#44: Mel Blount | The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players (2010) | NFL Films
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Mel Blount comes in as the 44th best player in NFL history on NFL Film's "The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players" list (2010).
I was driving through downtown Pittsburgh one day and something caught my eye. It was a man walking on the sidewalk, very tall and straight as a board. It was Mel Blount in a suit and a white cowboy hat. He stands out in a crowd for sure.
Distinguished man and a credit to the game.
A 6’3 black man with a cowboy hat i bet he does stand out
Ccol
@@ArmedNDangerous 😂😂😂
Sure
Ironically the Mel Blount rule greatly helped his own team. It freed up Stallworth and Swann to reek havoc on defenses and Pittsburgh's offense exploded after the rule and won 2 more SB's.
This is fact!
🤯👍🏼
Jonathan Blaze Blount still found ways to be effective as a player in the NFL I think he was awarded NFL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR.
That great achievement by Mel Blount , in 1975 given by the associated press was before the rule change in 1978, , he did make more probowls 3 after the rule change ,2 before , and was on the all 80s decade team,how he didn't make all 70s is a mystery ,considering the Broncos Louis Weight did, Steelers hate no doubt . coincidentally Mel Blount teammate Jack Ham was also awarded the defensive player of the year in 1975 by a different football writers organization, the pro football writers association.
e made 3 pro of his 5 pro bowls after the mel blount rule. Talk about dominance
Mel Blount was so dominant that Don Shula, who at the time was the head of the NFL rules committee, passed what's now known as the Mel Blount rule ( no grabbing receivers past 5 yards). Ironically, Blount was an all pro for another 4 seasons after the rules were implemented in 1978 and the Steelers won 2 more titles. Easily a top 5 all time corner.
Although it's worth remembering the referees were extremely lenient with those penalties until Ty Law started having UFC fights with receivers downfield.
Shula was only head of the committee; Tex Schramm was the one who got those changes in. The reason we remember Shula in that context is the memory of those films of him explaining and demonstrating the rule changes.
Claude White
Claude White Mel Blount was similar to Night Train Lane.
@@TheTeremaster I recall the "Illegal Contact" rule enforced throughout the 80's s and 90's
Woodson Blount Polumalu we have three of the greatest secondary players of all time on our teams in history no one else can say that... I love my Steelers
Imagine that on 1 team
This is true
The cardinals had night Train Lane, Larry Wilson, and aneas Williams
Kurt Adams
Mel Blount is the best CB to ever play the game
Rod Woodson is the 2nd best CB to ever play the game
Don't forget Donnie Shell.... And before that Jack Butler... We've had 5... It is a privilege to be a Steeler fan, no doubt.
Mel Blount was a fucking monster
yes he was
facesoffun
k
facesoffunk
Prophetus Josepheyis III He along with WILLIE BROWN brought size and athleticism to the position of DB.
6'3" 215 lbs is huuge for a cb, even by today's standards.
Shrapnel Willie Brown (RIP) was huge as well 6-2 220 began his career as a OUTSIDE LINEBACKER then made the switch to DB the Father of Bump and Run coverage.
Shrapnel I thought he was 6'4 210 and had 4.45 speed to back it up with a LINEBACKER like mentality.
shrapnel77 telvin Smith
@@dwightlove3704 mel blount 6-3 215 ran a 4.3 he was physical but clean compared to the shitty raiders
he was a safety he was slow plus if he played in this era dude will just run by him what was his 40time I bet 4.5-4.6 hell be second string trust me
He played my golf course this past season and I swear he could still play today, a mountain of a man
Everybody talks about primetime, rod woodson, and revis but many forget about players like mel bount, Dick lane and Lester Hayes
Blount is a Top 5 CB of all time without question, and Lester Hayes is Top 10 all time. Dick Lane, on the other hand, doesn't deserve to be mentioned with those legends.
Dick Lane has the most interceptions in one season and that season was only 12 games
Dont forget Mike Haynes, Dick Lebeau, and Darell Green
Shaun Diebel how you going to disrespect night train he hit harder then Blount and had better covering skills then primetime
zane brown Lmao, keep dreaming. Name a WR he covered that was on par with Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Cris Carter, etc. He covered a bunch of no names for his career while Prime Time covered the greatest WR of all time.
