National Football League 1980s All-Decade Team

The NFL 1980s All-Decade Team was chosen by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team was composed of outstanding performers in the National Football League in the 1980s.^[1][2][3] The squad consists of first- and second-team offensive, defensive and special teams units, as well as a first- and second-team head coaches.

Jerry Rice, Anthony Muñoz, and Lawrence Taylor were the only unanimous choices, being named on all 26 ballots. John Hannah was next with 25, followed by Joe Montana tallied 24½ votes, Walter Payton 23½, Ronnie Lott had 23.

Payton, Ted Hendricks were all either first-team choices on the National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team as well. John Hannah was a second-team choice on the 1970s team prior to being named to the first-team on the 1980s Team of the Decade.

Offense

Position	First Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?	Second Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?
Quarterback	Joe Montana (San Francisco 49ers)	24½	Yes	Dan Fouts (San Diego Chargers)	22	Yes
Running back	Walter Payton (Chicago Bears)	23½	Yes	Roger Craig (San Francisco 49ers)	5	No
	Eric Dickerson (Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts)	19	Yes	John Riggins (Washington Redskins	3	Yes
Wide receiver	Jerry Rice (San Francisco 49ers)	26	Yes	James Lofton (Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Raiders)	2	Yes
	Steve Largent (Seattle Seahawks)	22	Yes	Art Monk (Washington Redskins)	2	Yes
Tight end	Kellen Winslow (San Diego Chargers)	18½	Yes	Ozzie Newsome (Cleveland Browns)	2	Yes
Tackle	Anthony Muñoz (Cincinnati Bengals)	26	Yes	Gary Zimmerman (Minnesota Vikings)	7	Yes
	Jimbo Covert (Chicago Bears)	8	No	Joe Jacoby (Washington Redskins)	5	No
Guard	John Hannah (New England Patriots)	25	Yes	Bill Fralic (Atlanta Falcons)	4	No
	Russ Grimm (Washington Redskins)	16	Yes	Mike Munchak (Houston Oilers)	3	Yes
Center	Dwight Stephenson (Miami Dolphins)	13	Yes	Mike Webster (Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs)	10	Yes

Defense

Position	First Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?	Second Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?
Defensive end	Reggie White (Philadelphia Eagles)	22	Yes	Lee Roy Selmon (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)	3	Yes
	Howie Long (Los Angeles Raiders)	21	Yes	Bruce Smith (Buffalo Bills)	3	Yes
Defensive tackle	Randy White (Dallas Cowboys)	22	Yes	Keith Millard (Minnesota Vikings)	7	No
	Dan Hampton (Chicago Bears)	12	Yes	Dave Butz (Washington Redskins)	3	No
Middle linebacker	Mike Singletary (Chicago Bears)	21½	Yes	Jack Lambert (Pittsburgh Steelers)	4	Yes
Outside linebacker	Lawrence Taylor (New York Giants)	26	Yes	Andre Tippett (New England Patriots)	6	Yes
	Ted Hendricks (Los Angeles Raiders)	18	Yes	Carl Banks (New York Giants)	1	No
				John Anderson (Green Bay Packers)	1	No
Cornerback	Mike Haynes (New England Patriots, Los Angeles Raiders)	13	Yes	Frank Minnifield (Cleveland Browns)	7	No
	Mel Blount (Pittsburgh Steelers)	9	Yes	Lester Hayes (Los Angeles Raiders)	4	No
Safety	Ronnie Lott (San Francisco 49ers)	23	Yes	Deron Cherry (Kansas City Chiefs)	5	No
	Kenny Easley (Seattle Seahawks)	11	No	Nolan Cromwell (Los Angeles Rams)	4	No
				Joey Browner (Minnesota Vikings)	4	No

Special teams

Position	First Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?	Second Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?
Kicker	Morten Andersen (New Orleans Saints)	12	e-2013	Gary Anderson (Pittsburgh Steelers)	4	No
				Eddie Murray (Detroit Lions)	4	No
Punter	Sean Landeta (New York Giants)	8	e-2012	Reggie Roby (Miami Dolphins)	6	No
Kick Returner	Mike Nelms (Washington Redskins)	7½	No	Rick Upchurch (Denver Broncos)	5	No
Punt Returner	Billy “White Shoes” Johnson (Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins)	13	No	John Taylor (San Francisco 49ers)	3	No

Coach

Position	First Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?	Second Team	Votes	Hall of Fame?
Coach	Bill Walsh (San Francisco 49ers)	19	Yes	Chuck Noll (Pittsburgh Steelers)	3	Yes

Key

• Under "Hall of Fame" if a year is listed, i.e., "e-2010", that is the year player is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

References

1. ^ Staff writers (1990-03-15). "Already A Player Of The '70s, Payton Honored For Play In '80s". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. UPI. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04C9BCACD612F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2008-08-21. 
2. ^ "1980s ALL-DECADE TEAM". NFL.com. http://www.nfl.com/history/legends/1980s. Retrieved 2008-08-21. 
3. ^ "All-NFL Team of the 1980s". USA Today. Gannett. 1990-03-15. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/55982103.html?dids=55982103:55982103&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Mar+15%2C+1990&author=&pub=USA+TODAY+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=11.C&desc=NFL. Retrieved 2009-02-15.