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History : 70 Greatest Redskins

In June 2002, to honor the Redskins' 70th anniversary, a blue-ribbon panel selected the 70 Greatest Redskins, a prestigious group of players and coaches who were significant on-field contributors to the team's five world championships and magnificent history.

The 70 Greats were honored in a weekend of festivities, Oct. 25-27 of 2002, culminating in a special halftime ceremony during the Redskins' 26-21 win over the Indianapolis Colts in a nationally televised Sunday night game.

Spanning the entire history of the team since its founding in Boston in 1932, the 70 Greatest Redskins encompassed three head coaches and 67 players. They present a tableau of accomplishments from the franchise's very beginnings, represented by Turk Edwards and Cliff Battles from the Redskins' 1932 inaugural roster, through the 2002 season, represented by Darrell Green.

Head coaches Ray Flaherty, George Allen and Joe Gibbs were selected because of their outstanding record of coaching achievements. Flaherty led the 1937 and 1942 teams to NFL championships, Allen led the 1972 team to the Super Bowl, and Gibbs led the team to four Super Bowls, winning three times in a 10-year span from 1982-91.

The Most Valuable Players of Gibbs' three Super Bowl championships also appear on the list: quarterbacks Doug Williams (1987) and Mark Rypien (1991) and running back John Riggins (1982). Quarterback Joe Theismann, who commanded the team the year Riggins won his MVP award, is also on the list.

There are 92 Super Bowl appearances among the 70 Greats, with 47 going once and 45 playing in more than one. Twenty-nine members of the squad possess one Super Bowl ring; 26 have more than one. For the years prior to the Super Bowl, members of the 70 made 18 World Championship appearances; six participated in the Redskins' World Championship victories in 1937 and 1942.

Every Redskin in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is represented among the 70 Greats and every player and coach in the team's Ring of Fame at FedExField is on the list as well. Longevity is represented in Green, Sammy Baugh, Monte Coleman, Jeff Bostic, Dave Butz, Chris Hanburger, Len Hauss, Art Monk, Charley Taylor and Don Warren, all of whom amassed a cumulative 150 Redskin years.

There are 41 Greats who primarily played offense, 23 who primarily played defense and three special teams representatives in kicker Mark Moseley, punter Mike Bragg and return specialist Mike Nelms.

The blue-ribbon panel consisted of former CNN news anchor Bernard Shaw; Redskins alum Bobby Mitchell; U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, son of Redskins' Hall of Fame coach George Allen; Washington broadcasting legend Ken Beatrice; Noel Epstein, editor of several Washington Post histories of the team; former Under Secretary of State Joseph J. Sisco; Phil Hochberg; who retired in 2001 after 38 years as team stadium announcer; Pro Football Hall of Fame historian Joe Horrigan; WRC-TV sports director George Michael; WTEM sports director Andy Pollin; NFL Films president Steve Sabol; and WRC-TV news anchor Jim Vance.

70 Greatest Redskins
# Name Position Years
21 Terry Allen RB 1995-98
41 Mike Bass CB 1969-75
20 Cliff Battles B 1932-37
33 Sammy Baugh QB 1937-52
31 Don Bosseler B 1957-64
53 Jeff Bostic C 1980-93
4 Mike Bragg P 1968-79
80 Gene Brito DE 1951-53, 1955-58
43 Larry Brown RB 1969-76
77 Bill Brundige DE 1970-77
65 Dave Butz DT 1975-88
21 Earnest Byner RB 1989-93
84 Gary Clark WR 1985-92
51 Monte Coleman LB 1979-94
53 Al DeMao C 1945-53
36 Chuck Drazenovich LB 1950-59
35 Bill Dudley RB 1950-51, 1953
17 Turk Edwards T 1932-40
44 Andy Farkas FB 1938-44
37 Pat Fischer CB 1968-77
28 Darrell Green CB 1983-2002
68 Russ Grimm G 1981-91
55 Chris Hanburger LB 1965-78
57 Ken Harvey LB 1994-98
56 Len Hauss C 1964-77
27 Ken Houston S 1973-80
70 Sam Huff LB 1964-67, 1969
66 Joe Jacoby T/G 1981-93
47 Dick James RB 1955-63
9 Sonny Jurgensen QB 1964-74
22 Charlie Justice RB 1950, 1952-54
17 Billy Kilmer QB 1971-78
26 Paul Krause DB 1964-67
79 Jim Lachey T 1988-95
14 Eddie LeBaron QB 1952-53, 1955-59
72 Dexter Manley DE 1981-89
71 Charles Mann DE 1983-93
58 Wilbur Marshall LB 1988-92
73 Mark May T 1981-89
79 Ron McDole DE 1971-78
63 Raleigh McKenzie G 1985-94
53 Harold McLinton LB 1969-78
40 Wayne Millner E 1936-41, 1945
49 Bobby Mitchell FL 1962-68
30 Brian Mitchell RB 1990-99
81 Art Monk WR 1980-93
3 Mark Moseley K 1974-86
29 Mark Murphy S 1977-84
21 Mike Nelms KR 1980-84
52 Neal Olkewicz LB 1979-89
23 Brig Owens DB 1966-77
65 Vince Promuto G 1960-70
44 John Riggins RB 1976-79, 1981-85
11 Mark Rypien QB 1987-93
83 Ricky Sanders WR 1986-93
76 Ed Simmons T 1987-93
87 Jerry Smith TE 1965-77
60 Dick Stanfel G 1956-58
74 George Starke T 1973-84
72 Diron Talbert DT 1971-80
84 Hugh (Bones) Taylor E 1947-54
42 Charley Taylor WR 1964-77
7 Joe Theismann QB 1974-85
67 Rusty Tillman LB 1970-77
85 Don Warren TE 1979-92
25 Joe Washington RB 1981-84
17 Doug Williams QB 1986-89
  George Allen Head Coach 1971-77
  Ray Flaherty Head Coach 1936-42
  Joe Gibbs Head Coach 1981-92
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