49ers linebacker Patrick Willis continues his rapid assent towards eventual Hall of Famer with another award yesterday. The NFL Alumni Association handed out its 2010 Player of the Year Awards and Willis won the linebacker position for the third time in four seasons (thanks to these3words for his FanShot). According to CSN Bay Area, Packers LB Clay Matthews and Dolphins LB Cameron Wake were the other two candidates for the award.

Bamm Bamm finished 2010 with relatively (for him) pedestrian numbers as amassed 128 total tackles. Of course, he added in a career high 6 sacks as he showed how his crazy athleticism can benefit the pass rush. One could argue that this season is proof that the reputation of Patrick Willis is officially sky high. He's always been a respected player, but now it seems as though he's reached that level where people just assume he's great before they completely check out the numbers. That's not to say he wasn't great in 2010, but this is the kind of thing that only builds on his Hall of Fame credentials.

The Hall of Fame should be on a somewhat objective standard, but we all know that's not the case. Reputation can have as much to do with getting in as anything else. By earning an All-Pro honors and this award for the second straight season, he's pretty much "the man" at the linebacker position. I don't know if I'm explaining myself clearly with this, but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.

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I'll come clean right now, I've stolen this idea from a fanpost up on FederalBaseball.com (SB Nation's home to the Washington Nationals). The goal is to compile a roster of 25 players from the past 25 years. Since NFL rosters are much larger than MLB rosters, I'll simply choose 11 players on offense, 11 players on defense, 1 kicker, 1 punter and 1 return specialist (25). The catch is, I can only use one player from one season and cannot repeat any players, so certain guys might get bumped off the list (even though they may be deserving). It should be fun to come up with a list of your own, and I encourage fans of all teams to give it a try. On to my team.

1985: RB Roger Craig - 1050 Rushing yards, 9 Rush TDs; 96 receptions, 1016 yards, 6 TDs. Craig's season is one of the best of any running back in not just 49ers history, but NFL history. He was the first back to rush and receive for over 1000 yards. Unfortunately, this season bumps Frank Gore's 2006 from the team.

1986: FS Ronnie Lott - 77 tackles, 10 INTs, 3 FF, 2 sacks. Lott's best statistical season for the 49ers during his career, and he's easily the best defensive back in team history. In reality, any season from Lott's tenure with the 49ers would suffice.

1987: WR Jerry Rice - 65 receptions, 1078 yards, 22 TDs; 51 Rushing yards, 1 TD. If this isn't the most impressive season in NFL history for WRs, I don't know what is, it took Rice just 12 games to amount these totals. Yes, Randy Moss has broken the single season record for receiving TDs, but Rice account for 22 or Joe Montana's 31 pass TDs.

1988: PR John Taylor - 44 PR, 556 PR Yards, 2 TDs, 12.6 PR Avg. John Taylor won't make the list as the second WR, but he certainly gets on due to his excellent 1988 season returning punts. In Taylor's second season in the NFL, he was voted to the Pro Bowl thanks to his electric return skills.

1989: DE Pierce Holt - 48 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR. Holt played LDE in San Francisco 3-4 front and put up a career best 10.5 sacks in 1989. Holt mainly earns his way onto this teams thanks in large part to his 4 sack performance against the New York Giants.

1990: OLB Charles Haley - 58 tackles, 16 sacks, 3 FF, 1 FR. You take a look at Haley's stats from 1990 and try to find a better player to put on this team from this season. Dave Waymer and Brent Jones received strong consideration, but ultimately the Elephant gets the nod.

1991: LG Guy McIntyre - 16 GS, 1 FR. At the age of 30, McIntyre made his third consecutive Pro Bowl in '91 of which he made five straight with the San Francisco 49ers. The incredible and durable guard participated in 16 games, six straight seasons for the team from 1988-1993.

After the jump, the rest of the team...

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And so we move on to our last defensive position, the second cornerback.  Jimmy Johnson appears to have won a tight battle with Eric Wright for the #1 cornerback position.  Some people took issue with no Deion Sanders, but as I said, I felt like having the Gary Plummer rule (4 years for eligibility) was a necessity.  We could always do a one-off list of the single greatest seasons in 49ers history.  We're wrapping up the all-time team, so that might be a fun list to put together next.  Don't worry about nominating anybody at this point, but eventually I'll post some initial nominees and let folks throw out their suggestions as well.  Our old-time 49er fans will have plenty of good suggestions I'd imagine.

