Top 25 Football Players

of the last 25 years:

To commemorate USA TODAY's 25th anniversary, a panel of USA TODAY's NFL reporters and editors produced an anthology of the 25 best NFL players of the past 25 years.
PHOTOS: Meet the Top 25 | Complete voting results
Rank	Player	Story
1	Joe Montana	Montana's Super success raised the bar
2	Jerry Rice	Rice ran away from the field with grace
3	Walter Payton	Payton did sweet work as rushing king
4	Lawrence Taylor	The original L.T. brought QBs to their knees
5	Reggie White	White administered rare level of play
6	John Elway	Elway left NFL as a winner
7	Emmitt Smith	Emmitt Smith surpassed all runners
8	Ronnie Lott	Lott made waves with hard-hitting style
9	Tom Brady	Brady climbed fast to Super heights
10	Barry Sanders	Sanders left them wanting more
11	Dan Marino	Marino re-wrote the NFL passing records
12	Peyton Manning	Peyton's place secure in NFL annals
13	Anthony Munoz	Munoz set standard on the O-line
14	Brett Favre	Favre made Green Bay important again
15	Bruce Smith	Smith sacked his way to the top
16	Deion Sanders	Deion played his way into 'Prime Time'
17	Mike Singletary	Singletary renowned for intimidating presence
18	Ray Lewis	The ultimate defender — Ray Lewis
19	Marshall Faulk	Faulk brought double threat to new level
20	Troy Aikman	Aikman rescued 'America's Team'
21	LaDainian Tomlinson	Tomlinson still climbing list of NFL greats
22	Rod Woodson	Woodson set new standard in backfield
23	Terry Bradshaw	Playoff success carried Bradshaw into Hall
24	Steve Young	After wait, Young made lasting run into NFL history
25	Eric Dickerson	Dickerson blazed early path to NFL immortality