Who Rich Snubbed on His NFL Top 10

Rich unveiled his power rankings of the top 10 players of the NFL Network era to date, locking in Tom Brady at one, Patrick Mahomes at two, Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Donald, Randy Moss, Drew Brees, JJ Watt, and LaDainian Tomlinson. The framing: any player who entered the league after NFL Network launched in 2003 was eligible, which knocked Brady and Manning off a strict post-launch list but earned them inclusion based on the full era NFL Network has covered.

The pushback from the desk came fast. Too many quarterbacks. Five QBs out of 10 was the objection, with names like Joe Thomas, Walter Jones, Jonathan Ogden, and Zach Martin floated as deserving offensive linemen the list left behind. Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu drew the loudest protest. Not having the greatest safety of all time felt like a disservice to the concept.

Rich conceded the Ed Reed omission was painful. He had Gronk on a preliminary list of 20 and had to cut him down. The counterargument on Brees and Rodgers got spicy: Brees never won MVP, his completion percentage was padded by eight-yard slants, and Rodgers has more sub-500 seasons than a supposed all-timer. Rich pushed back on the slant take, noting eight-yard slants still produced first downs and touchdowns, and that five 5,000-yard seasons is five 5,000-yard seasons.

Alternate picks from the desk included Von Miller, a linebacker who won a Super Bowl MVP, Charles Woodson, Adrian Peterson, and Larry Fitzgerald. Rich admitted Tomlinson at 10 felt low but held the line on his final cut.

The conversation drifted into NFL Network history. Rich walked through the final night at Texas Stadium, a 2008 nostalgia moment where every living Dallas Cowboy legend came back for one last game. He left the set mid-broadcast to shake hands with Brad Leland, the actor who played Buddy Garrity on Friday Night Lights. Not Bob Lilly. Buddy Garrity.

The Ravens ran all over the Cowboys that night and ended the stadium emphatically. Rich stopped a guy in Ravens gear leaving the field and told him he needed to go coach Michigan. It was Jim Harbaugh, standing on the sideline with his brother John. Harbaugh laughed and jogged into the locker room.

Rich also recalled the 2007 Thursday night game between the undefeated Patriots and the Giants, the year Aaron Rodgers first flashed against Dallas after Brett Favre got hurt in Texas Stadium. That season made NFL Network a real player in the business, and it shaped how Rich thinks about who belongs on any list tied to the network's footprint.

No wrong answers on a list like this. Just the ones you have to defend.