Derrick Brooks, Lee Roy Selmon get snubbed by Sports Illustrated

Over at Sports Illustrated, Doug Farrar and Chris Burke listed the best players in NFL history to suit up with each jersey number. Shockingly, only two Buccaneers made that list. John Lynch (#47) and Warren Sapp (#99). Sapp's inclusion is obvious, even with his increasingly disturbing post-career off-field life, but John Lynch is a little odd. I mean, I love John Lynch -- which Buccaneers fan doesn't? -- but he's ahead of legendary cornerback Mel Blount, here. Lynch likely isn't getting into the Hall of Fame any time soon, and possibly ever. I don't know. This just seems off to me.

Should a contrarian prefer Hall of Fame Steelers cornerback Mel Blount, it would be very understandable. Blount was a lock-down defender for more than a decade. Lynch, though, should join him in the Hall. Whether he will or not is another story—the Tampa Bay great has fallen short twice as a finalist—but his impact on the Bucs' defense impact was profound. Lynch excelled outside of Tampa Bay, too, closing his career with four straight Pro Bowls as a Bronco. The hard-hitting Lynch was a deserving nine-time Pro Bowler.

But what's a lot more off to me is the fact that neither Derrick Brooks nor Lee Roy Selmon made this list. Brooks lost out to Seau -- undoubtedly a terrific player and one of the most long-lived ever, and his tragic death makes his inclusion nearly mandatory, but any Derrick Brooks snub is a snub in my book.

Worse yet is the fact that Selmon still can't any recognition outside of the Tampa Bay area. I've said this before and I'll say it again: Selmon is the most dominant defensive lineman I've ever seen, except for maaaaaybe J.J. Watt. He loses out to Gene Upshaw, who's a legend in his own right, but it just bums me out that Selmon is constantly overlooked. Sure, he played on largely bad teams and no, he never made headlines off the field. But the man was ridiculous on the field. He really needs to be named more often.