Who is the NFL GOAT? The greatest U.S. football players of all time, from Tom Brady to Patrick Mahomes

Who are the 30 greatest football players the United States has produced in its history? It's something of a fool's errand to compile such a list - what with trying to compare stars from different eras and even trying to assess the worth of those at fundamentally different positions. (Sorry, guards.)

After all, who doesn't love the marquee-hogging quarterbacks, the most high-profile players in American team sports? They routinely get the lion's share of the credit for their respective teams' success and the inordinate amount of the blame for failure - and, far too often, neither is deserved. That's because there are 21 other starters on a football team, to say nothing of the specialists and dozens of guys on the bench who nevertheless play critical roles.

But we've accepted the mission, a group of USA TODAY Sports' NFL experts compiling and voting on the players most worthy of recognition. All football players were eligible - even college stars like Archie Griffin, the only man to win multiple Heisman Trophies. (Sorry to the Tim Tebow apologists, but he was disqualified by being born in the Philippines ... and would have been disqualified for performance reasons as a pro anyway had it come to that.) One other note: With this celebration of America's top sports figures, we're also recognizing the high schools that produced them.

In the end, our top 30 stars of the gridiron reserved most of their football heroics for the NFL - and, admittedly, the final list skews a bit quarterback heavy, the slingers taking up one-third of the spots. Sorry, not sorry - as there's no more American a hero than the quarterback over the country's past 250 years.

Without further ado, here is USA TODAY Sports' 30 greatest United States-born football players in history - ranked from best to worst with the input of our panel:

About USA TODAY's '250 for 250' series

Now through July 4, USA TODAY Sports is releasing our "250 for 250" list of America's top homegrown athletes of all time. Each week we'll bring you all-time standouts from across the sports world and give readers a chance to vote on who should be featured.

USA TODAY's best American football players of all time1. QB Tom Brady, Junipero Serra(San Mateo, CA)

Maybe he's not the original GOAT (greatest of all time), but a label typically applied too loosely to others certainly fits TB12. His seven Super Bowl crowns are more than any individual NFL franchise possesses, though Brady carried the New England Patriots to all six of their Lombardi Trophies before getting the cherry on top with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. Brady's five Super Bowl MVP trophies also place him on a list of one. Over the course of a 23-year career, he claimed most of the league's significant passing records, including yards (89,214) and touchdowns (649). And while Brady's looks, accomplishments and fame don't exactly render him an everyman, his rise from a player who couldn't always hold down the starting job at the University of Michigan and entered the NFL as an unceremonious sixth-round pick makes his arc all the more satisfying.

2. WR Jerry Rice, B.L. Moor(Oktoc, MS)

He was the original football GOAT, at least in terms of being identified with the moniker. Over the course of 20 seasons, Rice became the NFL's greatest-ever receiver. His crisp routes, elite conditioning and vice-grip hands allowed him to catch a record 1,549 passes for 22,895 yards and 197 touchdowns. His 208 total TDs are also a league standard. Most of his records seemed unassailable at the time of his retirement prior to the 2005 season, though a league that has become more pass-centric could open the door for another WR GOAT at some point. But good luck also becoming synonymous with Super Bowl success and dynastic greatness, with Rice winning three rings with the San Francisco 49ers and Super Bowl 23 MVP honors.

3. RB Jim Brown, Manhasset (Manhasset, NY)

He led the Cleveland Browns to a championship (1964). What more needs to be said? In Brown's case, plenty. He was the league's rushing king in eight of his nine seasons, and his 104.3 career rushing yards per game distinguish him as the only player to top the century mark in that category. Brown's 5.2 yards per carry during his career are second all-time among running backs - though his came at a time when defenses were mainly concerned with stopping the run ... though many a player thought twice about squaring up against the oncoming Brown and his stiff-arm. He was also a renowned lacrosse player and prolific actor following his retirement from football. Brown's abuse of women during his lifetime was a black mark on his legacy. Yet his advocacy for social justice going back to the 1960s and dedication to bettering the Black community throughout his lifetime paint the picture of a man who was deeply complex.

4. QB Joe Montana, Ringgold (Carroll, PA)

The first player named Super Bowl MVP thrice, Montana was as unimposing physically as he was deadly behind center. He once said, I don't throw darts at balloons, I throw balloons at darts." A two-time league MVP, injuries were a limiting factor to Montana's career and led to his premature departure from the Niners after establishing them as a dynasty. But he was arguably the greatest QB in Super Bowl history, winning all four of his starts and still owning a record 127.8 passer rating on Super Sunday underpinned by 11 TD passes and nary an interception.

