ProFootballTalk.com's Top 25 In 25

No. 7 Reggie White.

The greatest defensive lineman of the past 25 years, and perhaps of the NFL's entire run of nearly 90 seasons, is and was Reggie White. 

Without question.  Without doubt.  White was the most dominant, the most feared, the most effective.

He stands at No. 2 on the all-time sack career list, two behind Bruce Smith.  But White would have had a lot more if he hadn't started his career in the USFL.

Once that other league folded, White made his way to the Eagles, where he averaged 1.75 sacks per game in 1987.  In all, he spent eight years in Philadelphia, and was the best defensive player the town had ever seen.

Apart from his exploits on the field, White was instrumental in the creation of the current free-agency system, serving as one of the plaintiffs in an antitrust action against the league that followed the 1987 players' strike.  The end result of the lawsuit was a settlement that gave rise to the salary cap system that made players, with some limited exceptions, free agents when their initial contracts expired.

The deal included a provision that exempted the plaintiffs in the lawsuit from these restrictions.  Thus, White was able to explore the free-agent market without the restrictions of the franchise tag.  He landed in Green Bay, and he helped lead the franchise back to a Super Bowl title.  In the championship game following the 1996 season, White notched three sacks, a Super Bowl record.

White generated a fair share of controversy off of the field, but none of it arose from misdeeds or illegal substances.  He was a man of intense faith, and he was not afraid to share his views.  If today's NFL players would be so controversial, the debates of the day wouldn't be quite so lively.

Even now, almost three years after his death, White's memory is alive and well, and the league would be wise to make sure as many players as possible aware of how he lived his life.

Click here for No. 6.