The envelope, please: Sports & Leisure Magazine picks NFL’s best

By Shawn Krest

Pardon me if I sound like Andy Rooney, but did you ever notice that everyone has their "All NFL" teams at the end of the season? And did you ever notice that everyone has a gimmick? USA Today picked their "All Joe" team of "ordinary Joes." The "All Madden" team is filled with tough guys. The Pro Bowl picks the players that are healthy and willing to go to Hawaii to play another game.

Here at Sports & Leisure Magazine, we came up with a novel idea. Let’s pick a team made up of the best players in the league.

Quarterback: Rich Gannon, Oakland: It was neck-and-neck between him and Buffalo savior, Drew Bledsoe. In the end, Gannon won home-field advantage, while Bledsoe missed the playoffs. Gannon threw for 330 more yards than his nearest competitor, which is basically like playing another entire game.

Running back: Priest Holmes, Kansas City: He missed the last couple of games due to injury and still scored 36 more points than the nearest running back. Heck, he scored six more points than the highest scoring kicker.

Running back: Ricky Williams, Miami: That’s right, no fullback. This isn’t the Pro Bowl, so we’re not going to choose between Larry Centers, Lorenzo Neal and Mike Alstott when there are better backs out there. Williams was the league rushing leader, and his play in the Buffalo and Chicago games made up the best two-game stretch we’ve seen in a long, long time.

Wide receiver: Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis: He broke the NFL record for catches, then played a couple more games. His yardage over the nearest receiver is bigger than Gannon’s edge at quarterback—375 yards.

Wide receiver: Eric Moulds, Buffalo: Randy Moss and Terrell Owens had bigger numbers but they didn’t have to share the ball with Peerless Price. Plus, Moulds didn’t come with the headaches of the other two. Hines Ward? Don’t Hines Ward me. Who would you rather have?

Tight end: Jeremy Shockey, Giants: We went with character guys at receiver, so we can go a little wild at this position. His rookie year started with a bang—training-camp fights with teammates and a remarkable rumbling catch in the Hall-of-Fame game—and ended the same way, with a touchdown and an ongoing fight with San Francisco fans in the Giants’ wild card loss. He didn’t score a lot in between, but he racked up 894 receiving yards, more than enough to outdo Tony Gonzalez.

Offensive Line: Tackles Tra Thomas, Philadelphia, and Willie Roaf, Kansas City. Guards Will Shields, Kansas City, and Jermane Mayberry, Philadelphia. Center Barrett Robbins, Oakland. The Chiefs’ Priest Holmes didn’t get all those touchdowns on his own. Roaf, reborn after leaving the Saints, and Shields, opened a lot of holes for him. The Eagles kept winning through three quarterbacks and a revolving door at running back. Thomas and Mayberry were two of the constants in the offense. Robbins helped lead the Raider line through injuries to Lincoln Kennedy, among others.

Defensive Line: Ends Simeon Rice, Tampa, and Jason Taylor, Miami. Tackles Warren Sapp, Tampa, and Bryant Young, San Francisco. Rice and Sapp are both contenders for defensive player of the year, but we picked one of their teammates. With 18.5 sacks, Taylor was just a few friendly quarterbacks away from Michael Strahan’s and Brett Favre’s sack record. Young is one of the leaders of an underrated Niner defense.

Linebackers: Derrick Brooks, Tampa; Julian Peterson, San Francisco; LaVar Arrington, Washington. They’re all outside ‘backers, but they’re also the best in the league. We’d put the Bears’ Brian Urlacher on the inside if we had to. The Defensive Player of the Year, Big Play Brooks, led his team in scoring at midseason. It took shutting down Tony Gonzalez for Peterson to get some much-deserved attention. With 11 sacks, Arrington is starting to fulfill his promise.

Cornerbacks: Patrick Surtain, Miami, and Bobby Taylor, Philadelphia. Both benefit from strong teammates on the other side of the field—Sam Madison in Miami and Troy Vincent in Philly. Surtain and Taylor were the big-play guys: Surtain was fifth in the league with six interceptions and Taylor was right behind with five.

Safeties: Rod Woodson, Oakland, and Darren Sharper, Green Bay. We’re suckers for interceptions. Woodson added to his resume as the league’s all-time best defensive back, leading the NFL with eight interceptions. He returned two for touchdowns, including one for 98 yards. Sharper’s seven picks and 89-yard touchdown pale in comparison.

Punter: Brian Moorman, Buffalo: A few punters had slightly better averages, but Moorman produced an 84-yarder. Moreover, only 29 of his punts were returned, and with the Bill’s special teams, that’s a huge benefit.

Kicker: Adam Vinatieri, New England: Perfect on PATs and 90 percent conversion rate on field goals, including a 57-yarder.

Return man: Chad Morton, Jets: If you have to ask why, you missed the season-opener.

Back-up quarterback: Not the second-best quarterback, rather the best back-up in the league. We added this category to celebrate the year of the backup. The Jets’ Chad Pennington, who took over for an ineffective Vinnie Testaverde and posted a rating above 100, wins the title over a huge field, including Tommy Maddox, AJ Feeley and Marc Bulger.

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