With just one month left before the start of the 2026 NFL season, the road to the next Super Bowl champion is about to begin. And that road is arguably the most arduous in professional sports, featuring a 17-week marathon just to get to the playoffs — where the real football begins. It takes being both really, really good and really, really lucky, and those stars only align for one out of 32 teams each year.
In fact, winning a ring is so difficult that some of the very best players to ever step foot on a gridiron have retired without one. Can you remember them? Take the below quiz to prove your knowledge.
Pick the NFL stars who never won a Super Bowl
The goal is simple: Below are some of the best players in NFL history. You have to click on the ones who never won a Super Bowl, without clicking on any that did get to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Good luck!
The best NFL players who never won a Super Bowl
5. DE Bruce Smith
Smith is still the NFL's all-time sack leader with an even 200, but despite helping the Bills reach four Super Bowls in his career — and despite some big performances in the Big Game — he retired without a single ring. He even forced a safety against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV, only to watch Scott Norwood's kick sail wide right in the closing seconds.
4. QB Dan Marino
It remains to be seen whether current stars like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson are able to remove themselves from consideration, but Marino is pretty comfortably the best retired quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. He retired as the NFL's all-time leading passer, but his lone trip to the Big Game — during his MVP season in 1984 — ended in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in which Marino was bested by Joe Montana.
3. WR Randy Moss
After some agonizingly close calls with the Minnesota Vikings, Moss finally made his Super Bowl debut with the New England Patriots in 2007 as part of arguably the best offense the NFL had ever seen. He even looked primed to be the hero, catching the go-ahead touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. But one helmet catch later, the Giants had snatched the lead again, and a Tom Brady deep ball for Moss that would have set up a game-winning field goal try was broken up at the last moment. None which changes the fact that he's still either the best or second-best receiver to ever play.
2. OT Anthony Munoz
Similarly, Munoz may well be the greatest offensive tackle to ever play. A stalwart on the blind side in Cincinnati, he even helped the Bengals reach two different Super Bowls in the 1980s. Unfortunately, he just so happened to run up against the 49ers in both of them. Cincy lost both by a single possession, with John Taylor's game-winning touchdown catch in 1988 looming as a particularly painful memory.
1. RB Barry Sanders
Unlike the other four players on this list, Sanders never even got to taste the Super Bowl stage. Detroit reached the postseason five times over his decade with the team, but they went a combined 1-5 in those trips, with an NFC title game appearance in 1991 the closest Sanders ever came. It hasn't gotten much better for the Lions since.
Which NFL teams have never won a Super Bowl?
In fact, Detroit is one of just four active franchises — along with the Browns, Texans and Jaguars — to have never made it to the Big Game. Eight more have reached that stage but never lifted the Lombardi Trophy. Here's the full list of NFL teams which have yet to win a Super Bowl.
- Arizona Cardinals
- Atlanta Falcons
- Buffalo Bills
- Carolina Panthers
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns*
- Detroit Lions*
- Houston Texans*
- Jacksonville Jaguars*
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Minnesota Vikings
- Tennessee Titans
*Denotes team without a Super Bowl appearance
Which one has the best shot of ending the drought first? The Bills will always be viable contenders as long as Allen's around, while the Texans boast arguably the fiercest defense in the NFL and the Bengals have a battle-tested offensive core in Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The Jaguars made it back to the postseason last year and are now looking to take the next step, as are the Chargers under new OC Mike McDaniel.
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