The NFL Top 100 is an annual television series counting down the top one hundred players in the National Football League (NFL), as chosen by fellow NFL players. The rankings are based on an off-season poll organized by the NFL, where players vote on their peers based on their performance for the recent NFL season. Only players that are not retired in the next season are eligible for consideration.[1]
| NFL Top 100 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 140 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 3–9 minutes (per player) |
| Original release | |
| Network | NFL+, NFL Network |
| Release | 2011 |
| Related | |
| NFL Top 10 | |
In 2010, NFL Network aired The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players, an all-time top 100 list, with wide receiver Jerry Rice being voted as the number-one player. The following year, the network debuted their annual NFL Top 100, with quarterback Tom Brady being voted at the top. Brady holds the record for most number-one selections, with four (2011, 2017, 2018, and 2022). Fellow quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the only other player to have been voted number-one multiple times (2021, 2023). Non-quarterbacks to be voted number-one include running back Adrian Peterson (2013), defensive end J. J. Watt (2015), defensive tackle Aaron Donald (2019), and wide receiver Tyreek Hill (2024). Following Brady's retirement and resulting exclusion from the 2023 list, quarterback Aaron Rodgers holds the distinction of being the only player to be an NFL Top 100 selection each year of its existence.[2]
Series overview
edit| Season | Originally aired | Number 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Player | Team | ||
| 1 | April 30, 2011 | July 3, 2011 | Tom Brady | New England Patriots | |
| 2 | April 28, 2012 | June 27, 2012 | Aaron Rodgers | Green Bay Packers | |
| 3 | April 27, 2013 | June 27, 2013 | Adrian Peterson | Minnesota Vikings | |
| 4 | May 10, 2014 | July 9, 2014 | Peyton Manning | Denver Broncos | |
| 5 | May 6, 2015 | July 8, 2015 | J. J. Watt | Houston Texans | |
| 6 | May 4, 2016 | July 6, 2016 | Cam Newton | Carolina Panthers | |
| 7 | May 1, 2017 | June 26, 2017 | Tom Brady | New England Patriots | |
| 8 | April 30, 2018 | June 25, 2018 | |||
| 9 | July 22, 2019 | July 31, 2019 | Aaron Donald | Los Angeles Rams | |
| 10 | July 26, 2020 | July 29, 2020 | Lamar Jackson | Baltimore Ravens | |
| 11 | August 15, 2021 | August 28, 2021 | Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | |
| 12 | August 14, 2022 | August 28, 2022 | Tom Brady | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| 13 | July 24, 2023 | August 3, 2023 | Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs | |
| 14 | July 22, 2024 | August 2, 2024 | Tyreek Hill | Miami Dolphins | |
History
edit
Produced by NFL Films, the series' first season was released during the 2011 NFL offseason.[3] The series was aired on NFL Network, which released ten episodes, each revealing ten players. The first episode, revealing the players ranked #100 through #91 was aired on April 30, 2011. The list and series began with the #100 ranked player, Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb,[4] and ended when New England Patriots quarterback and 2010 NFL MVP Tom Brady was selected as the number one ranked player.[5]
The NFL Top 100 list returned following the 2012 NFL season, running during the NFL's offseason.[6] Each episode of the season was followed up by NFL Top 100 Reaction Show, which featured NFL Network analysts reacting and voicing their opinions on the ten most recent players revealed on the list.[7] The series has run every offseason since, following the same countdown format and continuing to feature players and analysts reacting to the rankings.[8][9] NFL Films have also released annual lists of ten players who just missed the Top 100 listing.[10]
Players with most Top 100 selections
edit
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| † | Denotes Pro Football Hall of Fame member |
| ^ | Denotes active player |
Reception
editSeveral NFL players have expressed negative opinions of NFL Top 100. Responding to the 2021 list, Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle D. J. Humphries called the list "bullshit" and "made up" and cast personal doubt on if players actually vote, stating that he had never voted.[11] In 2022, former tackle Andrew Whitworth, a 3× NFL Top 100 selection himself, also asserted that not every player votes on the list, calling it a "joke" and "content filler".[12]
NFL.com writer Jeremy Bergman opined that Aaron Rodgers' inclusion and Joe Flacco's near-make on the 2024 list showed that "players continue to suffer simultaneously from recency bias and a misunderstanding of what the criteria for this exercise are, if there are any".[13]
See also
edit- National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
- The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players
- Ted Lindsay Award, a similar award given out in the NHL.
References
edit- ^ Where Would Manning, Megatron & Other Retirees Be on the Top 100 Players of 2016?. National Football League. July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2019 – via YouTube.
- ^ #51 Aaron Rodgers (QB, Jets) | Top 100 Players of 2023. NFL Top 100. National Football League. August 8, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ Roberson, Matthew (July 22, 2024). "How Does the NFL Top 100 Actually Work?". GQ. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- ^ "Top 100: Donovan McNabb". National Football League. April 27, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ Sharma, Aashish (July 4, 2011). "Tom Brady Named NFL's Top Player of 2011: Why He Will Go Down as the Greatest". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ Smith, Michael David (April 29, 2012). "Chris Johnson falls 87 spots in NFL Top 100 ranking". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ Top 100 reaction: Biggest surprise. NFL.com. April 28, 2012. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (April 19, 2013). "NFL Network Presents 'The Top 100 Players of 2013'". TV by the Numbers. Zap 2 it. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ Wilson, Aaron (April 29, 2013). "Dennis Pitta Named NFL's 100th-best player". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
- ^ @NFLFilms (July 29, 2024). "The players who just missed this year's #NFLTop100 list: 👇" (Tweet). Retrieved August 4, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Balzer, Howard (September 3, 2021). "Humphries on NFL Top 100 Players: It's 'All Made Up'". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
- ^ Crisafulli, Owen (August 15, 2022). "'It's a joke': Andrew Whitworth rips NFL Top 100 list, exposes that not all players vote". ClutchPoints. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
- ^ Bergman, Jeremy (August 2, 2024). "NFL's 'Top 100 Players of 2024': Five things the voters got wrong". NFL.com. Retrieved August 4, 2024.