When we think of the best safeties of all time, we think of solid defensive players who take responsibility for stopping their rivals. These players need to be fast and strong as they cover pass receivers and are the last line of defense for their teams.
This means that they also need to be able to read the opposition plays and work out where the danger is coming from. Safeties might not get the glory like the quarterbacks and the guys who score the majority of the touchdowns, but teams wouldn’t have such strong defenses without them.
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Best Safeties of All Time in the NFL
Who is the best safety of all time? Everyone has their favorites but we’ve taken a look back at the safeties who’ve posted tremendous statistics year after year in the NFL.
These are football players who love stopping the other teams from scoring and whom their teams could depend upon to do the job every single week.
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1. Ronnie Lott
Possibly the finest safety to have ever played the game, Ronnie Lott used his game intelligence so that he always seemed to be in control of the situation. He was physically intimidating but was also excellent at intercepting the ball and returning it for a touchdown a lot of the time.
Ronnie played college football for USC, where he already showed his ability to make interceptions and lead the defense. His pro career began when he was a first-round pick in the 1981 draft and then played for several NFL teams but is best remembered for his long spell at the San Francisco 49ers.
Among his most interesting claims to fame, Ronnie’s nine interceptions in playoff games are the joint record, while he was the league leader in interceptions over two different seasons.
He showed his famous toughness when he got his left pinky finger amputated after it got crushed when he made a tackle, rather than missing the start of the season by letting it heal. A total of 1,146 tackles, 8 ½ sacks, and 16 forced fumbles in the NFL tell the story of an elite safety.
2. Ed Reed
Best known for his successful spell in the Baltimore Ravens defense, Ed Reed deserves a place high on the list of the best safeties of all time.
A nine-time selection for the Pro Bowl and with five picks in the All-Pro first team, Ed had more interceptions than anyone else in the NFL in three different seasons. He also set a variety of records in the pro league for interceptions and interception return yards.
Ed was a college star for the Miami Hurricanes when they won the 2001 national championship and got picked by the Ravens in the first round of the draft the following year.
He stayed with that franchise for over a decade before a couple of short spells at the Houston Texans and the New York Jets. Upon retirement, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and named to the NFL 100 All-Time Team.
Perhaps the biggest compliment paid to Ed is that Patriots coach Bill Belichick and star quarterback Tom Brady said that they always needed to know where he was on every play. Ed Reed has one Super Bowl title to this name, which was Super Bowl XLVII where the Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers.
3. Emlen Tunnell
As the first African American player to enter the Pro Hall of Fame and someone regularly ranked among the top 100 in NFL history, Emlen Tunnell is our next candidate for the best safety of all time. He was born near Philadelphia and his early college football career came at the University of Toledo, followed by a spell in the United State Coast Guard when a neck injury meant he couldn’t enlist in the army during WWII.
While working as a coast guard, he saved a colleague from drowning and another who was set on fire during a torpedo attack. After leaving the service, he attended the University of Iowa and racked up impressive numbers in their football team.
He joined the NFL after hitchhiking to New York to try out for the Giants, who he later signed for. Emlin carved out a reputation as a pass defender and punt returner, often ranking among the best players in the league for punt return yards and interceptions.
Emlen stayed with the Giants for ten years before joining the Green Bay Packers. At the time of his retirement in 1962, Emlin held the record for most career interceptions and only Paul Krause has overtaken his total of 79 since then. His total of 1,282 interception return yards was a record for 40 years and he’s currently fifth in the all-time list.
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4. Ken Houston
The next unforgettable safety on our list is a Texan who went to Prairie A&M College, where he was shifted from center to linebacker as well as excelling in other sports.
His AFL / NFL career began when Ken joined the Houston Oilers, where he quickly became a starter and stayed as a free safety for six years.
Even early in his rookie season, he showed an incredible ability to know where the ball was going to go, returning a field goal attempt and an interception for two touchdowns in one of his first games.
He then set a new pro record with five touchdown returns, a record which wouldn’t be broken until Devin Hester scored six return TDs in 2006.
After the Oilers, Ken went to the Washington Redskins as he continued to make interceptions and recover fumbles like few others have done.
He moved into coaching after retiring from the playing side but could look back proudly on a pro record that contains 12 touchdowns, 49 interceptions, 21 recovered fumbles, and 12 Pro Bowl appearances.
5. Paul Krause
It’s clear that the player with the most career interceptions has to be on our list of the best safeties of all time. That honor belongs to Michigan-born Paul Krause, who intercepted a huge 81 times in his career, with 12 in his rookie season alone.
It all began at the University of Iowa where he played in various positions as well as being a stand-out baseball player with a chance of heading to the major leagues.
