The Football 100: The Story of the Greatest Players in NFL History

From The Athletic, powerhouse of sports reporting, comes the definitive story of the greatest football players of all time.

It is a question that has bedeviled football fans for generations: Who's the best? Of the more than 25,000 men who have suited up during the NFL's century of existence, which ones stood head and shoulders above all others?

At The Athletic, home to the best newsroom in sports, this question would become a labor of love for dozens of the best football writers on the planet, including Mike Sando and Dan Pompei. Over the course of 100 riveting profiles—each drawing upon unparalleled access and superlative storytelling to offer intimate perspective on what made the greatest players tick—these writers reveal their findings. In the process, they also uncover the history of football.

In the early days of the NFL, the game bore little resemblance to the product we see today. Points were scarce, the forward pass was an...