GOAT Rank · 330

Greatest American Football Players from United States

This ranking is led by Lou Groza, Sammy Baugh and Otto Graham. GOAT Rank currently ranks 330 eligible American Football players from United States using verified career records across dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Quick answer

According to GOAT Rank's current model, Lou Groza ranks #1 on this list with a GOAT Score of 92.4.

How the GOAT Score is calculated →

#AthleteGOAT Score

Joe Montana

88.7

Sport: American Football
Career: 1979–1994
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 93.0
Dominance: 89.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 91.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Joe Montana

Steve Smith Sr

88.7

Sport: American Football
Career: 2001–2016
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Steve Smith Sr

Drew Brees

88.6

Sport: American Football
Career: 2001–2020
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 96.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Drew Brees

Art Monk

88.6

Sport: American Football
Career: 1980–1995
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Art Monk

Cal Hubbard

88.6

Sport: American Football
Career: 1927–1936
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Cal Hubbard

Willie Brown

88.6

Sport: American Football
Career: 1963–1978
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Willie Brown

Reggie White

88.5

Sport: American Football
Career: 1984–2000
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 87.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Reggie White

Gene Upshaw

88.5

Sport: American Football
Career: 1967–1981
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Gene Upshaw

Art Shell

88.5

Sport: American Football
Career: 1968–1982
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Art Shell

Mel Hein

88.5

Sport: American Football
Career: 1931–1945
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 84.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Mel Hein

Jim Ringo

88.5

Sport: American Football
Career: 1953–1967
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Jim Ringo

Nick Buoniconti

88.5

Sport: American Football
Career: 1962–1976
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Nick Buoniconti

Sid Luckman

88.4

Sport: American Football
Career: 1939–1950
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Sid Luckman

Joe Perry

88.4

Sport: American Football
Career: 1948–1963
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Joe Perry

Frank Gatski

88.4

Sport: American Football
Career: 1946–1957
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 96.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Frank Gatski

Jim Otto

88.3

Sport: American Football
Career: 1960–1974
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Jim Otto

Warren Sapp

88.3

Sport: American Football
Career: 1995–2007
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Warren Sapp

Tim Brown

88.3

Sport: American Football
Career: 1988–2004
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Tim Brown

Joe Schmidt

88.3

Sport: American Football
Career: 1953–1965
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Joe Schmidt

Andy Robustelli

88.3

Sport: American Football
Career: 1951–1964
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Andy Robustelli

Willie Roaf

88.2

Sport: American Football
Career: 1993–2005
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Willie Roaf

Lawrence Taylor

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1981–1993
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Lawrence Taylor

Marcus Allen

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1982–1997
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Marcus Allen

Night Train Lane

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1952–1965
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Night Train Lane

Jonathan Ogden

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1996–2007
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Jonathan Ogden

Eric Dickerson

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1983–1993
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Eric Dickerson

Bobby Layne

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1948–1962
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Bobby Layne

Carl Eller

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1964–1979
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Carl Eller

John Randle

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1990–2003
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: John Randle

Mike Ditka

88.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1961–1972
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Mike Ditka

Ronde Barber

88.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1997–2012
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Ronde Barber

Derrick Henry

88.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 2016–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Derrick Henry

Yale Lary

88.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1952–1964
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Yale Lary

Ron Mix

88.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1960–1971
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Ron Mix

Jim Brown

87.9

Sport: American Football
Career: 1957–1965
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 95.0
Dominance: 93.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Jim Brown

Brett Favre

87.9

Sport: American Football
Career: 1991–2010
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 94.0

Athlete: Brett Favre

Jack Ham

87.9

Sport: American Football
Career: 1971–1982
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Jack Ham

Antonio Gates

87.9

Sport: American Football
Career: 2003–2018
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Antonio Gates

Buck Buchanan

87.9

Sport: American Football
Career: 1963–1975
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Buck Buchanan

Jim Langer

87.9

Sport: American Football
Career: 1970–1981
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Jim Langer

Dick LeBeau

87.9

Sport: American Football
Career: 1959–1972
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Dick LeBeau

Isaac Bruce

87.8

Sport: American Football
Career: 1994–2009
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Isaac Bruce

