100 Years of NFL: The Cornerbacks Quiz

Answer: Champ

Roland "Champ" Bailey Jr. was a great defender who retired holding the NFL record for most passes defended. His younger brother was a linebacker for the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos - Rodney "Boss" Bailey. Champ Bailey played fifteen seasons in the NFL, five for the Washington Redskins and ten more for the Denver Broncos. In 2008, the brothers played together for the year.

Champ Bailey joined the Redskins in 1999 and benefited from the tutelage of Darrell Green and Deion Sanders on his team. When his contract was up, Bailey chose to be traded rather than re-sign with his team. He went to the Denver Broncos and that turned out to be a much better fit for him. In his tenure with the Broncos, Bailey went to the Super Bowl, but lost, returned a pass for 100 yards (but did not score), and was chosen to be in his 12th Pro Bowl setting the record for cornerbacks. After 15 seasons, Champ Bailey retired. He was truly one of the best corners the NFL has seen.

Answer: Revis Island

Darrelle Revis was drafted in 2007 after giving up on his final year at Pitt. He impressed the Jets' scouts so much that they traded up in the draft from 25th overall to 14th overall to ensure that they would be able to select him. Revis had an immediate impact in his rookie season and only had three touchdowns thrown against him.

Over his career, quarterbacks would avoid Revis' side of the field. The area around Revis became to be called "Revis Island" referring to his ownership over that area. He received many accolades from players and coaches alike. In his 11-year career, he played eight with the Jets, one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one with the New England Patriots (with whom he won the Super Bowl) and six games with the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of his career. He was elected to represent in seven Pro Bowls and had thee pick-6 interceptions.

Answer: Baltimore Ravens

Rod Woodson played ten seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, then a season for the San Francisco 49ers, another four for the Baltimore Ravens, and finally two more with the Oakland Raiders. It was during his time with the Ravens that Woodson finally got his Super Bowl ring, a lopsided 34-7 win over the New York Giants. Though at that point Woodson had already transitioned to free safety, he was primarily a cornerback for the majority of his career.

Though his career started auspiciously, with a 95-day holdout due to a contract dispute, Rod Woodson flourished in the NFL. In the time he was holding out, Woodson was a world-class hurdler and held the fourth-best time in the world in 1987. Initially he was not a starter and was used primarily as a punt and kickoff returner. In his second season, however, Woodson was starting as he would until he ended his long career. In that time he intercepted 71 passes (third most at that time), recovered 32 fumbles, and set the NFL record with twelve pick-6 interceptions. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2009.

Answer: He would always be dancing to the song "Night Train" by Jimmy Forrest.

Dick "Night Train" Lane was a hard-hitting cornerback who played for the Los Angeles Rams, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Detroit Lions. When he first joined the Rams, at his first training camp, his teammate would play the song "Night Train" by Jimmy Forrest and whenever Dick Lane would hear it, he'd be dancing outside of his teammate's room.

When Dick Lane finished high school, he enlisted in the army. After his discharge, he moved to Los Angeles and was working at an aircraft plant. One day, Lane decided to go to the Los Angeles Rams and ask for a tryout, having played wide receiver in high school. The coach, Joe Stydahar, was impressed by Lane's ferocity and offered him a job, but switched him to defence when he realized Lane's potential.

As a rookie, Night Train broke the record for most interceptions in a season, hauling in fourteen of them, two for a pick-6. As a player, Night Train was known for his hard-hitting ferocity. It was due to Dick Lane that the facemask rule was drawn up. Some books also credit his tough tackles for the rule prohibiting clothesline tackles. All in all, Lane snagged 68 interceptions, five for a touchdown.

Answer: Dallas Cowboys

Mel Renfro was the star cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys as they wwere becoming America's Team. On that team, Renfro won Super Bowls VI and XII, and made it to Super Bowls V and X. He was originally a running back, switched to safety for his first three years, moved back to halfback for his fourth year, before finally transitioning to cornerback for the fifth year and his final position switch.

Renfro was an exceptionally speedy defender and was able to get position on his receiver to break up the pass or to deter the quarterback from passing entirely. In one season, 1969, Renfro intercepted ten passes to lead the league. Overall, he snagged 52 of them for his entire career. He was an exceptional athlete and even tried his hand at coaching after his playing days were done. In 1996, Renfro made it into the Hall of Fame.

Answer: Tucking a Tootsie Roll in his sock.