Love the 70's Steelers. Really like Mel Blount. The 70's Steeler's are not the 70's Steeler's without Mel Blount. Defense is what wins. Good Stuff, thanks for posting and sharing.
Love Bob Trumpy! One of the best color commentators on TV, and someone who would definitely know what playing against those 70's Steelers was like.
when he made the interception at .36. look at the way the entire defence is guarding him. now that is an intimidating sight. wow. steel curtain certainly.
This was an era when football players were allowed to play the game without having flags thrown at them for every little bump or hit on the quarterback.
Robert Brown Yes I agree in the modern era you can't BREATHE on a WR or QB without a flag being thrown on you.
Literally
facts
imo real football
Mel is the best cornerback too play the game. Just a great player and you know what he's even a better person. This guy is a class act. It was an honor too watch this man play every Sunday as a kid.
Daniel Cimino Join the club I watched him as well as stated before Blount at 6'4 210 along with WILLIE BROWN at 6'2 220 brought SIZE&ATHLETICISM to the position of DB.
Daniel Cimino neon deion
Josh tha savage deion didnt tackle.
@@dwightlove3704 willie was very overrated
@@kennycarlson9654 Are you kidding who said that he was overrated how many OLB's make the transition to DB them become the father of a style of play (BUMP-N-RUN) that is being used in the modern era.
you all heard what Bob said. "They changed the rules because one guy was to good at one thing" eliminating the receiver. Not in today's fantasy world. This man was country strong - not steroid strong - not Golds gym strong - just a freak and on the best team of all time
I'd take Mel Blount over Deion Sanders any day of the week. Give me an intimidating CB who will take a WR's head off over a finesse cover CB who's afraid to tackle a ball carrier. I guarantee a WR such as Jerry Rice would rather face Deion Sanders instead of Mel Blount.
J High without question, Blount was bigger just as fast, would hit you and very very physical
Kiwanis Hinton No NFL receiver had to spend 2 hours in the ice tub after a game, if they were covered by Neon Deion...lol.
+J High lol true, my fav player on my fav team, 6 six four. 210lb
+Dwight Love
Michael Irvin used his size to overpower smaller DB's. Mel Blount was impossible for any WR to dominate. I imagine Irvin would catch short passes in front of Blount, but Blount would take away the downfield passing to Irvin. I'd give Irvin 6 catches for about 50 yards with no TD's, with Blount having a couple pass breakups and possibly 1 INT.
+J High I think Blount would eliminate him altogether give Irvin a good chuck to throw him off his game constantly because Irvin did not have the speed to run away from Blount
Since retiring after the 1983 season and still holding the career interception total of 57, Dewayne Woodruff (37 int) and Rod Woodson (38 int) are the only cormerbacks since Blount to have at least 25 or more
Hardest hitting cornerback of all time. They changed the rule because of him.
Night Train Lane is up there with hard hitting corners
Did you see the video too?
I love mel BUT...i give that honor to night train.
Is he?
What about, say, Ronnie Lott? Night Train Lane? Rod hit pretty well too
@@lunaticfringe896lott is a safety
And Jack Tatum and George Atkinson were labelled as headhunters, "the criminal element." Ouch for Cliff Branch at 1:02.
That's why Tatum & Atkinson were labeled the Assassins , they busted Swann up , I was surprised Blount wasn't labeled dirty , Donnie shell was a beast too
Those Mel Blount Cliff Branch battles were classic.
mel won them battles
Clifford ate his lunch. Blount's was benched in '74 playoff
Blunt was great but some people throwing around 40 times.I never heard Mel running 4.3 or 4.also its hypothetical but receivers now are huge.Mel wouldn't have a size advantage like he did w/ say a Drew Pearson.
greatest corner ever, period!
What a spine chiling voice by Bob Trumpy
Yep always loved when he was paired with Don Criqui on NBC AFC games in late 70s/early 80s.
@@144wychwood Yeah, they were a decent tandem to call games. I miss the announcers from the '80s and '90s.
Blount was a game changer
It was always a pleasure watching Melvin operate on football field
Imagine mel blount rod woodson and polamalu in the secondary together
And Donnie Shell
Mel Blount is legendary! Love his pick at:36 and his convoy of HOF players - so awesome!
