NFL picks 4 Rams as ‘best player in history of their home state’

But none of them are Aaron Donald

As we’ve been learning and reminding ourselves through the difficult selection process of a Rams Mount Rushmore, the Rams have one of the most talented histories of any franchise in the NFL. And it’s not just that the team was great 1,000 years ago like the Browns or more recently like the Patriots, the Rams have had Hall of Fame players who helped evolve the NFL over every era of the league.

That shows up in Mount Rushmore, but it also shows up when you pick the best players from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., as the league’s NFL Throwback channel found out when naming four former Rams as the best player in the entire history of their home state. Surprising and unsurprisingly, not one of those players was Aaron Donald, arguably the best overall player in the history of the L.A., St. Louis, Cleveland franchise.

If you could name the players off the top of your head, that would be a remarkable accomplishment in itself. I’ll give you a chance to try right now, so try not to scroll down the page to look ahead just yet. Obviously you already know one of them is Steven Jackson, but you never would have guessed him anyway. I can almost guarantee it.

I’m stalling.

I’m stalling.

I’m stalling and creating space on the page so you don’t look ahead!

Did you guess yet?

Four names, including Steven Jackson?

Okay here come the answers.

Here they come.

The Answers.

Are.

Right.

Here:

The best player in the history of Nevada is running back Steven Jackson.

Of all the players born in Nevada, Jackson and DeMarco Murray are the only ones with multiple Pro Bowl appearances. Each of them have three career Pro Bowls, but Jackson rushed for way more yards (11,438 to 7,174), more touchdowns (20 more rushing scores than Murray), more receiving yards, and had a much longer career.

The rules did not state that the player was born in a state, by the way. The NFL’s rules were whatever state that player spent the majority of his childhood in. I’m not sure who else would qualify. Puka Nacua was born in Las Vegas, but raised in Orem, Utah.

The next legend on the list is Merlin Olsen, the best player in the history of the aforementioned Utah.

Olsen was born in Logan, Utah in 1940, then played college ball at Utah State, turning down an offer from Stanford. Steve Young was born in Utah, but moved to Connecticut when he was 8, then came back to play for BYU, so I’m not sure if he qualified for the NFL or not, but Olsen probably would have beaten him out anyway.

The third player is Kurt Warner, the top-ranked NFL player from the state of Iowa.

Born in Burlington, Iowa in 1971, Warner grew up in Cedar Rapids and attended college at Northern Iowa. Ironically, the second-best player born in Iowa—although he grew up in St. Louis, so he probably didn’t qualify anyway but it wouldn’t have mattered—might be Trent Green. Green was born in Cedar Rapids in 1970 and 29 years later would get injured so that Warner could put on the Show.

Finally, did you guess the fourth player yet? He comes from arguably the toughest state in the country to be the “best football player from here” but he could be the toughest player in the history of the league so it makes sense.

Deacon Jones, Florida.

An All-Florida team by Bleacher Report basically had a Rams defensive line: Deacon Jones, Jack Youngblood, and Kevin Carter made three of the four spots.

Other players from Florida include Warren Sapp, Emmitt Smith, Ray Lewis, Brian Dawkins, and Deion Sanders, so to be first on this one is truly incredible.

Not so incredible is having to leave Aaron Donald off of any “all-time best” list. But Donald is from Pennsylvania, meaning that not only did he have to compete with Dan Marino, Fred Biletnikoff, George Blanda, Chuck Bednarik, Mike Ditka, Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, and Jim Kelly to name but a few, but also the winner of this title, Joe Montana.

Is Aaron Donald a “better player” than Joe Montana? It’s impossible to compare. But the NFL did and that’s a result they came up with because it’s very hard to argue against Montana or Donald. Or Marino or Unitas or Blanda…

Four of 50 states and the Rams could have easily had at least one more. That’s as well represented as you can be for representing all parts of the country, which makes sense for a franchise that has moved three times.