No, that's not an error. Darrell Green would tuck a Tootsie roll in his sock and he claimed it made him faster. Apparently, it worked. Darrell Green was one of the fastest players in the NFL. He won all four of the NFL Fastest Man competitions that he entered in (a record both for wins, and for not losing one of these that he entered in). Even at the age of 42, opposing wide receivers had a difficult time losing Green. This earned him the moniker as the "Ageless Wonder".

Darrell Green played for one team his entire career - the Washington Redskins. With them he won the Super Bowl twice, XXII and XXVI, and lost another one, XVIII. He had 54 interceptions in his career, six of them for a pick-6. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection. Other than this, he was a very successful track star in college, able to run the 100-meter dash in 10.08 s. This probably was with a Tootsie Roll in his sock. Darrell Green was certainly a marquee cornerback.

"I was born with a great measure of speed and talent... But I also was born with desire, the desire to go faster every year. I've set it as a personal goal and by preparing harder and setting my goals higher, I've achieved that."

Answer: played on six championship teams.

Herb Adderly, along with Fuzzy Thurston and Forrest Gregg were the first three players to play for six championship teams (he and Gregg were teammates for the sixth). Since then Tom Brady has also joined this elite club. Adderly played for the Green Bay Packers where he won three NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowls. He then was traded to the Dallas Cowboys where they won Super Bowl VI (and lost Super Bowl V) making it six championships.

In his career he started as a halfback but transitioned to defence in his rookie season. Coach Vince Lombardi was hesitant at first, but realized that Adderly was excellent at his new position. Adderly played ten seasons for the Packers but did not get along with Lombardi's successor, Phil Bengtson, and requested a trade. He joined the Dallas Cowboys for two successful seasons. After the Super Bowl win, the Cowboys traded Adderly to the Los Angeles Rams. Adderly chose to retire instead. Adderly intercepted 48 passes in his career, seven for touchdowns (all with the Packers). He was also a very good kickoff returner. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Answer: Contact between the cornerback and the receiver downfield.

Mel Blount was well-known for his "bump-and-run" style of defending. He used his size, speed and mass to his advantage when defending against the pass and this made him an effective man-to-man defender. As it stood, Blount was able to intercept at least one pass in each of his fourteen NFL season, all of which he played with the Steelers. In that time, he helped the team to four Super Bowl victories, IX, X, XIII, and XIV. The rule was made to amend pass interference so that the cornerback could not touch the receiver if they were past 5 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Mel Blount was an efficient and effective cornerback. He intercepted 57 passes in his career and had two pick-6 returns from those. He recovered 13 fumbles, with two going all the back to the end zone. He was also used as a kickoff returner. All told, Blount played in five Pro Bowls and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 1975.

Answer: Wide Receiver

Jimmy Johnson was a cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers who was often considered as "one of the best man-to-man defenders in history." He was drafted in 1961 by the San Francisco 49ers and had a good rookie season at cornerback, but, in his second season the team transitioned him to offence. He played wide receiver for the year before returning to defence for the remainder of his career.

An interesting fact about Johnson - his older brother, Rafer, was the gold medal-winner at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games in the decathlon. Jimmy had a successful and long NFL career where he intercepted 47 passes, two for a pick-6. He played in five Pro Bowls and had his number, 37, retired by the 49ers.

Answer: Sanders

"Prime Time" Deion Sanders was an outstanding cornerback who played fourteen seasons in the NFL. He was also a good outfielder who played nine seasons in MLB mostly part-time. In football though, "Neon Deion" was outstanding at defending against the pass and managed to snag an interception in each of the seasons he played.

He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons and was primarily used in special teams situations. He actually fumbled his first punt return (though he recovered it, and it was re-kicked anyway), he ran for a touchdown on his second attempt. He played five seasons for the Falcons and then signed with the San Francisco 49ers where he had an amazing season. The 49ers went on to win Super Bowl XXIX and Sanders was named as Defensive Player of the Year. The following season, Sanders signed with the Niners' arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys who went on to win Super Bowl XXX. He played five seasons in total for the Cowboys and then played another season with the Redskins. Sanders retired after that season.

Three years later, Deion Sanders chose to come out of retirement. At the age of 37, Sanders signed with the Baltimore Ravens. He spent two seasons with the team before finally retiring for good. In his entire career Sanders was chosen to the Pro Bowl eight times, was an All-Pro eleven times, and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame. He was really one of the top cornerbacks that the league will ever see.