One of the Top 5 CB's to EVER play in the NFL !!
Greatest collection of talent to EVER STEP on a football field .Blount makes an interc and the 7 GUYS BLOCKING FOR HIM ON THE RUNBACK WERE PRO BOWLERS 5-10X OVER
Yup the whole D was pro bowlers
I meet Mel.Blount 6 years ago. He was 6 4 at least
And I'm at 6 foot 205 and he made me feel small. He still looked like he could play no kidding....freak of nature.
6-4 220 4.45 hits like a mack truck
Nature wasn't the ONLY thing affecting the 70s Steelers. Bradshaw has admitted it.
Greatest corner of all time
Look at :43 time frame. How awesome is it to see 6 Steeler defensive players 'escorting' Blount down field on the interception. Brings chills thinking of those incredible 70's teams!
One of the best corners to ever do it and most importantly one of Southern University's finest
Charles Hill, Jr. I'm shocked that Eddie Robinson did not get his hands on this guy!!!!!
That’s why my dad is a Steelers fan man wow such greats
Mel Blount should've been higher than Rod Woodson!
Blount is an all-timer and perhaps my favorite pure cornerback ever, but I think Rod gets ranked higher because he played longer and was exceptional at two positions (CB and FS). There is little question in my mind that Woodson and Blount are two of the three best CBs ever (Sanders is the other one).
@@WobblinGoblin1 Woodson is a combination of both Sanders and Blount he had Blount's size and Sanders speed.
@@WobblinGoblin1 Mike Haynes & lester hayes watch 👁✊🏾
That is a true legend of The game and one of the best if not the best Db of all time
I had a Tudor Electric Football set. I bought the replica Steelers team. Number 47 was applied to one of miniature plastic players.
One of the top 2 or 3 corners ever to play.
Nasty..smart..ball hawk..when they change the rules because you are so dominant that says it all
Love Mel! Beast of a man!
Before the game got soft
Mmgen 1 he made the game soft today lol they felt bad for the offense
He made the game softer due to his greatness. They had to soften up the rules just to slow him down. HAHA
@@paysonfox88 the thing is he didn't slow down after the rule changes haha
This is true
Kurt Adams
The league changed all the rules because of Mel Blount
Even with those changes, Blount still succeeded and Pittsburgh won championships
Which makes him the greatest Cornerback ever
I’ll take Him over Deion Sanders
I’ll take Rod Woodson over Deion Sanders
so many dominating players on that chuck noll defense, arguably the best of all time, what's hilarious about the "blount rule" is that because mel blount was so good, every corner since has to play at a disadvantage...
A great, GREAT player!
Mel Blount by far changed the way defense is played in the NFL. He was a strong, fast, and highly intelligent football player. Probably the greatest defensive player ever; in terms of how he could single handedly shut down a defense. I think Southern University recently produced yet another Hall of Famer at this position i.e. Arneius Williams.
Inthe 1976 opener at Oakland, Blount nearly planted Cliff Branch ( who also should be in the HOF) into the ground head first....of he did that today, these wr's would quit
Keith you are sooo right, Branch should have been in the HOF years ago, and i am a huge steelers fan. Heck Swann and Warfield have been in for years, and Branch is easily a top 3 WR of the entire 70s
Mel Blount and Ty Law are two corners that literally changed the rules, and it’s no coincidence that both players were on Super Bowl-winning dynasties.
If you have a Rule about you, you got to be higher, right? Imagine having Blount on one side and Lott on the other side? Wow.
Mel Blount and Night Train Lane were the 2 greatest tackling cornerbacks in NFL history
I would add Rod Woodson too but Woodsons shift to Safety later in his career moved him out of CB obviously but those 3 are the 3 best DBs ever.
@@bane1240 agreed. Rod could sack the qb, and when he did, he devasted him. No wonder lambert said dresses should be on the quarterbacks
Mel Blount.....Friggin stud....When your sooo good at your position in the NFL that they change the rules, THANK YOU............
My all time Steelers secondary is Mel Blount and Rod Woodson are my Cornerbacks...Mike Wagner at free safety and Troy Polamalu at strong safety
Keith Clark I would replace Wagner with Donnie Shell but God knows we can use ANY one of those guys now!
