#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
16	Ray Nitschke	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1958–1972	90.4
18	Ted Hendricks	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1969–1983	90.2
31	Jack Lambert	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1974–1984	89.5
32	T.J. Watt	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2017–—	89.4
34	DeMarcus Ware	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2005–2016	89.3
37	Bill George	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1952–1966	89.2
41	Derrick Brooks	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1995–2008	89
54	Kevin Greene	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1985–1999	88.8
66	Nick Buoniconti	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1962–1976	88.5
74	Joe Schmidt	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1953–1965	88.3
77	Lawrence Taylor	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1981–1993	88.1
92	Jack Ham	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1971–1982	87.9
105	Bobby Bell	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1963–1974	87.7
116	Rickey Jackson	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1981–1995	87.6
158	Ray Lewis	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1996–2012	86.6
164	Chuck Howley	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1958–1973	86.5
168	Junior Seau	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1990–2009	86.4
172	Willie Lanier	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1967–1977	86.4
175	Harry Carson	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1976–1988	86.4
188	Dave Robinson	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1963–1974	86.2
219	Chris Hanburger	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1965–1978	85.6
224	Luke Kuechly	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2012–2019	85.4
232	Charles Haley	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1986–1999	85.3
239	Sam Mills	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1986–1997	85.2
268	Robert Brazile	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1975–1984	84.3
276	Von Miller	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2011–—	84
283	Sam Huff	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1956–1969	83.8
286	Mike Singletary	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1981–1992	83.7
288	Dick Butkus	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1965–1973	83.6
293	Randy Gradishar	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1974–1983	83.5
317	Patrick Willis	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2007–2014	82.2
319	Les Richter	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1954–1962	82
338	Brian Urlacher	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2000–2012	79.6

Compare the leaders

Ray Nitschke vs Ted Hendricks

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?

Only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible.

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