100 Years of NFL: The Offensive Tackles Quiz

Answer: The Boomer

Bob "The Boomer" Brown was built as solidly as a wall and as fierce as a caged tiger. He was selected second overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL and fourth overall by the Denver Broncos in the AFL. His biceps were huge and so was his forearm, bigger than an average football player's leg.

He played five seasons for the Eagles and then was traded to the Los Angeles Rams. After two seasons in LA, he was traded again, this time to the Oakland Raiders where he played three seasons under coach John Madden and then retired. On his first day with the Raiders, he made an impact by crushing a training post, an act which left the rest of the team agape. He was not a very friendly-seeming player, as he had a permanent scowl on his face, but, he was a great team player and an excellent defender of his quarterback. While The Boomer did not win a Super Bowl, he did win the 1964 Rookie of the Year award, and was selected to the Pro Bowl six times.

Answer: Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders

Art Shell was a third-round pick out of Maryland in 1968 by the Oakland Raiders. He played primarily on special teams in his first two seasons but became the starting offensive tackle by the 1970 season. With the Raiders, he won Superbowl XI and XV. In the first of these contests, his stellar play shut down the Vikings' defensive end Jim Marshall. Art Shell was also named to the Pro Bowl eight times in his career.

When Shell got into coaching, the natural team to join was the Raiders, as the offensive lines coach.

After six seasons in that position, Shell was made the head coach of the Raiders and did his job successfully.

Answer: Fran Tarkenton

The Minnesota Vikings traded away Fran Tarkenton to the New York Giants in order to get the first pick in the 1968 NFL draft. They used that pick to pick up Ron Yary, a promising offensive tackle out of USC. He was the first offensive tackle to be drafted first overall. The second would not be made until 1997. Did it pan out for the Vikings? Yary made it into the Hall of Fame. Tarkenton, well, five seasons later, he made his way back to Minnesota.

Ron Yary was a great offensive tackle who played fourteen seasons for the Vikings, and yet another season at the end for the Los Angeles Rams. He was a tough player, and even played through injuries, notably, the 1980 season where he missed two games but played the rest of the season, on a broken ankle! Yary played in seven consecutive Pro Bowls as well as in four Super Bowls, though the Vikings lost all of them.

Answer: San Francisco 49ers

Joe Staley was an offensive tackle who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers 28th overall in the 2007 draft. The Niners had traded up for him, sending a first-round and a fourth-round pick to the Patriots for the rights to draft Staley. Standing tall at 6'6" (1.98 m) and weighing 306 lbs (139kg), you would expect him to be strong. What was an added bonus was his speed; Joe Staley, when he retired in 2020, was the fastest offensive tackle in the NFL, ever.

In his career, Joe Staley was selected for six Pro Bowls.

He also went with the 49ers to two Super Bowls, XLVII and LIV, but the Niners, unfortunately, lost both.

Answer: Holdout

Orlando Pace was only the second offensive tackle to be picked first overall in the NFL draft. The first, Ron Yary, was drafted in 1968, and Pace was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the 1997 draft, 29 years later. The Rams had to trade for the right to pick Pace, as the Jets had originally held the first pick. Pace started out his career with a holdout due to a contract dispute, something that would continue throughout his career. Pace was considered an amazing offensive tackle.

He helped the Rams' offence rank first in many categories on more than one season, and he even won the Super Bowl (XXXIV) with them (and lost another one, XXXVI, to the Patriots).

He was named to seven Pro Bowls, consecutively and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Answer: His older brother died while playing

Roosevelt "Rosey" Brown was so big as a six-year-old that school officials didn't believe that he was actually a first-grader. He was put right away into the third grade. This meant that he finished high school at the age of 15. As a teenager, Rosey Brown was a trombone player in the school band because his father had forbidden him from playing football. Rosey's older brother had received an injury playing football and had passed away from it. Rosey started playing without his father's knowledge. Due to his size and strength, Rosey was made a blocker on the offensive line, a key position in a time when the running game was the main part of the offense.

Rosey Brown was picked by the New York Giants as the 321st player overall in the 1953 draft. He is considered one of the biggest draft steals ever. He was selected to nine Pro Bowls in his 13-year career, all with the Giants, and won an NFL championship with them in 1956. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974.

Answer: First player to be enshrined in both the Pro Football and Pro Baseball Hall of Fame

Cal Hubbard was a good southern boy who due to his size and speed was encouraged to retake his final year of high school because the school he originally attended did not have a football program. Hubbard always had a love for sports and football was a great fit for him, however, he also really loved baseball. When he discovered that he really wasn't cut out to be a player, Hubbard turned to umpiring. He is credited for being one of the players who really established the offensive tackle position. He was signed in 1927 with the New York Giants and played with them for two seasons. However, ever the country boy, he disliked the big city and demanded a trade to the Green Bay Packers. He played five nonconsecutive seasons for the Packers, and then he split his final season between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates. During that time he won four NFL championships and was named an All-Pro for four years as well.

Throughout his professional football career, Cal Hubbard kept umpiring baseball, first in the minor leagues and then in professional baseball. When he retired from football, Hubbard switched to umpiring full-time, and was well-regarded enough to be selected to umpire the World Series four times and three All-Star games. Cal Hubbard was part of the inaugural class of the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1963. He was inducted into the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976, only the fifth umpire to be given that honour.

Answer: Baltimore Ravens

Jonathan Ogden was the first ever draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens. He was the fourth overall draft pick and the trust that executive Ozzie Newsome had in him (overriding owner Art Modell's choice). He panned out as the pick and played twelve amazing seasons with the Ravens. Over those twelve seasons, Ogden was chosen to the Pro Bowl eleven times.

He also was able to get a Super Bowl ring when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. An imposing tackle, standing 6ft 9in (2.06m), he was also considered "a laugher" with a genuine smile.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013.

Answer: 23

Walter Jones was selected sixth overall in the 1997 draft. A starter from day 1, Jones helped anchor a dominant offensive line. When he was on the field, 180 games and over 5,500 passes attempted, the Seahawks gave up merely 23 sacks. He was an excellent blocker as well, plus, he was easy to coach; Mike Holmgren said that Jones was "the best offensive player he had ever coached". His career ended on Thanksgiving 2008 when he sustained a knee injury he could not recover from.

Walter Jones was selected for the Pro Bowl nine times throughout his career. He was selected to seven first-team All-Pros. His jersey number, #71, was only the third number retired by the Seahawks.

Answer: Anthony Muñoz

Anthony Muñoz is a California-born offensive tackle that managed to elevate a mediocre offensive line for the Cincinnati Bengals to an elite offense that protected their quarterback well and had a solid running game. Muñoz was drafted in 1980 and played up until the 1992 season with the Bengals.

After which, Muñoz signed with the Bucs but never played a game for them and chose to retire. He was an eleven-time Pro-Bowler and a nine-time first-team All-Pro. He helped the Bengals reach two Super Bowls (XVI and XXIII) though both times the Bengals lost a close game to the San Francisco 49ers.

He was also a threat to catch the ball, scoring four touchdowns in his career as an eligible receiver. Muñoz was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998, the first to do so in a Bengals uniform.