Middle Linebacker: Zach Thomas, Miami Dolphins; Back-up: John Offerdahl, Miami Dolphins;
You could call him the Larry Bird of NFL history. Thomas has had to fight for every ounce of respect he has ever earned on any of the fields he has played on. He stood under 6' tall, lacked the ripped chest and arms of that of a Ray Lewis, and he wasn't exactly running a 4.3 in the 40 either. What he did bring was an unrelenting work ethic that will no doubt get him into the Hall of Fame within the next couple of years.
Middle Linebacker 2: Tedy Bruschi, New England Patriots; Back-up: Nick Buoniconti, Miami Dolphins;
Let's just shut up here and let the usually reserved Bill Belichick say a few words for this guy:
"I’ve had the privilege of coaching a lot of great players and leaders in the National Football League, and I’ll just put Tedy up there with all of them and above all of them. There’s no player that I think epitomizes more of what I believe a player should be on the field, off the field, really, in every situation. ...he became a player that transformed himself from a great, great college player to a great NFL player. It was completely different and that’s pretty unusual, that’s pretty rare, and it takes a pretty special guy to do that. And of course all along the way he heard ‘too small,’ ‘too slow,’ ‘ too this,’ ‘too that’ and just kept getting better and better and working harder and out-working and out-competing pretty much every body that he faced. It didn’t make any difference who it was – faster backs, bigger linemen, big tackles, athletic tight ends – he found a way to compete and more importantly, win, in those competitive matchups, in the kicking game, and in all areas of his defensive responsibilities.
When Tedy first came into the league and was working his way into a role and eventually into a starting, every-down linebacker, every-down player, All-Pro player, he worked harder than anybody. And when he was achieving success, he worked harder than everybody. We’ve all had to overcome something along the way. Whether it be minor or major, he always stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park. Doesn’t matter what the challenge was, what he had to do, who he had to cover, who was trying to block him, he stepped up and he met it...Instinctively on the field and instinctively off the field, there’s just no other way for me to describe it other than he always did the right thing...so I guess, if you ask me to sum up how I feel about Tedy Bruschi in five seconds: he’s the perfect player, perfect player...I’m proud of everything he did and the payout that he’s paid for all of us going forward."
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