Who is the best Defensive Lineman in NFL history?

I have to go with the best I have seen in my 30 years of watching football and that's the late Reggie White of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Green Bay Packers and the Carolina Panthers. In 1987, White simply dominated week in and week out and recorded 21 sacks in just 12 games. He played in the tough NFC East and Central, in an era where offensive linemen were bigger and stronger than ever before.

If White couldn't dominate with strength, he would use his speed. At the peak of his career, White ran a 4.6 in the 40. That's unheard of for a man 6' 5" and nearly 300 pounds.

He was named to 13 consecutive Pro Bowls, had 198 career sacks in 15 seasons, was 2 time Defensive Player of The Year, recorded 3 quarterback sacks in Super Bowl XXXI and had nine consecutive seasons with 10 or more sacks, which is an NFL record since sacks were officially recorded in 1982. He also reached 100 sacks faster than any player in history, 21 games fewer than it took Lawrence Taylor. White was also extremely durable.

He missed just one non-strike game in 15 NFL seasons. One must note that White played his first two professional seasons in the USFL or his career sack total would be even higher. Sadly, Reggie White passed away on December 26, 2004 at the age of 43.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYkeO6ED87s.

I am going to answer this question by using a direct quote from the NFL | National Football League Hall of Fame. Carl Eller was a tremendous talent, but like many other players in his era there were no official records for sacks and other defensive statistics. He played on a line for the Minnesota Vikings known as the "Purple People Eaters".

This is a quote from the Hall of Fame; “During Eller’s career the Vikings enjoyed great success on the field. Starting in 1968, Eller’s fifth campaign, Minnesota won 10 NFL/NFC Central Division titles in the next 11 seasons. The Vikings won the 1969 NFL championship and NFC crowns in 1973, 1974, and 1976 and played in four Super Bowls.

A major factor in this long string of successes was a ferocious defensive line often referred to as “The Purple People Eaters. € Eller was the left end of a line that included Jim Marshall at the opposite end and Hall of Famer Alan Page and Gary Larsen at the tackles. Extremely quick and mobile for his size, Carl was an excellent defender against the run and superb as a pass rusher.In one three-string season from 1975 to 1977, he recorded 44 sacks, according to unofficial statistics (sacks did not become an official NFL statistic until 1982).

He also was effective in blocking kicks and, during his career he recovered 23 opponents’ fumbles, the third best mark in NFL annals at the time of his retirement. It was Eller who caused the now infamous fumble that led to teammate Jim Marshall’s wrong-way run for a safety in 1964 in a game against the San Francisco 49ers. €http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.aspx?PlayerId=63.

Enigmatic Reggie White was arguably considered as one of the best NFL player and many thinks he is the best defensive lineman in the league. But there is a man that will surely give him stiff competition for that title and he is no other than Deacon “Secretary of Defense,� Jones of the 1960’s.

This man who coined and popularized the term sack and defined and revolutionized the DE position in the years to come. A true blue defensive sentinel Jones is an immovable force with his 173 sacks he made. youtube.com/watch?v=VRnC8L2TfdY The 14th pick in the 1961 by the Los Angeles Rams, Jones overwhelmingly clinched six (6) straight all-league honors from 1965 to 1970 and appeared in seven (7) consecutive Pro Bowls from 1965 to 1971.

Tough as a nail Jones was noted for his remarkable durability as he only missed 5 games in 14 NFL seasons he played.

Well, I’m going to go into the modern era to get my pick for best ever. I think Reggie White is the best defensive lineman that has ever played the game. I think it might be BECAUSE he played in the modern era, where offensive lineman were bigger and better, and where quarterbacks and running backs were all faster and stronger than in the old days.

White was simply dominant for a large part of his career and was someone that teams would regularly double and triple team and he would still blow through them. While his sack numbers were incredibly impressive, he also compiled quite a large number of tackles, especially when he was in the peak of his career. In 1988, White compiled 18 sacks, and 133 tackles.

The year before he had 21 sacks and 76 tackles, and in 1989 he had 11 sacks and 123 tackles. Perhaps most impressive is in 1998, in his second to last year in the league, he was used as a sack specialist and compiled 16 sacks. A guy at the end of his career was still racking up a large amount of sacks.

He was the best that ever played the position.

The argument about who is the best defensive back is a hard one. It is hard not to say Emlen Tunnel just because of his numbers at a time when teams were just really learning to through the ball. Tunnel had 79 interceptions in 167 games.

Yet the rules were different then. You could almost mug a receiver before the ball was in the air and it was ok. So I will say that I have to give the nod for best defensive back to Mel Blount of the Pittsburg Steelers.

He played both sides of the rule change and excelled in both times. Maybe it was because some of my first memories of really watching football were during some of his Super Bowl successes, but you have to admit he was good. He had 13 fumble recoveries and 57 interceptions and never had a year of his 14 seasons without an interception.

And he could hit too. On top of the four super bowls Blount was defensive player of the year in 1975 and was selected to five pro bowls.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.