 solo career tackles

They were both outstanding players but not in the conversation on All Time Greats. Again I will state, the Rams of the 70's did not have a great defense.

[Rabid Cougar]

Originally posted by bigwood33
As a comparrison-

Lee Roy Jordan- Dallas Cowboys

NFL Highlights

• 2-Time All-Pro
• 5-Time Pro Bowl
• Set Cowboys Record with 1,236 career tackles
• Set Cowboys Record with 743 solo career tackles

They were both outstanding players but not in the conversation on All Time Greats. Again I will state, the Rams of the 70's did not have a great defense.

+1 a "Real" Dallas Cowboy

[bigwood33]

No doubt about that, RC!

[Cameron Crazy]

I feel really sorry for Sproles because he got lit up! Ray Lewis sniffed the play out before it ever happened.

[Flypattern]

If you saw Dick Butkus play in his prime, this conversation would have never begun.

Hey, Rocky Balboa named his dog after Butkus!

There's a reason why linebackers try to win the Butkus Award.

Great play by Lewis and he has made a lot. Good call on No. 66 of the Packers, too, but Butkus was the best ever.

[Pudlugger]

Originally posted by Flypattern
If you saw Dick Butkus play in his prime, this conversation would have never begun.

Hey, Rocky Balboa named his dog after Butkus!

There's a reason why linebackers try to win the Butkus Award.

Great play by Lewis and he has made a lot. Good call on No. 66 of the Packers, too, but Butkus was the best ever.

Yes maybe we should divide this into two divisions: the classic and the modern. The modern division begins with the advent of better protective gear, training, steroids and high salaries(1970 and beyond). The classic era of football is notable for very feeble protective gear(little or no face masks, primitive pads and helmets etc), limited knowledge of kinesiology, steroid naivete and playing for a few grand a year. Do you really think Ray Lewis would have made an impact in pro football back in the 50's or 60's? I think he would have ended up on some street corner selling drugs. Just my opinion is all.

I remember as a kid in LA when my dad who worked hard for a modest living took my brother and I to the Coliseum to watch the Rams play the 49ers(Y. A. Tittle was Qb for SF then, Norm Van Brocklin was qb and Crazy Legs Hearse was TE for the Rams). We usually sat in the end zone seats for 4 bucks. We parked on the lawns of folks who lived in the neighborhood for a buck. A hotdog cost 10 cents. We had a great time.