Kermit Alexander (1963-1969): Alexander spent seven seasons with the 49ers amassing an impressive 36 interceptions, a rate of just over 5 per season.  As impressive is that he came out of college as a running back and was the outstanding offensive player at the Hula Bowl.  Mix in some quality kick and punt return stats and you've got one heck of a player.  Also, I just noticed he recovered 23 fumbles in his career.  Nothing on Johnson for that, but Alexander is the franchise leader there by a safe margin.

Lowell Wagner (1949-1953): Wagner was with the team in its last year in the All-America Football Conference and then the first four years in the NFL.  Although the team struggled a bit early on, Wagner was a highlight, snagging 31 interceptions in just five full seasons with the team.

Eric Wright (1981-1990): No vote would be complete without Wright.  While not a ball hawk like some of these other guys (7 of his 18 career INTs came in a single season), Wright was a very solid corner who is on the short list of 4-time Super Bowl winners.

Don Griffin (1986-1993): I'll be honest, I don't remember a whole heck of a lot about Griffin.  He is 9th on the 49ers INT list and was the successor to Eric Wright at right CB, and a fitting successor he ended up being.  Eric Davis (our other option here) was solid, but 2/3 of his interceptions came after his 49er days.

We wrapped up our inside linebacker vote with Gary Plummer getting a lot of the popularity vote to run away with the spot.  Upsetting to some, but such is a democracy.  Today we move on to the first of our two cornerback positions.  When we last ran this ballot I included Deion Sanders on the CB #2 ballot to account for his limited time with the franchise.  However, given our new Gary Plummer rule that was applied to Patrick Willis, Prime Time is no longer eligible for this contest.  While I do still think he put together one of the most dominant seasons in franchise history, this is about the longer term impact of the player.

The 49ers cornerback position has a fairly storied history of great performers, many of whom might not be listed in this ballot.  One of our all-time safeties, Ronnie Lott, started out as a cornerback and actually went to 4 Pro Bowls at corner.  Due to his time at safety, he's not on this list.  Eric Davis put together six solid seasons with the 49ers, but I decided to go with his successor for reasons listed below.

Jimmy Johnson (1961-1976): Aside from one year as a wide receiver, Johnson played in five Pro Bowls over his 16 year Hall-of-Fame career and is #2 to Ronnie Lott in interceptions.  Johnson is recognized as one of the best man-to-man defenders in NFL history and definitely was the precursor to Deion and Champ in shutting down his entire side of the field.  He spent time at safety and wide receiver, but is primarily remembered as a cornerback, and a great one at that.

Kermit Alexander (1963-1969): Alexander spent seven seasons with the 49ers amassing an impressive 36 interceptions, a rate of just over 5 per season.  As impressive is that he came out of college as a running back and was the outstanding offensive player at the Hula Bowl.  Mix in some quality kick and punt return stats and you've got one heck of a player.  Also, I just noticed he recovered 23 fumbles in his career.  Nothing on Johnson for that, but Alexander is the franchise leader there by a safe margin.

Lowell Wagner (1949-1953): Wagner was with the team in its last year in the All-America Football Conference and then the first four years in the NFL.  Although the team struggled a bit early on, Wagner was a highlight, snagging 31 interceptions in just five full seasons with the team.

Eric Wright (1981-1990): No vote would be complete without Wright.  While not a ball hawk like some of these other guys (7 of his 18 career INTs came in a single season), Wright was a very solid corner who is on the short list of 4-time Super Bowl winners.

Don Griffin (1986-1993): I'll be honest, I don't remember a whole heck of a lot about Griffin.  He is 9th on the 49ers INT list and was the successor to Eric Wright at right CB, and a fitting successor he ended up being.  Eric Davis (our other option here) was solid, but 2/3 of his interceptions came after his 49er days.

In a result that shouldn't surprise many people, Ken Norton, Jr. ran away with the vote in the #1 inside linebacker poll.  It's kind of intriguing that at this point his percentage is sitting at the same 58% as last time around.  As mentioned previously, I've decided to implement the Gary Plummer Rule requiring a player to be with the team for at least four years to be eligible for this most esteemed of awards.  That means no Patrick Willis at this point, although he's clearly on his way to rarified air in the pantheon of 49er greats.  How about 13 tackles and an interception to kick off the 2009 season?  Not too shabby Bamm Bamm.