A shoulder forced him to leave baseball and concentrate on football, which led to him joining the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 1964 draft.
He immediately led the league in interceptions with that haul of 12 in his first season as a pro that included seven in consecutive games.
Paul was named for the Pro Bowl in his first eight seasons in the NFL but was traded to the Minnesota Vikings after four seasons with the Redskins.
He stayed with Minnesota for the rest of his career, retiring when the 1979 season had ended. While with the Vikings, he played in four Super Bowls and ended his long career with the record of only having missed two games due to injury.
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6. Willie Wood
Willie Wood is remembered as one of the best NFL safeties of all time despite starting as a quarterback and missing out on a team in the 1960 NFL draft. Not giving up on his dream of playing pro football, Willie wrote to Vince Lombardi asking if he could get a tryout for the Green Bay Packers.
He impressed the head coach enough to get a deal as a rookie free agent but after just a few days took the smart decision to ask for a switch to defensive duties. This led to him being moved to safety, where he quickly became a starter for the Packers.
Willie stayed with the Packers until he retired in 1971. During that time, his key achievements included nine All-NFL honors and eight times playing in the Pro Bowl.
He also helped Green Bay to six championship games, five of which they won. His interception in Super Bowl I and five punt returns in Super Bowl II helped his team to win both of these games.
At retirement, he had completed 48 interceptions, returning them for 699 yards and a couple of touchdowns. In addition, he still holds the NFL record for most consecutive games started as a safety.
7. Troy Polamalu
There’s no doubt that the top safeties of all time brought a range of skills to the NFL, and Troy Polamalu embodied many of the physical abilities needed to excel in this position. He played for the USC Trojans in college football, where he became a first-team All-American.
Noted for his speed and agility, Troy was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the NFL draft in 2003 and went on to play in two Super Bowl-winning teams with that franchise.
Renowned as a big-time player who often came up with acrobatic interceptions at the most important moments in the biggest games, Troy played with passion but also with the ability to read the game well.
He was rewarded with eight Pro Bowl selections and made it into the All-Pro six times, as well as being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020. His energetic play and key interceptions were a big part of the success enjoyed by Pittsburgh in the early 21st century.
8. Larry Wilson
We need to go further back in time to find the next name on our list of the best safeties in NFL history. Larry Wilson was born in Idaho and played for the University of Utah as a halfback and cornerback.
He was largely overlooked for the 1960 draft, with his relatively small size probably the reason that he wasn't picked until the seventh round. Larry joined the Chicago Cardinals before they moved to St Louis.
Larry got there at the perfect time, as the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator Chuck Drulis was looking for an athletic and skillful defensive player to carry out a new blitz tactic that he’d devised.
Wilson was moved to free safety as a key of the strategy, which proved to be hugely effective. He played for the Cardinals during his entire pro career and collected 52 interceptions in total over those 13 seasons.
Larry made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, one of the very few people to receive this honor despite never playing in a playoff game. In fact, the Cardinals racked up only five winning seasons while he was there, but despite this Larry is ranked as one of the best safeties to have played in the NFL.
9. Yale Lary
Yale Lary is another legendary name for us to consider. Born in Fort Worth in 1930, he was among the greatest safeties of all time thanks to his performances for the Detroit Lions over 11 seasons.
Before this, he was a talented athlete across various sports in high school before going to Texas A&M University where he played football and baseball.
Yale was picked by the Lions in the third round of the 1952 draft and was chosen to play in all 12 of the regular season games in his rookie season, gaining praise for his speed and the ability to hang punts in the air for a long time that won him several punting titles.
He continued to improve and post top-class statistics, leading to a selection for the Pro Bowl in 1953. His time at Detroit was split over two spells, with a break in 1954 and 1955 when he carried out military service in Korea.
His roles as safety, return specialist, and punter meant that he racked up impressive totals across several categories such as 50 interceptions in the NFL for 787 return yards. Yale continued to play baseball during his pro football career.
10. Steve Atwater
Chicago-born Steve Atwater is the last name on our list of the best safeties of all time, thanks to his hard tackling and imposing presence.
The 14 interceptions he made with the University of Arkansas is still a college record, and the Denver Broncos chose him as the 20th overall pick during the 1989 draft. His rookie season saw him make an immediate impact and improve the Denver defense right away.
The Broncos' defense became much more solid when Steve joined, as he was often placed near the scrimmage line to intimidate the rivals.
His Denver career covered 1,038 tackles over his ten years as a Bronco, with many of them powerful hits.
Steve won the Super Bowl twice and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020 as well as the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, having gained the reputation as one of the franchise’s finest players.
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