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The release of the NFL's Top 100 players has become a staple of the off-season program. Each year, on the eve of the new season, the NFL begins releasing a list of the league's best players.
Unsurprisingly, it is highly contentious and is the source of debates, arguments and possibly the end of a few friendships, as the NFL community explores the pros and cons of each and every ranking.
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No fan is ever happy with the Top 100 list. As with any list, it is a subjective process. Everyone has an opinion, and no two are ever completely the same. The league, to their credit, are well aware of this. There is nothing the league loves more than a bit of controversy, well except $$. But controversy is a close second.
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But the question many fans ask when it comes to the Top 100 list is, "Who decided this?"
How is the Top 100 list decided?
If fans are not happy with where their favorite player has landed on the list, then there is only one place to direct their anger. And that's at the players themselves. Despite the regular abuse aimed at the "mystery individuals" at NFL HQ, or Roger Goodell himself, they have nothing to do with constructing the list.
The rankings are based on an offseason poll of current NFL players. Players vote for their peers based on their performances during the previous season, with the results tallied by the league.
How the NFL goes about revealing the results tends to change on a yearly basis. However, special treatment is always reserved for the top ten. They are revealed over the course of two weeks on the NFL Network. Truthfully, the league could easily fit it into a one-hour program, but where is the fun in that?
Who are some of the previous winners?
The Top 100 is a recent innovation. It was only introduced in 2011. But there are no prizes for guessing who claimed the award that year, as serial winner Tom Brady claimed yet another win.
As ever with the GOAT, he wasn't satisfied with a singular victory, preferring to go the dynasty route, picking up the award in 2017 and 2018. To date, he is the only player to have topped the list on more than one occasion.
As is the norm in the NFL, offensive players seem to generate a lot more recognition than their defensive counterparts. As a result, only two defensive players have finished on top of the rankings. However, those two guys are Aaron Donald and JJ Watt, so it's fair to say that they were more than deserving.
Quarterbacks have claimed the title in eight of the eleven years since the Top 100's inception. As mentioned, Tom Brady owns three of those triumphs, but also entering the winner's circle were Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. Adrian Peterson has the distinction of being the only offensive player to be ranked in the number one spot and not play quarterback.
So who do you think will be named number one in 2022?
