Joe Montana led the NFL in completion rate five times, was a five-time All-Pro (three first-teams), and won back-to-back MVP awards for the 1989 and 1990 seasons. An eight-time Pro Bowler, Montana -- along with San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh and a certain wide receiver coming up next on our Mount Rushmore -- created the NFL's 1980s dynasty. Montana went 4-0 in Super Bowls, winning game MVP honors in three of those wins. He is one of 25 QBs to throw for over 40,000 yards.
A man before his time, Dan Marino was a prolific passer in an era where running was still the name of the game. In 1984, Marino became the first QB to throw for 5,000 yards in a season. The second didn't come for another 24 years. Marino won MVP in 1984 and led the league in passing yards and TDs from 1984-1986. He is currently 9th all time with 63,440 passing yards and is widely considered the greatest QB to never win a Super Bowl.
While the best of Walter Payton's years came in the late 1970s, he remained one of the best running backs in the league in the 80s. Sweetness played at a high level until the age of 33. At the time of his retirement in 1987, he had run for the most yards in NFL history with 16,726.
We will never see a WR play at the level Jerry Rice played at for as long as he did. Rice's career spanned 20 years, most of which was with the 49ers. He led the league in receiving yardage and touchdowns six times each. Not only does he have the most receiving yards of all time, his 22,895 sits over 5,000 yards above second place Larry Fitzgerald. It's safe to say no one will ever come close to matching what Rice was able to accomplish.
Easily one of the greatest defensive players of all time, Reggie White's career spanned 15 seasons. He won two defensive player of the year awards, including one at the age of 37. From 1986-1998, White made the Pro Bowl every year. He was with the Packers for one Super Bowl and on the winning side.
Before Aaron Donald came along, Lawrence Taylor was widely viewed as the greatest defensive player of all time. He's still the greatest linebacker of all time. Taylor won defensive player of the year and rookie of the year in his first season in 1981. He won DPOY again in 1982. In 1986, Taylor won his third DPOY award, as well as MVP. He won two Super Bowls with the Giants.
Long before his famous "Cannot play with 'em. Cannot win with 'em. Cannnot coach with 'em. Can't do it" quote, Mike Singletary was an elite NFL linebacker. He won two defensive player of the year awards in the 1980s and was a key cog in the vaunted '85 Bears defensive, viewed as the greatest defensive unit in NFL history.
Ronnie Lott burst onto the scene as a rookie in 1981. He easily would have won defensive player of the year had it not been for Lawrence Taylor. Lott had three pick sixes as a rookie. In 1986, he led the league in interceptions with 10. Lott is one of just five players to appear on all four of the 49ers Super Bowl winning teams from the 1980s.
Widely considered the best offensive tackle in NFL history, Anthony Muñoz more than delivered on his promise after the Cincinnati Bengals made the USC product the third overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft. Muñoz started 104 of a possible 105 games over his first seven NFL campaigns and made 184 career starts. Thanks to his outstanding size, athleticism, and technique, Muñoz made 11 straight Pro Bowls from 1981 to 1991, earning nine first-team All-Pro nods during that run.
Muñoz went to two Super Bowls with the Bengals, losing to Montana's 49ers after the 1981 and 1988 seasons. A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Muñoz ranked 17th on Pro Football Network's list of the NFL's top all-time players.
