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Diego Armando Maradona was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Maradona's vision, passing, ball control, and dribbling skills were combined with his small stature, which gave him a low centre of gravity allowing him to manoeuvre better than most other players. His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. In addition to his creative abilities, he possessed an eye for goal and was known to be a free kick specialist. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname "El Pibe de Oro", a name that stuck with him throughout his career. He also had a troubled off-field life and was banned in both 1991 and 1994 for abusing drugs.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century. In 1999 he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. In 2000, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century. His total of 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which included friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World Record.
Douglas Richard Flutie is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and one season in the United States Football League (USFL). Flutie played college football at Boston College, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1984 amid a season that saw him perform the iconic Hail Flutie, a game-winning touchdown pass thrown in the final seconds against Miami. He chose to begin his professional career with the USFL's New Jersey Generals; his unavailability to NFL teams resulted in him selected 285th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round of the 1985 NFL Draft, the lowest drafting of a Heisman winner. After the USFL folded, Flutie played his first four NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots.
Ferenc Puskás was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, he scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary, played four international matches for Spain and scored 514 goals in 529 matches in the Hungarian and Spanish leagues. He became an Olympic champion in 1952 and led his nation to the final of the 1954 World Cup. He won three European Cups, 10 national championships and eight top individual scoring honors. In 1995, he was recognized as the greatest top division scorer of the 20th century by the IFFHS. With 806 goals in 793 official games scored during his career, he is the fourth top goalscorer of all time.
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, where he was a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019. Brady is widely considered to be the greatest quarterback of all time.
Peyton Williams Manning is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Considered to be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with the Denver Broncos. Manning is also one of the NFL's most recognizable players, earning the nickname "the Sheriff" due to his tendency to audible prior to the snap. The second son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and older brother of former NFL quarterback Eli Manning, he played college football at the University of Tennessee, with whom he won the 1997 SEC Championship Game and earned MVP awards and honors.
Lawrence Julius Taylor, nicknamed "L.T.", is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a linebacker for the New York Giants (1981–1993) in the National Football League (NFL).
James Nathaniel Brown is a former American football fullback, sports analyst and actor. He played for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history, Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he had shattered most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.
Drew Christopher Brees is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in career pass completions, career completion percentage, and regular season passing yards, along with being second in career touchdown passes and career pass attempts. He also holds the record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, breaking the feat held by Johnny Unitas for 52 years.
Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr., nicknamed "Prime Time" and "Neon Deion", is an American athlete, sports analyst, sprinter and football coach who is the head football coach at Jackson State University. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons as a member of the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Baltimore Ravens. Sanders was also a baseball outfielder for nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), where he played for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants. He won two Super Bowl titles and made one World Series appearance in 1992, making him the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.
Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was an American professional football player, who starred as a defensive end in both college and the NFL before becoming an actor following his retirement from the sport.
Aaron Charles Rodgers is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers played college football for the California Golden Bears, where he set several career passing records, including lowest single-season and career interception rates. He was selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Packers.
Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. is a former American football running back. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twice and won the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding player in the nation. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints second overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. While with the Saints, Bush was named an All-Pro punt returner in 2008 and won Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 over the Indianapolis Colts. He also played for the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers.
Lionel Andrés Messi, also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record six Ballon d'Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020 was named to the Ballon d'Or Dream Team. Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 35 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (192), a La Liga season (21) and the Copa América (17). He also holds the record for most international goals by a South American male (79). Messi has scored over 750 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals by a player for a single club.
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football. In the early days of football, the concept of each team wearing a set of matching shirts had not been universally adopted, so each side would distinguish itself from the other by wearing a specific sort of cap.
Cameron Jerrell Newton is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played his first nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Carolina Panthers, who selected him first overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. Newton had college football stints at Florida and Blinn before joining Auburn, where he won the Bowl Champion Series National Championship and Heisman Trophy in 2010. Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the NFL career leader in quarterback rushing touchdowns at 70.
Adrian Lewis Peterson is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards during the 2004 season. Named a unanimous All-American that year, he became the first freshman to finish as a runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished his college football career as the Sooners' third all-time leading rusher. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history.
Aaron Charles Donald is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American and was drafted by the Rams with the 13th pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Donald has been selected to seven Pro Bowls in his seven years into the league, won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and has been named AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year thrice, having won it back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, and again in 2020. Donald is widely regarded as one of the greatest defensive players of all time.
Ezekiel Elijah Elliott is an American football running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he earned second-team All-America honors in 2015. He was drafted by the Cowboys fourth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. As a three-time Pro Bowl selection, Elliott led the league in rushing yards in 2016 and 2018.
Bryce Christopher Young is an American football quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
References
- ↑ "Light Players Replacing Heavy Gridiron Linemen". St. Petersburg Times. November 29, 1927.
- ↑ "Use of Crimson Clover Increases". Times Daily. October 17, 1938.
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