5. OLB Lawrence Taylor, Lafayette (Williamsburg, VA)

He was a revolutionary player, illustrating how dominant outside linebackers could be as stand-up pass rushers bracketing three-man defensive lines. In the conversation as the NFL's greatest defender, Taylor is the most recent one to win league MVP honors - doing so at the end of his legendary 1986 campaign, which ended with the New York Giants' first Super Bowl win. Always colorful off the field, too, there's no telling what LT" might have done had he not battled drug abuse during the height of his 13-year career - though he still captured a record three Defensive Player of the Year awards.

6. QB Patrick Mahomes, Whitehouse (Whitehouse, TX)

A guy who's already joined Brady and Montana as the only players ever with at least three Super Bowl MVP trophies - and in just nine seasons - Mahomes remains upwardly mobile on this list. His howitzer arm, underrated athleticism and willpower have also netted him a pair of league MVPs. An exceptional winner in an era designed to foster parity, the Kansas City Chiefs have reached the AFC championship game in seven of Mahomes' eight seasons as their QB1.

7. DL Reggie White, Howard (Chattanooga, TN)

The greatest defensive lineman of all time? The greatest defensive player of all time? Maybe. White was strong as a bull, quick as a cat and a monster whether lined up inside or on the edge. A two-time Defensive Player of the Year, his campaign in the strike-shortened 1987 season might be one of the league's more underappreciated efforts - White racking up 21 sacks in just 12 games for the Philadelphia Eagles. He also had a significant role in the business side of the NFL, the White v. NFL" case helping to usher in the era of the salary cap and free agency in 1993, when White was the biggest name on the first open market - signing a four-year, $17 million deal with the Green Bay Packers in what was a landmark deal at the time. He and Brett Favre restored the Pack to Super Bowl glory three years later.

8. RB Walter Payton, Columbia (Columbia, MS)

He retired as the league's all-time leading rusher in 1987, three years after breaking Brown's record. Payton was a swift, slashing, tough runner, one who played bigger than his 5-foot-10, 200-pound frame. He was also an excellent receiver and a threat to uncork a pass off a halfback option. Always graceful, hence his Sweetness" nickname, Payton averaged more than 1,600 yards from scrimmage over the course of a 13-year career - remarkable production considering he typically played for bad Chicago Bears teams before ending his career with good ones, like the famed '85 edition ... and, even then, he was quite obviously the offensive driver.

9. QB Johnny Unitas, St. Justin's (Pittsburgh)

Like Brady, he had humble professional roots as a ninth-round draft pick (of the Pittsburgh Steelers) in 1955 before his metamorphosis into a legend with the Baltimore Colts. Unitas and wideout Raymond Berry helped usher in the modern passing game, which included a higher volume of throws along with an array of precision routes. Unitas, a three-time league MVP, was also the protagonist in the Colts' overtime win over the Giants in the 1958 NFL championship game - back when pro football on TV was a novelty. Yet "the Greatest Game Ever Played" is often cited as a watershed that led to the league's eventual domination of the American sports landscape. Unitas - a true field general who called his own plays - held nearly all of the league's significant passing records when he retired following the 1973 season.

10. QB Peyton Manning, Isidore Newman (New Orleans)

While the torch didn't pass directly from Baltimore Colt Unitas to Indianapolis Colt Manning, the latter eventually became the (temporary) owner of all those passing marks - and revolutionized the game in his own way. Manning didn't necessarily call his own game as Unitas did but essentially had the flexibility to do so as a de facto on-field offensive coordinator. Never a remarkable athlete, nor the guy who threw the prettiest ball, Manning was nevertheless a supercomputer who always seemed to have the mental edge on opponents. His five MVP awards are the most in league history. Manning remains a football staple, whether as a broadcaster, on-camera historian, producer or for his role in the long-running Manning Passing Academy.

11. RB Barry Sanders, Wichita North (Wichita, KS)

Maybe the most captivating runner in NFL history, Sanders combined breakaway speed with the ability to stop on a dime, change direction and accelerate to top speed almost instantaneously. While toiling for average-at-best Lions teams, Sanders never rushed for fewer than 1,100 yards in his 10-year career and only failed to eclipse 1,300 yards once. He averaged better than 1,500 yards on the ground over the course of his career and won four rushing titles. And had Sanders not stunningly and abruptly retired prior to training camp in 1999, he almost certainly would have wound up as the league's all-time leading rusher.

12. DE David Deacon' Jones, Hungerford (Eatonville, FL)

A sublime talent and outsized personality, Jones actually coined the term sack." And he's got a case as the best pass rusher ever, his 173 career sacks - an unofficial number since it didn't become an official statistic until 1982 - would rank him third all-time otherwise. And in his prime years, between 1964 and '70, Jones averaged 18 per year - at a time when the regular season only spanned 14 games.