Matt Hazeltine (1955-1968): Hazeltine played more seasons with the 49ers at inside linebacker than anybody else in team history.  He was selected to two Pro Bowls and was the captain of the 49ers for five seasons.  Upon his death in 1987 from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), the 49ers created the Matt Hazeltine "Ironman" Award, given to the most courageous and inspirational defensive player.

Gary Plummer (1994-1997): One could argue he's a reason for including Willis.  Plummer was an impact player who only played on the 49ers the last four seasons of his career.  The 49ers were on the cusp of the Super Bowl when Plummer and Norton were brought in as part of the group to put them over the top.  Plummer was a Bay Area man, attending community college in Fremont, earning his degree at UC Berkeley and playing three seasons for the Oakland Invaders of the USFL.  Plummer now writes for sf49ers.com

Michael Walter (1984-1993): After being drafted by the Cowboys and spending one season in Big D, Walter left for the Bay Area, where he played for ten seasons and on three Super Bowl squads.  Walter was a relatively low key, but integral member of those Super Bowl squads.  He led the team in tackles in 1987 and played as an ILB in the 3-4 alongside Bill Romanowski and also as an MLB in the 4-3.

Frank Nunley (1967-1976): Nunley was a hard-hitting MLB in the Dick Nolan flex defense of the 70s.  While he could make the tackles, Nunley was also a bit of a ballhawk, hauling in 14 interceptions in his career, including a career-high 4 in 1974.  Due to his "sweet disposition" off the field and his powerful tackling, Nunley was nicknamed Fudge Hammer (and no I'm not kidding).

A month ago I put up a post asking whether we should include Patrick Willis in our all-time voting process.  My general concern was that Willis has performed exceedingly well, but it's been too short a time-span.  Folks would vote for him because he's the hot topic of the day.  Not a bad thing, but something I wanted to consider.  So, I've decided to implement a rule for inclusion on this list.  We'll call it the Gary Plummer rule.  You have to have spent at least 4 seasons with the 49ers to be considered for inclusion.

Aside from meaning no Bamm Bamm, that also means we're going to drop Deion Sanders from consideration at cornerback.  I had included Deion in the CB #2 voting originally, but this time around Prime Time will not be included.  I realize Willis will likely reach that 4 year mark, but I think it makes it easiest to just go with this rule.  For now, consider Bamm Bamm as an honorable mention.

Ken Norton (1994-2000): Although he was an integral member of Cowboys back-to-back Super Bowl champs, 49ers fans quickly warmed to the tackling machine.  Norton was a big time playmaker earning two trips to the Super Bowl and a berth on the All-Pro Team in 1995.  Although he saw a decrease in his tackles with the 49ers, he was an integral part of the Super Bowl squad, as he become the first person to win 3 straight Super Bowl titles.  His trademark was punching the goal post after a good play, in tribute to his father, the former heavyweight champion.

Matt Hazeltine (1955-1968): Hazeltine played more seasons with the 49ers at inside linebacker than anybody else in team history.  He was selected to two Pro Bowls and was the captain of the 49ers for five seasons.  Upon his death in 1987 from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), the 49ers created the Matt Hazeltine "Ironman" Award, given to the most courageous and inspirational defensive player.

Gary Plummer (1994-1997): One could argue he's a reason for including Willis.  Plummer was an impact player who only played on the 49ers the last four seasons of his career.  The 49ers were on the cusp of the Super Bowl when Plummer and Norton were brought in as part of the group to put them over the top.  Plummer was a Bay Area man, attending community college in Fremont, earning his degree at UC Berkeley and playing three seasons for the Oakland Invaders of the USFL.  Plummer now writes for sf49ers.com

Michael Walter (1984-1993): After being drafted by the Cowboys and spending one season in Big D, Walter left for the Bay Area, where he played for ten seasons and on three Super Bowl squads.  Walter was a relatively low key, but integral member of those Super Bowl squads.  He led the team in tackles in 1987 and played as an ILB in the 3-4 alongside Bill Romanowski and also as an MLB in the 4-3.

Frank Nunley (1967-1976): Nunley was a hard-hitting MLB in the Dick Nolan flex defense of the 70s.  While he could make the tackles, Nunley was also a bit of a ballhawk, hauling in 14 interceptions in his career, including a career-high 4 in 1974.  Due to his "sweet disposition" off the field and his powerful tackling, Nunley was nicknamed Fudge Hammer (and no I'm not kidding).

