by Brian Abate, Chris DiGeronimo, and Gianluca Milea
"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." - Babe Ruth
Tom Brady recently captured his 7th Super Bowl propelling him to the top of the undisputed GOAT debate. There have also been an abundance of greats that have graced the gridiron recently.
Check out our top offensive skill players during the 2000's. No surprise to begin...
QB - Tom Brady
The 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft has gone on to become the most successful player in NFL history. He led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl after replacing Drew Bledsoe as the Patriots’ starting quarterback in 2001 and hasn’t looked back since. He is the NFL’s leader in regular season passing touchdowns with 581, as well as the NFL’s leader in games won with 230 (44 more than anyone else.) He also leads the NFL in postseason passing yards with 12,449 and postseason passing touchdowns with 83. He has 34 postseason victories, while no other NFL quarterback has more than 16. He won six Super Bowls with New England, coming with clutch game-winning drives and a historic 25-point comeback victory in overtime vs the Falcons. After 20 seasons with the Patriots he joined the Buccaneers and helped them go from a 7-9 team last season to Super Bowl Champions this season. When asked which Super Bowl victory was his favorite, Brady replied “the next one.” At 43-years-old he is still going strong and will look to win “the next one” next season.
RB - Adrian Peterson
Adrian “All Day” Peterson has been a staple in the backfield for 14 seasons and is still going strong at age 35. Peterson was the 7th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings and instantly became a legend and icon in Minnesota and throughout the league. Peterson has accumulated 14,820 yards and 118 touchdowns, which ranks him 5th and 4th respectively on the all-time rushing yards and touchdowns list. Peterson has racked up the accolades over his storied career winning the 2007 Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2012 NFL Most Valuable Player, and the 2012 NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He has also been the rushing touchdowns leader twice (2009, 2015), and the rushing yards leader three times (2008, 2012, 2015). Peterson has also been selected to seven Pro Bowls, with four First Team All-Pro selections and three Second Team All-Pro selections. AP will surely run his way to Canton, but it is yet to be determined when he will hang up his cleats.
RB - LaDainian Tomlinson
L.T. dominated games with his combination of excellent vision, speed and power. In addition to racking up rushing yards, he also made big plays catching passes out of the backfield. In 2003 he led the NFL with 2,370 yards from scrimmage. He led the NFL in rushing yards in both twice and rushing touchdowns three times, finishing with a career-high 1,815 yards in 2006 to go with a career-high 28 rushing touchdowns. He was named the AP Offensive Player of the Year that season and his mark for rushing touchdowns in a season remains an NFL record. Tomlinson helped turn the Chargers franchise from a losing one into one that consistently made the postseason before finishing his career with the Jets. He was remarkably durable, missing just six games in his 11 seasons. He was known for his character off the field, winning the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2006.
WR - Randy Moss
After receiving First Team All-Pro honors as a rookie in 1998, Randy Moss put together quite the career in the 2000s, as he regained First Team All-Pro status three more times. The WR also broke the 1,000 yard threshold with 3 different teams, and set the record for NFL receiving touchdowns in a season with 23. Moss and Calvin Johnson (also on this list) separated themselves from the pack, becoming the first receivers to record 1,600+ yards and 16+ TDs in the same season. Although much of his success came early on in his career, Moss was able to rejuvenate his playing as he went to New England to partner up with Tom Brady. Even without the illustrious Super Bowl victory, Randy Moss still cements himself as one of the greatest to ever do it.
WR - Larry Fitzgerald
Fitz has been a model of consistency ever since he came into the league in 2004. While he holds practically every Cardinals franchise WR record, he also has shattered many all-time great NFL records. Most notably, FItz is now second all-time in both career receiving yards and receptions. Everyone on this list has an overwhelming amount of records to their name, including Fitz; however, Larry is also incredibly respected by his peers and community. He was the 2014 Art Rooney award recipient and was voted Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2016. Fitz has been an incredible example and role model for many fans and players alike as he is able to have continued success on the field, while remaining extremely humble and grateful off the field.
WR - Calvin Johnson Jr.