13. DB Ronnie Lott, Eisenhower (Rialto, CA)

Maybe football's greatest DB given how he shined as both a cornerback and safety over the course of his 14-year career. Of course, Lott is mostly remembered as the defensive leader of the dynastic Niners, and the guy who lowered the boom on receivers who dared cross the middle of the field. Having a pinky cut off so he could avoid a lengthy rehabilitation and continue playing in 1986 only cemented the legend.

14. DT Joe Greene, Dunbar (Temple, TX)

The iconic anchor of the Steel Curtain" Steelers in their 1970s heyday, his Mean Joe" nickname was most certainly earned. (His softer side became apparent later ... and when he made that iconic Coca-Cola commercial in 1979, just a few years before his retirement.) But Greene was a scourge on the field during his 13-year career and left it as perhaps the league's greatest D-tackle.

15. CB Deion Sanders, North Fort Myers (North Fort Myers, FL)

He exemplified what a shutdown corner" is, the rare player who takes away a huge section of the field due to quarterbacks' unwillingness to throw in his direction. Perhaps no player thrived more in coverage than Sanders, who could blanket all manner of receivers but also bait QBs into throws he'd swipe and take to the house. One of the all-time elite returners, Sanders also occasionally moonlighted as a receiver. And while his Prime Time" persona wasn't for everyone, Sanders always walked the walk after talking the talk, the rare corner to win Defensive Player of the Year honors and a defensive mainstay for the 1994 49ers and 1995 Cowboys, both Super Bowl winners.

16. QB Otto Graham, Waukegan (Waukegan, IL)

His entire 10-year career was spent with the Browns, who joined the NFL in 1950 after four seasons in the All-America Football Conference. Led by Graham and coach Paul Brown, they won regardless - Graham winding up with seven rings (3 in the NFL) but playing in the league championship game in each of his 10 seasons. Something of a mad bomber, Graham led his league in passing yards five times and his 8.6 yards per attempt remain an NFL record. Graham retired after winning a remarkable 57 of 71 NFL starts.

17. LB Ray Lewis, Kathleen (Lakeland, FL)

The league's premier off-ball backer of the 21st century, Lewis was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and two-time Super Bowl champion during his 17 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. An emotional, cerebral, physical force, he was the leader and centerpiece of defensively oriented teams - including the Ravens' legendary unit in 2000.

18. WR Randy Moss, DuPont (Dupont City, WV)

As physically gifted a receiver who ever was, Moss was a dominant force from the moment he entered the NFL in 1998. The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder could run and leap like a gazelle. Combined with his sticky hands and uncanny body control, Moss made a habit of posterizing even the best DBs on his way to 156 career TD catches, a figure trailing only Rice (197). Moss could be surly and didn't always give maximum effort throughout his career. But he was generally adored by teammates and heavily praised by none other than Bill Belichick for his combination of ability, intellect and fire - which helped him haul in a single-season record 23 TD grabs for the Patriots in 2007, one of five times Moss led the NFL in that category.

19. QB Sammy Baugh, Sweetwater (Sweetwater, TX)

Perhaps the greatest all-around player the league has ever seen, Baugh starred as a quarterback, safety and punter over the course of his 16-year career and was arguably the league's best player at each of those positions at various points. He once threw four TDs and intercepted four passes ... in the same game. Baugh also averaged more than 50 yards per punt three times during his career. "Slinging Sammy" led Washington to NFL titles in 1937 and 1942.

20. LT Anthony Munoz, Chaffey (Ontario, CA)

Widely regarded as the greatest offensive lineman in league history, Munoz is also the greatest Cincinnati Bengal, anchoring their first two Super Bowl appearances to cap the 1981 and '88 seasons. He was named first-team All-Pro nine times between the 1981 and '90 seasons and even caught four TD passes during his 13-year career.

21. DT Aaron Donald, Penn Hills (Penn Hills, PA)

Is his brilliant but brief career underappreciated? Donald retired after just 10 seasons, a Pro Bowler in all of them and a first-team All-Pro in all but two. An extraordinarily powerful man despite his small stature (6-1, 280) relative to his position, Donald was virtually unblockable - finishing his career with 111 sacks and, per Pro Football Focus, an astounding 790 pressures from his interior station. His quickness, ability to use leverage and occasional mean streak terrorized opposing blockers. Donald, Taylor and J.J. Watt remain the only three-time Defensive Players of the Year.

22. WR Don Hutson, Pine Bluff (Pine Bluff, AR)

He and Baugh were part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class in 1963. Hutson was, by far, the most dominant receiver of his era, his 99 career TD grabs a record that stood from 1945 until 1989, when Steve Largent eclipsed it. Over the course of his 11 NFL seasons, Hutson led the NFL in TD receptions nine times, catches eight times and receiving yards seven times. He was also the league's first 1,000-yard receiver in a single season (1,211 in 1942) and played safety and kicker with distinction for the Packers, leading the league with six picks in 1940.