Claude White lol...you are so right
Keith lol i said the same thing, thats 3 HOFs in the secondary
Kiwanis Hinton Wagner should be in there also
The pro bowl game in the mid 70s WAS BASICALLY A STEELER PRACTICE GAME .Andy Russell tells a true story where one series 8 of the 11 D players on the field were STEELERS Lambert began calling Steeler Def plays and told the other 3 players to STAY THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY !!!!!
Simply the best corner ever
Damn. The Steelers have SEVEN players on this list. SIX from the 70s. You could even argue eight with Franco Harris which I believe he should be.
I dont care what anyone says Pittsburgh had the greatest defense of all time damn near every member of that squad is in the hall of fame they changed the way the game is played today Mel Blount another HBCU great 👍
I'm a Steeler fan for 55 yrs, Mel Blount & Oakland Raiders Jack Tatum ruled the DB position back then, I give credit to where credit is due
Excelentísimo! Mel Blount✨👌🏈☝️💯💯💯💯😍👏👏👏👏🏈👏👏👏✨👍
My favorite Steeler of all-time here!
As a child of the 70's, to me Mel Blount was the epitome of cool.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂🎉🎊🎁🎈 To the G.O.A.T. 🥳🥳🥳
Best-ever all-around cornerback. Period.
Great to watch, saw his family on Family Feud and wanted to see him play.........
LOL! It must have felt awesome getting an interception and then having half the starting line-up of the Pro Bowl blocking for you!
There will never be another mel blount
A number of former players have said they thought Blount was bigger than what Pittsburgh listed him at (6’ 3” 205 lbs.). Lambert and Greene were listed at 6’ 5” and there’s photos of them standing next to Blount and he was as tall as they were. He probably did weigh 220 at some point in his career, he appeared larger than Lambert.
ya with 4.3 sd
Mel Blount one of the Steeler greats.
One of My dad's favorite Steelers from that dynasty
Best football team of All-Time! 10 Hall of Fame players on 1 team! Chuck Knoll's drafting will never be duplicated! They picked Swann, Stallworth, Lambert, & Webster in 1 draft! 4 Super Bowls in 6 years during 1 of the toughest ERA's of All-Time!
USCG BMCM retired LC Greenwood and Donnie Shell should also be in as well as Andy Russell!
Only 9 players from that team made the Hall
Night Train Lane with the best cornerback to ever play
Good example he was the prototype LB sized OG
I doubt you ever saw him play.
1st CB to be named DPOY & Dallas was my team nuff said , listen to Trumpy talk hit rewind 2or3xs
My top six corners:
1. Mel Blount: big, fast, mean, and talented. Overwhelmed offenses in the '70s when he was allowed to chop up WRs, and still great after they changed the rules just because of him. Could play the game today, even with today's even stricter rules and better WRs.
2. Rod Woodson: Played in the exact same era as Deion, and while wasn't known to be as adept at shutting down one receiver, he was better at shutting down one side of the *offense*. Fast, powerful, and brought the lumber.
3. Deion Sanders: Was so talented at his position, he could play it with finesse. No cornerback since Blount could literally write off a receiver.
4. Mike Haynes: Was Deion Sanders before Deion Sanders.
5. Dick "Night Train" Lane: Hardest hitting defensive back in history. Still has the NFL record for INTs in a single season. Put those together and you have an all-timer the likes of which we rarely ever see.
6. Ronnie Lott: Not as fast as the top three CBs, but only Lane could out hit him. Like Woodson, could (and did) play safety almost as well as corner, if not as well.
The pro bowl roster from the 70s every year had 10-12 Steelers on it Just simply the greatest collection of talent to ever step on a football field
Good picks hard to dispute your list
Mel Blount is my uncle. Im not joking.
Your uncle is quite possibly the greatest d back in NFL HISTORY
His son Akil your cousin do you know his 40 time????
Dwight Love 4.36
Aden Danforth Wow 4.36 dammn that is flying!!!!
Itz_Jumel Lucky you!!!!
MEL BLOUNT the ENFORCER!!
He was a beast. A Greek God and a Viking killing and pillaging fools.