Calvin “Megatron” Johnson was one of the most dominant receivers, not only in the 2000’s, but arguably of all time. Johnson was a life-long Detroit Lion and although we respect the loyalty, it definitely put a limit on how great he could have been and is part of the reason why he retired so early. In his nine seasons in Detroit, Megatron accumulated 731 receptions, 11,619 receiving yards, and 83 touchdowns. Johnson was a three time First Team All-Pro, two time receiving leader (2011, 2012), led the league in receptions (2012) and touchdowns (2008), and received six Pro Bowl selections. Megatron also broke multiple NFL records. He set the NFL single-season mark for receiving yards in 2012, catching 122 passes for 1,964 yards, and five touchdowns. Johnson also holds the NFL record for most consecutive 100-yard receiving games (8), most receiving yards in a five game span (861), most consecutive games with 10 or more catches (4), and was the quickest to reach 10,000 receiving yards in league history, needing only 115 games to reach the milestone. Megatron will live forever in Canton as a member of the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
TE - Rob Gronkowski
Gronk is widely considered the greatest tight end of all time, as he has no weaknesses in his game. He has great hands, strength, the ability to run through tackles and the ability to dominate in the run game with his blocking. Although he’s battled injuries throughout his career, when healthy he is a matchup nightmare, who is still going strong. He has finished with more than 1,000 receiving yards four times in his career and had at least 10 touchdowns in five seasons. In 2011 he led the NFL with 17 touchdowns. He has been an All-Pro four times and won Comeback Player of the Year in 2014. While he has been excellent in the regular season, he is best known for his clutch postseason performances. In 20 playoff games, he has 1,273 receiving yards (fourth all time) and 20 receiving touchdowns (second all time). He has won four Super Bowls (the first three with the Patriots) and proved he can still deliver with the season on the line as he came out of retirement and caught two touchdowns in this Super Bowl with the Bucs.
Honorable Mentions:
QB - Peyton Manning
Peyton was often mentioned in the same sentence and compared regularly to Tom Brady. That comparison alone speaks volumes to the accomplished player you need to be for people to argue at one point that you might be better than Brady. Ultimately, no one is making that argument now but Manning definitely deserves to be mentioned here for his prowess as not only one of the greatest QBs of the 2000s, but really of all-time. A five-time NFL MVP, fourteen time pro-bowler, two-time Super Bowl champ, and one-time Super Bowl MVP, Peyton Manning certainly lived up to the hype coming out of Tennessee when Jim Irsay used a number one pick on the legendary Manning name. After suffering a debilitating and career threatening neck injury, Manning returned to the game he loved, not to simply compete, but to win a Super Bowl with the Broncos, making him the only QB at the time to start and win Super Bowls for 2 different franchises, until that was once again done this past year by none other than… Tom Brady. While no one is comparing the two, simply because Brady has placed himself in another stratosphere above any other player ever to step on a gridiron, Peyton Manning will forever be remembered as one of the greatest QBs of all time and definitely of the 2000s.
QB - Aaron Rodgers
While playing in an era with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, it is hard to get all the credit you deserve. Rodgers has been one of the best quarterbacks of the last twenty years and he continues to put up astronomical numbers year in and year out. The three-time NFL MVP has shown no signs of slowing down as he just threw for 4,299 yards, 48 touchdowns, with a 70.7 completion percentage at age 37. Rodgers is a Super Bowl champion and MVP, but it is that elusive second Super Bowl ring that will cement him as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Even if he doesn’t get that second Super Bowl, Rodgers still has an outstanding resume. He has been to nine Pro Bowls, has been named a three-time First Team All-Pro, three-time passer rating leader, two-time passing touchdown leader, and led the league in completion percentage in 2020. It is going to be interesting to see if Rodgers follows in the footsteps of Brady and Manning and leaves the Packers for a chance to win elsewhere. For now, he is the king of Green Bay and he isn’t giving his State Farm “Rodgers Rate” to any opposing defenses.
QB - Drew Brees
Drew Brees has consistently been one of the top quarterback in the NFL throughout his career. He overcame a serious shoulder injury with the Chargers and became star with the Saints. He lifted New Orleans after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and led the Saints to their first and only Super Bowl victory in 2010. He is the only quarterback to throw for more than 80,000 yards in his career and he is second to only Tom Brady in passing touchdowns with 581. At 6'0 he proved those he said he was too short to play in the NFL wrong in a big way and is arguably the most accurate quarterback of all time. He may not have been flashy but his consistent excellence has made him one of the best players of the 2000s.
RB - Edgerrin James, Marshall Faulk, Shaun Alexander, Curtis Martin, Priest Holmes, Frank Gore
WR - Marvin Harrison, Andre Johnson, Terrell Owens, Julio Jones, Steve Smith Sr.
TE - Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, Travis Kelce
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