23. QB Dan Marino, Central Catholic (Pittsburgh)

You could hear his passes cut the air. Perhaps the greatest pure passer in NFL annals, Marino had an incomparable quick-trigger release. He compiled passing numbers in the mid-1980s - including the first 5,000-yard campaign (1984) - that wouldn't be duplicated for decades, the 1984 MVP retiring as the league's most prolific QB in 1999. Almost inarguably the greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl - Montana got the best of him in Super Bowl 19 - Marino's lofty ranking is a testament to his greatness despite that hole on his football resume. Perhaps his greatest NFL victory was dealing the famed '85 Bears their only loss on a Monday night late in the season - though the Dolphins failed to get another shot at Chicago in Super Bowl 20 a few weeks later.

24. LB Dick Butkus, Chicago Vocational (Chicago)

The quintessential linebacker for the quintessential linebacker franchise, the Bears, Butkus was synchronistic of a nastier, less glamorous NFL of the 1960s and 70s. An All-Pro in five of his nine seasons, Butkus was an icon in the Windy City long after his 1974 retirement, after which he also became an actor, among other endeavors.

25. QB John Elway, Granada Hills (Los Angeles)

The No. 1 pick of the 1982 draft by the Baltimore Colts, Elway famously refused to play for them - forcing a trade to the Denver Broncos, for whom he became a legend. Few quarterbacks of his era featured Elway's athleticism, and his arm was as strong as any to ever launch a football. Yet his moxie and never-say-die attitude rendered him truly unforgettable - his six game-winning playoff drives the most ever until Brady and Mahomes came along. Yet Elway's most famous drive was the 98-yard, fourth-quarter march he led in Cleveland to force overtime in the 1986 AFC championship game - precluding a Broncos win and the first of his five Super Bowl trips. Elway finished with two rings as a player and one as Denver's GM.

26. RB Emmitt Smith, Escambia (Pensacola, FL)

If not the greatest back in league history, Smith was certainly the most productive - and maybe the toughest. (Look no further than his performance in the 1993 regular-season finale, with a playoff bye on the line. All he did was touch the ball 42 times and gain 229 yards in victory, most of it with a separated shoulder.) And that 1993 season was Smith's finest as he won the league rushing crown, the MVP award and was also the MVP of Super Bowl 28 for the Dallas Cowboys. In 2002, he broke Payton's league rushing mark before finishing with 18,355 upon his retirement after the 2004 season. Derrick Henry, currently the NFL's active rushing leader, is more than 5,000 yards away from catching Smith. After that? Saquon Barkley, who's exactly 10,000 yards from overtaking Smith.

27. CB Mel Blount, Lyons (Lyons, GA)

At 6-3, 205 pounds, corners don't and didn't come much bigger and stronger than Blount, another linchpin of Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain" defense. He was such a menace - and looked the part with his physique and clean-shaven head - while mugging opposing receivers, the so-called Mel Blount Rule" was implemented in 1978, barring defenders from contacting receivers beyond 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. It was a change that made passing the ball far more effective and popular. But Blount was elite before and after that 5-yard line of demarcation, the Hall of Famer finishing with four championships and 57 INTs.

28. CB DickNight Train' Lane, L.C. Anderson (Austin, TX)

Another imposing corner who hit like a freight train, Night Train' was also a premier thief. He picked off 14 passes in his rookie year, 1952, a single-season record that still stands. Lane swiped 27 balls in his first three years and finished his career with 68, good for fourth all-time.

29. DT Alan Page, Central Catholic (Canton, Ohio)

He was a tremendous football player - a 6-foot-4, 245-pounder built more like a power forward than a D-tackle. And Page, a member of the Minnesota Vikings' famed "Purple People Eaters" defensive line, knew how to keep quarterbacks out of the paint - unofficially totaling 148 sacks in 15 seasons, 1981 his final one and the year before sacks became official. Page (1971) and Taylor are the only defensive players ever named league MVP. Yet Page had an even bigger impact after his NFL career, serving four terms as a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.

30. QB Aaron Rodgers, Pleasant Valley(Chico, CA)

His 102.2 career passer rating is the best in NFL history, and only Manning has more MVPs than Rodgers' four. Perhaps no quarterback - ever - can match Rodgers' combination of arm strength, accuracy and anticipation and none was more effective while lofting a Hail Mary. Something of a maverick and polarizing character late in his career, Rodgers - now entering his final season - has only won one Super Bowl but has certainly generated countless headlines.

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Contributing: Jarrett Bell, Tyler Dragon, Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 30 greatest American football players ever, from Brady to Rodgers