Projecting the All Decade Team

This Sunday at the Pro Bowl the NFL will commemorate the 00’s, a decade that saw the NFL go from America’s third favorite (and at times arguably 4th) sport, to not only America’s number one sport, but perhaps it’s greatest passion, with the All-Decade team.

I’ve followed the same format that the NFL uses to commemorate each decade, and though this format leaves a lot of great players off the list (only two QB spots saved a huge head ache and a lot of debate), when you see this list of names the majority of the players probably already have some blacksmith (I just wanted to use the word blacksmith) working on their bust for Canton.

An important thing to note when looking over this list is that the All Decade team is not a marathon as much as it is a sprint. The list commemorates the players who performed the best this decade. Two to three years of dominating at your position are more valuable than six good seasons and one great one (see Jamal Lewis, Edgerrin James, and Curtis Martin vs Adrian Peterson and Marshall Faulk).

The 2000's Funk Football All Decade Team:

WR Terrell Owens

WR Randy Moss

WR Marvin Harrison
WR Larry Fitzgerald
TE Tony Gonzalez
TE Antonio Gates
T Jonathan Ogden
T Walter Jones
T Orlando Pace
T Chris Samuels
G Steve Hutchinson
G Will Shields
G Larry Allen
G Alan Faneca
C Kevin Mawae
C Olin Kreutz
QB Peyton Manning
QB Tom Brady
RB LaDainian Tomlinson
RB Shaun Alexander
RB Marshall Faulk
RB Adrian Peterson
FB Lorenzo Neal

DE Michael Strahan
DE Julius Peppers
DE Jason Taylor
DE Dwight Freeney
DT Shaun Rogers
DT Warren Sapp
DT Tommie Harris
DT Richard Seymour
LB Ray Lewis
LB Brian Urlacher
LB Zach Thomas
LB Derrick Brooks
LB James Harrison
LB Joey Porter
CB Champ Bailey
CB Ty Law
CB Ronde Barber
CB Charles Woodson
S Ed Reed
S Troy Polamalu
S Brian Dawkins
S John Lynch

P Jeff Feagles
P Craig Hentrich
K Adam Vinatieri
K Jeff Wilkins
PR Devin Hester
PR Ed Reed
KR Dante Hall
KR Josh Cribbs

Coach Bill Belichick
Coach Tony Dungy