GGOATRANK
🇺🇸
American Football · Defensive end · United States

Fred Dean

1975–1985 · Two Super Bowl titles and six sacks in a single 1983 game.

Retired
Ranking model

100% titles, statistics, dominance, longevity and global competition depth.

Pure sporting data
85.4
Cultural & brand footprint 52/100 · total legacy 74.3
Super Bowl titles
2
Sacks in one game
6
Pro Bowls
4
Defensive Player of the Year awards
1
Seasons played
11

Category profile

Dominance
84
Peak
94
Longevity
76
Honours
86
Statistics
88

Career timeline · Touchdowns per season

SeasonTouchdowns per seasonShare of career
197550
197658
197766
197874
197981
198089
198197
198282
198366
198451
198535

Data sources

  • Pro Football Hall of Fame
  • Pro Football Reference
  • NFL official records

Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method

Why Fred Dean ranks #230 in American Football

Fred Dean ranks 230th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 2337th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 85.4 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 84, Peak 94, Longevity 76, Honours 86, Statistics 88. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 340 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.

The record covers 1975–1985 with 11 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1981, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes super bowl titles 2, sacks in one game 6, pro bowls 4, defensive player of the year awards 1.

Immediately ahead sits Art Donovan on 85.4, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is J.J. Watt on 85.3. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.

Fred Dean GOAT Score explained

Dominance84/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Dean stood above the field while competing. Scored 84/100 against the full American Football cohort.
Peak94/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1981. Scored 94/100.
Longevity76/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 10 years of competition and 11 recorded seasons. Scored 76/100.
Honours86/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.

Fred Dean — frequently asked

Is Fred Dean the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Fred Dean ranks 230th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 85.4, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
What is Fred Dean's GOAT Score?
85.4 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 84 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 76 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Fred Dean rank all time?
2337th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 230th within American Football.
Fred Dean vs Art Donovan: who ranks higher?
Fred Dean, on 85.4 against Art Donovan's 85.4 — a margin of 0.0 points.
Compare with Brady