Being a wide re in error back then must of been intimidating af staring across at that big cowboy. He roped a few in his day. Greene was our lawman on the line. Lambert in the middle and our sheriff in the backfield # 47.
Man I wish the Steelers could draft/sign a corner half as good as the Wide Receiver Wrangler. The closest we got to it was with Rod Woodson, and then after that Ike Taylor.
I mean, they changed the NFL rules regarding “ bump and run “ because of Mel Blount. They even called it the “ Mel Blount rule”. Mel Blount is the reason for these opened up offenses, high scoring games. Mel Blount actually changed the game of professional football. He was that good. Nuff said.
Mel was the OG shutdown corner. I hated the Steelers as a kid but I still watched them. Haha
Bob Trumpy has a cool voice.
Mel Blount was amazing, but let's also acknowledge the easy grace Bob Trumpy had with a microphone on, speaking of football. It's nice to see the NFL has recognized him for his contributions and ability.
It was so crazy, when you realize how many rules, had to be changed, because of how great, the Steeler's Defense was. People talk about the 85 bears defense, or the no name defense of the Dolphins, but the Steeler's defense was great all during the 1970's
It still amazes me. After watching football in the '80 with Bob Trumpy doing the broadcast HATING on the Steelers. Now he shows his respect for Mel Blount. I guess he just needed time to realize how good Mel was. I respect Trumpy now. Not like he needed my approval.
Mel Blount is my favorite corner
I didn't know that wasn't always a rule. *files under something learned today*
originally there was no forward pass in pro football. Roosevelt (president) helped institute it. How bout that?
I can't recall the player, but he told the story of going to Training Camp his Rookie year and being determined to be first in line for every drill, which was considered to be a sure sign of hustle and determination. He told himself that there may be better players and higher Draft Picks in camp, but no one was going to out hustle him and he would make the Coaches notice him by being there at the start of each new drill.... He said a drill would end and he would be running as hard as he could to implement his plan and be first...but no matter how hard and fast he ran and no matter how hard he tried to implement his plan, Veteran All Pro's Mel Blount and Andy Russell would beat him there every time..He said he considered it the best lesson he ever learned in life and in football........
Pittsburgh was so good it was frightening in the 70s.
Mel was definitely one of my favorites
The BEST ever !
I dont know what criteria they used to rank Mel at #44 but, he is the #1 cornerback of all time.
Mel Blount is so dang good they changed the rules
3 Corners 1 Mel Blount,2 Willie Brown 3 Deion Sanders Blount was a giant and he was one of the few corners that would knock the sh_t out of you and could also shut you down like Deon but Blount was a hard hitter hard to find a corner like that ever.Blount was the greatest corner I ever saw to play the game.
Mike Hayes? Rod woodson?
@@pp3k3jamail good examples but Blount was all around the best
Ronnie Lott? Also a big hitter who played corner early in his career
Best corner back ever
I agree
I remember my dad meeting Mel Blount during his playing days, and saying, he's way more than 205.
Best in the business!
The Best corner that ever played...period!!!
He visited my school he talked about his career he's awesome
Cooper Paramore that's cool! I met him at a HOF thing and he was the most awesome person and he was so humble
Joe Rutherford yeah he talked about how you should always be humble
Ken Houston and Mel Blunt were the best db's of all-time.
I walked by #47 in downtown Pittsburgh and I thought I was looking up at a skyscraper with a cowboy hat .
They need to get rid of pass interference
Mel got to be good for NFL to have rules the next year because of how good you are
It is like a linebacker playing CB. Blount should be top 20 player.
Best team every assembled, AL player's were 💪🔥GREAT🔥💪 ! 😎
Mel Blount was the greatest defensive back I ever saw. But those who say that the rule changes were SOLELY due to him are naive. Other CBs were doing the same thing as Blount, though none as successfully. Due to the attractiveness to the fans--and thus to the team owners--of increased offense and scoring, the rules would have inevitably been changed even without Blount's influence, although probably not as soon.
Dude a str8 beast baaaaad maaaaan
I remember tears coming to my eyes, because Blount beat up Drew Pearson so bad. Drew scored the first TD in Super Bowl X, but was shut down for the rest of that game, even though the next time the Cowboys played Pittsburgh, Pearson gained more yardage, he did not score a TD...