Ray Guy

87.8

Sport: American Football
Career: 1973–1986
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Ray Guy

Lenny Moore

87.8

Sport: American Football
Career: 1956–1967
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Lenny Moore

Bob Griese

87.8

Sport: American Football
Career: 1967–1980
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Bob Griese

Mike Haynes

87.8

Sport: American Football
Career: 1976–1989
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Mike Haynes

100

Arnie Herber

87.8

Sport: American Football
Career: 1930–1945
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Arnie Herber

101

Darrelle Revis

87.7

Sport: American Football
Career: 2007–2017
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Darrelle Revis

102

Bobby Bell

87.7

Sport: American Football
Career: 1963–1974
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Bobby Bell

103

Jack Youngblood

87.7

Sport: American Football
Career: 1971–1984
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Jack Youngblood

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
53	Joe Montana	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1979–1994	88.7
54	Steve Smith Sr	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2001–2016	88.7
55	Drew Brees	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2001–2020	88.6
56	Art Monk	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1980–1995	88.6
57	Cal Hubbard	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1927–1936	88.6
58	Willie Brown	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1963–1978	88.6
59	Reggie White	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1984–2000	88.5
60	Gene Upshaw	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1967–1981	88.5
61	Art Shell	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1968–1982	88.5
62	Mel Hein	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1931–1945	88.5
63	Jim Ringo	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1953–1967	88.5
64	Nick Buoniconti	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1962–1976	88.5
65	Sid Luckman	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1939–1950	88.4
66	Joe Perry	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1948–1963	88.4
67	Frank Gatski	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1946–1957	88.4
68	Jim Otto	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1960–1974	88.3
69	Warren Sapp	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1995–2007	88.3
70	Tim Brown	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1988–2004	88.3
71	Joe Schmidt	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1953–1965	88.3
72	Andy Robustelli	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1951–1964	88.3
73	Willie Roaf	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1993–2005	88.2
74	Lawrence Taylor	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1981–1993	88.1
75	Marcus Allen	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1982–1997	88.1
76	Night Train Lane	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1952–1965	88.1
77	Jonathan Ogden	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1996–2007	88.1
78	Eric Dickerson	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1983–1993	88.1
79	Bobby Layne	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1948–1962	88.1
80	Carl Eller	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1964–1979	88.1
81	John Randle	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1990–2003	88.1
82	Mike Ditka	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1961–1972	88.1
83	Ronde Barber	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1997–2012	88.0
84	Derrick Henry	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2016–active	88.0
85	Yale Lary	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1952–1964	88.0
86	Ron Mix	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1960–1971	88.0
87	Jim Brown	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1957–1965	87.9
88	Brett Favre	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1991–2010	87.9
89	Jack Ham	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1971–1982	87.9
90	Antonio Gates	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2003–2018	87.9
91	Buck Buchanan	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1963–1975	87.9
92	Jim Langer	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1970–1981	87.9
93	Dick LeBeau	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1959–1972	87.9
95	Isaac Bruce	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1994–2009	87.8
96	Ray Guy	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1973–1986	87.8
97	Lenny Moore	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1956–1967	87.8
98	Bob Griese	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1967–1980	87.8
99	Mike Haynes	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1976–1989	87.8
100	Arnie Herber	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1930–1945	87.8
101	Darrelle Revis	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2007–2017	87.7
102	Bobby Bell	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1963–1974	87.7
103	Jack Youngblood	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1971–1984	87.7

Compare the leaders

Lou Groza vs Sammy Baugh

Read the full methodology

Sport lists use the raw In-Sport GOAT Score. Cross-sport lists use the official competition-depth adjustment. No scores are recalculated for this page.

Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

How is this ranking calculated?

Five verified components are weighted consistently: dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Who is included?

According to GOAT Rank's current data model, only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible. Rank and score are read live.

Related rankings

Greatest Boxers of all time Greatest Swimmers of all time Greatest Football Players of all time Greatest Tennis Players of all time Greatest Golfers of all time Greatest Formula 1 Drivers of all time Greatest Esports Players of all time Greatest Basketball Players of all time Greatest Baseball Players of all time Greatest American Football Players of all time Greatest active American Football Players Greatest retired American Football Players