Patrick Willis is my dad

congratulated my Patrick Willis fathead as I walked by.

Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Willie Lanier and Ray Nitschke. are the four inside linebackers on that list, so Willis would have to knock off one of those guys for a spot. He’d also have to beat out Ray Lewis. Here profiles of his competition and what Willis will need to do to knock them off the list. Just for fun I’m going to also include his current coach.

Ray Nitschke

Nitschke played fifteen seasons, from 1958-72. He anchored a defense that helped win five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls in the 1960s. He was the MVP of the 1962 NFL Championship Game, recovering 2 fumbles and deflecting a pass that was intercepted. In Super Bowl I, Nitschke contributed 6 tackles and a sack and in Super Bowl II, Nitschke led Green Bay’s defense with 9 tackles. Nitschke made first team All Pro three times and second team 4 times.

How Willis beats him:

By being a better player. Nitschke only made the All Pro team 7 out of fifteen years and he wasn’t a full time starter until his fourth year in the league. What Nitschke has going for him is those five championships and his image as a toothless monster terrorizing opponents on the frozen tundra, that’s hard to beat..speaking of toothless monsters.

Jack Lambert

11 Seasons with 28 interceptions and 23.5 sacks. Lambert was a first team all pro selection for 7 straight years from 1975-1983 and won the defensive MVP award in 1976, also by the way he was on what was considered the greatest defense of all time and won four super bowls.

How Willis beats him:

I think Lambert is the most untouchable guy on this list, his statistics and personal honors alone would have got him in the Hall of Fame. Pile on to that four championships on the greatest defensive football team ever (arguably) and a legendarily scary image…No chance.

Dick Butkus

8 Seasons with 22 interceptions and 27 fumble recoveries
6 first team and 2 second team All-Pro selections
Butkus only had an eight year career cut short by injuries, but he won two Defensive Player of the Year awards. His best season in 1970 with 132 tackles, 84 assists, 3 interceptions and 2 fumble a recovery, that’s an all pro year now, at the time it was gaudy.
How Willis Takes his spot:

The only two thing not on the Butkus resume are championships and longevity so if Willis can match his production and put a championship on his resume during a longer career he has a chance….except….The Butkus name is more synonymous with violent linebacker play than any other, even if he beats the man, the legend would be hard to tackle.

Willie Lanier

11 Seasons 27 Interceptions, with a 16.3 avg return and 2 touchdowns, 21 fumble recoveries.

Lanier made the All-Pro team eight years in a row starting his second year. He was Defensive MVP of the league in 1971. He also had a huge game in Super Bowl 4 recording 7 tackles and an interception which the Chiefs won.
How Willis takes his spot:

He’d have to make All-Pro every year and win at least one super bowl and one defensive MVP to be considered as Lanier’s competition. Winning two Defensive MVPs or one Defensive MVP and multiple Super Bowls would probably give him the edge. Except he’d also have to beat:

Ray Lewis

In 14 seasons Lewis has 28 interceptions, 36.5 sacks and 12 forced fumbles. Lewis became just the sixth player to win multiple defensive MVP awards in 2003. He has nine All-Pro selections and was the MVP of Super Bowl 35.

How Willis beats him:

Ray Lewis is the benchmark that Willis’ chances of making this list should be measured against. His career compares favorably to both Lanier due to multiple MVP selections and Butkus due to longevity, but again I think Butkus’ image makes him the harder guy to knock off. Bottom line, I think Ray Lewis eclipses Lanier on this list, so if Willis can out-produce Lewis, that spot could be his. So far Willis has made All Pro his first three years, but he’s got a long way to go. He’ll need to at least match Ray Lewis’ 2 defensive MVP awards and one super bowl. Without a super bowl I don’t think he’ll be able to edge Lewis, he’d need to increase his sack/interception totals to unheard of numbers for an inside linebacker. His only other chance would be to become the first player ever to be awarded 3 defensive MVP awards.

in my mind, barring injury, he will be one of, if not the greatest LB to ever play the game. I like the man so much, that if he were ever to leave the Niners (here’s hoping that never happens) he would still be my favorite player.

Not sure how he was left off the first list, but his numbers are probrably as good as anyone else on the list:

8 First team All-Pro selections with 2 defensive MVP awards and a Super Bowl win.

It’s curious that Lanier, Butkis and Nitchke all played in the same era and all made the list with careers that compare unfavorably to Singletary’s as far as All pro selections and MVP awards.

I hope he gets included in the 100th aniversary team as a representitive of the 80s, I think right now if I was making the list I’d go with

Willie Lanier
Jack Lambert
Mike Singletary
Ray Lewis

Nitchke wasn’t considered the best in the league at his position for enough of his career and Butkus lacks longevity and championships compared to the competition.

Congrats to Willis. That was such a great draft pick.

A lot of how well Willis is thought of will have to do with two things we can’t really predict at this point:

1) Will he stay healthy? No reason to think that he won’t, but the NFL is a violent, violent league. You’ve got to knock on wood anytime you’re projecting a young player’s future.

2) How well will the Niners do over that span? Fairly or not, to be considered “the best ever” or even among the best ever at a given position, you’re expected to have won something over the years. Doesn’t necessarily have to be a Super Bowl— Kellen Winslow and Dan Marino spring to mind as two guys who anyone would say were among the very best at their respective positions but never got a ring— but you do have to play on some good teams. I think most of us are optimistic that the Niners are headed in that direction. If Willis leads a defense that puts the Niners in the playoffs year after year, I think he’s got a chance to be thought of as highly as anyone. If he’s the lone star on a bad team? Then it’s basically not gonna happen.