Best NFL Players of All Time: Ronnie Lott. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Ronnie Lott

The quarterback Joe Montana and head coach Bill Walsh bear the majority of the blame for San Francisco’s ascent to NFL supremacy. Walsh’s “West Coast Offense” created the 49ers’ enduring history and transformed the team into an offensive juggernaut. The receivers Dwight Clark, Freddie Solomon, Jerry Rice, and John Taylor were the triggermen, and Steve Young came in last. Running backs Roger Craig, Wendell Tyler, and Ricky Watters lit up the scoreboard.

Montana and Walsh were the team’s most visible players, yet neither one claimed to be the most important. Neither guy would answer the question of who the team’s best or most important player was, but if they had to pick one, they would both name the same person: Ronnie Lott.

Lott started his NFL career as a cornerback for the Niners, but he quickly saw time at both safety positions in addition to cornerback. Even as a rookie, he rapidly imposed his will on his defensive teammates. The 49ers had been a soft defensive club before Lott entered the scene. They were drag-down tacklers and points by the bushel. The 1980 Niners finished 6-10 after giving up 415 points.

Lott knew he was getting into a team that rarely delivered the big hits and rarely made the big stops. Acknowledging the motivation behind his draft, he was determined to alter it.

Lotst said that “teams had essentially done whatever Dallas wanted to the 49ers.” They had utterly destroyed the Niners in a game against the Cowboys that season, winning 59–14, and they had just dominated the contest from start to finish. There had been no resistance. That game had left us with a psychological scar, and I knew it wouldn’t heal unless we could face them.

That was one of the things I felt I had to do. Give the group something to aim for. Put a chip on its shoulder. We have to be a bit tough around here. Anyhow, I would have been happy to help. If that meant yanking around like a missile, that’s exactly what I would do.

Walsh had seen the qualities of leadership and power when watching Lott on tape in preparation for the 1981 selection. He talked to Lott one-on-one, showing even more of that toughness.

According to Walsh, “We were starting to improve offensively, but our defense was so far behind that we didn’t have the presence to be a good team.” “We definitely needed to be much tougher, and Ronnie Lott was going to provide that for us.” I felt he could be the one based on his LMs, but after talking to him, it was clear. We needed him playing if we were going to get better.

Montana felt the same way as his coach. He thought the offense had a chance to turn things around, even though nothing on the defensive end gave him any hope. Montana said of the team’s preparations for the 1981 season, “You play to win and we felt that we were going to improve offensively.” But the defense had been horrible, and nobody thought we would get better [on that side of the ball]. But that summer, we saw Ronnie hit everything in sight. Since he was playing, it seemed inevitable that things would get better.

Lott’s differentiator was his leadership. How many inexperienced people can provide it? It’s not uncommon for untrained people to voice their ideas and receive physical violence and names like “punk.” But Lott was a gifted storyteller who never crossed the line into disrespecting his elders. He became a very outspoken leader in the years that followed, but even as a rookie, he was able to impart important wisdom to teammates with more experience.

“I guess they thought I was sincere,” Lott said. “Perhaps it was because of how I performed.” They saw that I gave it everything I had every day in order to voice my ideas.

Lott is not just a powerful batter but also possesses the hands to steal balls. With 63 interceptions over his career, he is sixth all-time. He was the league leader in interceptions in 1986 and 1991. He gained points for returning five of his interceptions. He also totaled 1,113 damaging tackles—plus 8.5 sacks—during his 14-year career, which earned him six All-Pro team accolades and ten Pro Bowl selections. He forced 16 more fumbles and recovered 17 more. If there was someone to hit, Lott would gladly lay the timber.

Lott felt that he could have done a better job while the ball was in the air, despite his impressive production. Lott said, “I had a few interceptions, but I was never able to catch the ball the way I wanted to.” If there was one thing I would change about my game, it would be that. Had I been a player, I would have liked to attack the ball the way I see guys like Ed Reed do. He is amazing when he chases the ball. That’s not even close to who I was.

