Top Five NFL Safeties of All-time
In this next installment of the “Top five players in NFL history” I will focus on the greatest safeties of all-time. Unlike some other positions that were really hard to grade, the fives best safeties of all-time weren’t too complicated for me to select.
In order, here they are.
Ronnie Lott
I think it’s a pretty much a consensus that Lott is the greatest safety of all-time. The San Francisco 49ers’ first round draft pick and the eighth player chosen overall in the 1981 draft, the 6-0, 203-pounder made an immediate impression and was named the starting left cornerback from his first day in training camp.
In his first NFL season, Lott led a young secondary that helped the 49ers to win Super Bowl XVI and became the second rookie in NFL history to return three interceptions for touchdowns. Although Lott played cornerback for five seasons and actually earned 10 Pro Bowl invitations at three different positions – cornerback, free safety, and strong safety, it was at free safety, where he had the freedom to cover the whole field, that his star shined its brightest.
During his 14-year career with the 49ers (1981-1990), Los Angeles Raiders (1991-1992), and the New York Jets (1993-1994) Lott recorded 63 career interceptions and twice led the league. He also had five seasons of at least 100 tackles and recorded nine interceptions, 89 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and two touchdowns in 20 playoff contests.
“He’s like a middle linebacker playing safety,” Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry once remarked. “He’s devastating. He may dominate the secondary better than anyone I’ve seen.” Named All-Pro eight times, All-NFC six times, and All-AFC once, Lott is unequivocally the greatest safety in NFL history.
Ken Houston
Houston was a firm second choice for me. As the premier free safety of his era in a 14-year career that began with the 1967 Houston Oilers, Houston was a player that was way ahead of his time.
Drafted him in the ninth round of the AFL-NFL draft, Houston earned a starter’s role by the third game of his rookie season. Two weeks later, in a game against the New York Jets, he scored two touchdowns, one on a 71-yard blocked field goal attempt, and the other on a 43-yard interception return. After excelling for six years with the Oilers, Houston was traded to the Washington Redskins for five veteran players in 1973 where he was either All-Pro or All-NFC every year from 1973 to 1979. Houston had excellent speed and quickness and at 6-3, 197, he was the ideal pass defender.
Even before he finished his tenure with the Oilers, Houston had assured himself of a spot in the NFL record book by returning nine interceptions for touchdowns. He also tied two other records with four TDs on steals in one season and two interception touchdowns in a single game. Altogether, he stole 49 passes and returned them 898 yards. He also recovered 21 fumbles and scored 12 touchdowns, nine on interceptions and one each on a punt return, a fumble return, and a blocked field goal return. Simply put, Ken Houston is one of the greatest safeties to ever play in the NFL.
Paul Krause
Krasue’s career total of 81 interceptions during a 16-season career with the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings from 1964 to 1979 is absolutely mind-boggling – especially when you consider he played in an era when teams didn’t throw ball nearly as much as in today’s era of high-powered passing offenses.
Although Krause intercepted 28 passes in his first four seasons for the Redskins, he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for linebacker Marlin McKeever (who) and a seventh-round draft choice in 1968. He went on to excel with the Vikings for 12 more seasons before retiring after the 1979 campaign.
As a rookie with the Redskins, Krause led the NFL in interceptions with 12 and was named to the All-NFL first team. He was also named to his first of eight Pro Bowls and was second only to teammate running back Charley Taylor for NFL Rookie of the Year award.
Krause was the starting safety in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI, in the 1969 NFL championship game and NFC title games in 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1977. He intercepted one pass in Super Bowl IV and recovered a fumble in Super Bowl IX.
During his incredible rookie season, Krause intercepted passes in seven straight games and he came near to matching that mark again in 1968, when he had picks in six straight games. With three interceptions in his final season (1979) Krause surpassed Emlen Tunnell, who had 79 interceptions, for the all-time record. The durable Krause missed only two games with injuries in 16 seasons and is undoubtedly one f the best safeties in NFL history.
Larry Wilson
I was originally going to put another safety here but after further review, I decided that Wilson would be my choice. Not only was he more than capable in pass coverage, but it was Wilson’s exploits in blitzing from the safety position that helped him to really stand out. Basically, when Wilson wasn’t flattening opposing quarterbacks, he was picking them off downfield.
Although Wilson wasn’t an imposing figure physically (6-0, 190) He was the anchor of the St. Louis Cardinals defensive units throughout the 1960s. Wilson won first- or second-team all-league honors seven times during his career and played in eight Pro Bowls. He reached his zenith with interceptions in seven straight games in 1966, a year that he led the NFL with 10 steals. From 1960 through 1972, Wilson picked off a career total of 52 passes on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Willie Wood
Incredibly, Wood, a 5-10, 190-pound University of Southern California quarterback who specialized in running the ball, was not drafted by any National Football League team. He had to seek a tryout and prove his worth before the Packers accepted him as a free agent in 1960. Within a short time, Wood became recognized as one of the premier free safeties in the NFL. He became a starter in his second season and held that job for more than a decade until his retirement following the 1971 campaign.
Wood won first- or second-team All-NFL honors nine times from 1962 through 1970 season and was a Pro Bowl participant eight times (1963, 1965 -1971) and also played in six NFL championship games. The Packers won all of them but the first one in 1960 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wood compiled 48 career interceptions and won the NFL interception title in 1962 with nine picks. Many people may not remember how good Willie Wood was, but I do – and he is indisputably one of the greatest safeties in NFL history.
