Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

An idle, subjective, completely unscientific exercise to be sure. But an interesting topic to think about. Interesting to me mostly because in the case of some teams I had trouble coming up with one name, while with others I had to narrow down a long list. Most of you can probably guess the teams in the latter category.

Anyway, have at it.

49ers: Hardy Brown
Bears: Bill George
Bengals: Vontaze Burfict
Bills: Shawne Merriman
Broncos: Bill Romanowski
Browns: Shaun Rogers
Buccaneers: Warren Sapp
Cardinals: Conrad Dobler
Chargers: Rodney Harrison
Chiefs: Fred Williamson
Colts: Mike Curtis
Cowboys: Erik Williams
Dolphins: Richie Incognito
Eagles: Andre Waters/Bucko Kilroy (tie)
Falcons: Scott Case
Giants: Odell Beckham, Jr.
Jaguars: Barry Church
Jets: Johnny Sample
Lions: Ndamukong Suh
Packers: Chuck Cecil
Panthers: Steve Smith
Patriots: Rodney Harrison
Raiders: Jack Tatum/Ben Davidson (tie)
Rams: Don Paul
Ravens: Ray Lewis
Redskins: Chris Hanburger
Saints: Roman Harper
Seahawks: J.R. Sweezy
Steelers: Hines Ward
Titans: Cortland Finnegan
Vikings: Jared Allen

Did you consider Ed Sprinkle for the Bears?

Interesting list. However, I would have thought Mean Joe Greene would have been on the Steelers list as he lived up to his nickname in his early year, and Dick Butkus was dirty at times. There was a story about Butkus, it was a game against the Dolphins when Larry Csonka was carrying the ball and ran into the line, and found himself in a giant pile. When the pile came apart, Csonka ran back to the sidelines with a bleeding finger where Butkus had bit his finger to try to get him to let go of the ball.

As far as the Browns go, I always thought Bill Glass, despite the fact he was a man of the cloth, had a reputation as a dirty player.

Many of the people on your list (Romanowski, Suh, Hardy Brown, Tatum) I totally agree wtih.

TanksAndSpartans wrote:Did you consider Ed Sprinkle for the Bears?

Of course; he was a psychopath. That one could go either way. I've heard stories about George going elbow-first into the teeth of ball carriers.

Thanks - I hadn't heard about George - Sprinkle's name seems to come up a lot. The first 3 I thought of were Jets/Sample, 49ers/Brown, and Bears/Sprinkle. I didn't think much about modern. Stuff probably gets caught on camera more now - I remember Vick's brother stomping in college, similar to what I think Suh got caught doing.

Tatum dirtier than Atkinson?

JohnR wrote:Tatum dirtier than Atkinson?

I was thinking about Atkinson too. Ben Davidson, he could walk into any group of Hell's Angels and be instantly accepted as one of them, and I agree with Tatum, but I do think Atkinson belongs too.

JohnR wrote:Tatum dirtier than Atkinson?

Yeah, I'd go with Atkinson ..

One of the dirtiest players I've ever seen (and it's not in the list) was Mark Carrier, a safety who played for the Bears, Redskins and Lions in the 90's.

According to Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea, CB Zeke Moore was a very dirty player with the Oilers.

DE Verlon Biggs, who played for the Jets and Redskins from the mid-60's to the mid-70's was widely known as "Dirty Biggs".

Jack Tatum was a hard hitter, but I didn't consider him to be a dirty player under the rules at the time. Even the paralyzing hit on Stingley was legal. Atkinson was more of a cheap shot artist.

Shawne Merriman for the Bills? He played 15 games in Buffalo and only got two five yard penalties in that time. He only received one personal foul penalty in his whole career. I don't see how he belongs here.