After almost doubling our vote total from last season, Fred Dean has won again, this time with two-thirds of the vote.  Although Hardman and Hart had greater career numbers with the 49ers, Fred Dean is definitely one of the truly beloved 49ers.  It helped being on the Super Bowl teams as that helped provide him with some serious publicity.  We now move on to the #2 defensive end to round out our defensive line.

Cedrick Hardman (1970-1979): I had mentioned Bryant Young was the 49ers all-time sack leader.   However, the 49ers home page has included unofficial sacks recorded before 1982, giving us a new leader.  Cedrick Hardman finished his career with 112.5 sacks and two Pro Bowl appearances.  Even better?  He was the first player signed by the Oakland Invaders of newly formed USFL.  Unfortunately for Hardman, playing for some pretty bad squads (finishing his career with back-to-back 2-14 teams) has probably damages his Hall of Fame chances.  Consider this though, according to Maiocco's book, Hardman had 18 sacks in 1971, a season of 14 games.  Not too shabby.

Tommy Hart (1968-1977): Hart teamed with Hardman to form one of the deadliest defensive end combinations in NFL history.  The year before Hardman rolled up 18 sacks, Hart had 16 sacks, including six in a Monday night battle with the Rams.  Hart was originally cut by the team as a linebacker before packing weight and establishing himself as a monster defensive end.  Hart finished his career with 106 sacks.

Dwaine Board (1979-1988): Board was a member of two championship teams and finished his career with 61 sacks.  Board was part of a group of teams that rotated the likes of Fred Dean, Board and Michael Carter to create a ton of pressure.  Since retiring, Board has been a defensive line coach for the 49ers, the Seahawks, and the Raiders, where he continues as DL coach.

In a not so surprising result, Tom Rathman had an easy victory at fullback over Joe Perry.  Plenty of folks are going to be disappointed by that, but as I mentioned in that post, I think the answer is to separate out the all-times by pre-Walsh and Walsh to the present.  We'll see how we deal with it next time around.  In the meantime, we move back over to the defense.  I went with two automatic selections at defensive tackle: Leo Nomellini and Bryant Young. 

Thus, we move on to defensive end.  The 49ers have put together some fearsome defensive lines in their history and these four represent the best among them.  As I mentioned before, there were numerous great defensive ends in 49ers history (Chris Doleman, Jeff Stover, Kevin Fagan, Dennis Brown), but I think these are four of the best.  It's still too early in his 49ers career, but will Justin Smith add himself to this illustrious group?  He's not a huge sack machine, but he does so many other things well, while still picking up some sacks.  He's got a long term deal so maybe he'll make his way onto this.

Cedrick Hardman (1970-1979): I had mentioned Bryant Young was the 49ers all-time sack leader.   However, the 49ers home page has included unofficial sacks recorded before 1982, giving us a new leader.  Cedrick Hardman finished his career with 112.5 sacks and two Pro Bowl appearances.  Even better?  He was the first player signed by the Oakland Invaders of newly formed USFL.  Unfortunately for Hardman, playing for some pretty bad squads (finishing his career with back-to-back 2-14 teams) has probably damages his Hall of Fame chances.  Consider this though, according to Maiocco's book, Hardman had 18 sacks in 1971, a season of 14 games.  Not too shabby.

Tommy Hart (1968-1977): Hart teamed with Hardman to form one of the deadliest defensive end combinations in NFL history.  The year before Hardman rolled up 18 sacks, Hart had 16 sacks, including six in a Monday night battle with the Rams.  Hart was originally cut by the team as a linebacker before packing weight and establishing himself as a monster defensive end.  Hart finished his career with 106 sacks.

Fred Dean (1981-1985): Dean the first 6+ years of his career in San Diego, before joining the 49ers in 1981 as they moved towards their first Super Bowl title.  Dean had 12 sacks in 11 games his first season with the 49ers, a season that resulted in a Pro Bowl appearance.  Two years later Dean made the Pro Bowl again, leading the NFC with 17.5 sacks.  After numerous attempts, Dean was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame this year.

Dwaine Board (1979-1988): Board was a member of two championship teams and finished his career with 61 sacks.  Board was part of a group of teams that rotated the likes of Fred Dean, Board and Michael Carter to create a ton of pressure.  Since retiring, Board has been a defensive line coach for the 49ers, the Seahawks, and the Raiders, where he continues as DL coach.