Fansided

10 NFL players who would dominate in any era

By Russell S. Baxter

Pro Football Hall of Fame and Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton (34) breaking tackles in the Bears 45-10 victory over the Washington Redskins on 9/29/1985 at Soldier Field in Chicago Illinois. (Photo by James V. Biever/Getty Images)
Pro Football Hall of Fame and Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton (34) breaking tackles in the Bears 45-10 victory over the Washington Redskins on 9/29/1985 at Soldier Field in Chicago Illinois. (Photo by James V. Biever/Getty Images) /
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Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Bell (78) sacks Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr (15) during Super Bowl I, a 35-10 Packers victory on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by James Flores/Getty Images)
Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Bell (78) sacks Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr (15) during Super Bowl I, a 35-10 Packers victory on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by James Flores/Getty Images) /

7. OLB/DE Bobby Bell

Face it, great defense these days in the NFL doesn’t get this much acclaim as it used to. It is a supposedly quarterback-driven league but as has been well-documented, a team better learn to stop the other team if they intend on winning any kind of a championship.

Back in 1969, the Kansas City Chiefs were appearing in their second Super Bowl in four years and would dominate the Minnesota Vikings, 23-7, in Super Bowl IV at Tulane Stadium at New Orleans. The defensive unit that trotted out on the field that day in the Big Easy for Hank Stram’s eventual champions featured six future Pro Football Hall of Famers. And in some ways, perhaps the most unsung of that half-dozen legends was versatile Bobby Bell.

Individual sacks would not become an official statistic in the league until 1982. But Bell could be found not only in opposing backfields but in coverage as well. His nose for the football led to 26 interceptions and nine fumbles recoveries in 12 seasons. The versatile defender returned eight of those takeaways for touchdowns.

Bell could literally line up anywhere on the front seven. And would be creating plenty of havoc today or any other time.

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