Perhaps Lott is unduly self-critical, or perhaps he is right. Even still, if his hands weren’t that terrific, he had a decent excuse. His opponent’s face mask caused his left pinky finger to twist, necessitating the amputation of part of it in 1985. Lott was not interested in surgery or rehabilitation; he just wanted to get back on the field. Lott instructed the surgeon to “cut it off.”

“This story is so old,” Lott said. There’s no need to say it again. People most likely know what happened.

They do, in fact. Still, it offers a peek of what the more experienced Niners players learned about Lott during his rookie campaign. It was my goal to compete and win. It was that simple, really. Who knows when I would have come back if I had had surgery. I could not wait to get back out on the field. All of those things are located there.

Lott’s role is underappreciated since the 49ers were such a powerful offensive team and because players like Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Dwight Clark, and Jerry Rice garnered so much media attention. Still, Lott’s defensive talents were not underappreciated in the San Francisco dressing room.

Montana said, “When we were on the sidelines, as offensive players, we had our own business to attend to.” But even while we spoke about what to do next, you continued to monitor the defense. You wanted to see who Ronnie would pick off next.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Ronnie Lott Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	AV
1981	22	SFO	LCB	42	16	16	7	117	3	41		1	2	0	0	0	89			17
1982	23	SFO	LCB	42	9	9	2	95	1	83	1	0	0	0	0	0	68			11
1983	24	SFO	LCB	42	15	14	4	22	0	22		0	1	0	0	1	108			11
1984	25	SFO	LCB	42	12	11	4	26	0	15		0	0	0	0	1	51			12
1985	26	SFO	LCB/FS	42	16	16	6	68	0	25	1	0	2	0	0	1.5	104			10
1986	27	SFO	FS	42	14	14	10	134	1	57	3	0	0	0	0	2	77			17
1987	28	SFO	FS	42	12	12	5	62	0	34		0	2	33	0	0	55			16
1988	29	SFO	FS	42	13	12	5	59	0	44	3	0	4	3	0	0	74			11
1989	30	SFO	FS	42	11	11	5	34	0	28		0	0	0	0	0	42			15
1990	31	SFO	FS	42	11	11	3	26	0	15		0	1	3	0	0	53			14
1991	32	RAI	SS	42	16	16	8	52	0	27	1	0	1	4	0	1	93			13
1992	33	RAI	SS	42	16	16	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	103			7
1993	34	NYJ	FS	42	16	16	3	35	0	29	4	0	2	0	0	1	123			8
1994	35	NYJ	FS	42	15	15			0		2	0	1	0	0	1	106	73	33	6
Career					192	189	63	730	5	83	16	1	17	43	0	8.5	1146	73	33	168
10 yrs		SFO			129	126	51	643	5	83	8	1	12	39	0	5.5	721		0	134
2 yrs		NYJ			31	31	3	35	0	29	6	0	3	0	0	2	229	73	33	14
2 yrs		RAI			32	32	9	52	0	27	2	0	2	4	0	1	196		0	20

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast
1981	22	SFO	LCB	3	3	2	32	1	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
1983	24	SFO	LCB	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1984	25	SFO	LCB	3	3	1	38	0	38	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
1985	26	SFO	FS	1	1			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1986	27	SFO	FS	1	1			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1987	28	SFO	FS	1	1			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1988	29	SFO	FS	3	3	2	10	0	5	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	4
1989	30	SFO	FS	3	3	2	72	1	58	0	0					0	1
1990	31	SFO	FS	2	2			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1991	32	RAI	SS	1	1	1	35	0	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career				20	20	9	187	2	58	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	9	9	0
9 yrs		SFO		19	19	8	152	2	58	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	9	9	0
1 yr		RAI		1	1	1	35	0	35	0					0	0

 

 

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