99 #DaysToFootball

The countdown begins at 99. Five of the best defensive linemen to play the game grace today's list:

5. Mark Gastineau, DE
1979-1988 (NY Jets); Five Pro Bowls; Three First-Team All-Pro; 74 career sacks*, including season-high 19 in 1983 and 22 in 1984


Mark Gastineau was one of the most disruptive edge rushers of the mid-80s and was no doubt the most outspoken defensive end during that time as well. While in the process of recording 41 sacks over just two seasons, Gastineau earned recognition throughout the league - and more than a few penalties - for his often flamboyant celebrations. Earlier this year, the 60-year-old Gastineau announced his being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia.

4. J.J. Watt, DE
2011-Pres (Houston); Four Pro Bowls; Four First-Team All-Pro; Three-time Defensive POY; 76 career sacks

(Scott Halleran/Getty)

Many experts saw former Wisconsin Badger J.J. Watt as a stretch for the Texans to draft 11th overall in 2011. What has followed for the man I affectionately call "Watt-a-stud" has been nothing less than Herculean. After a mediocre freshman campaign, Watt burst onto the scene in 2012 with a league-high 20.5 sacks and his first of three Defensive Player of the Year honors. He came in second in league MVP voting in 2014 despite winning the Bert Bell Award as the NFL's player of the year. Injuries beset Watt throughout the 2016 season, but if he is able to bounce back and put together another stellar half-decade of stats his bust in Canton will be all but guaranteed.

3. Dan Hampton, DL
1979-1990 (Chicago); Four Pro Bowls; One First-Team All-Pro; NFL All-80s Team; Pro Football HOF class of 2002; 57 career sacks*


Former Arkansas Razorback Dan Hampton played multiple positions on the front line of Chicago's famed 46 defense throughout his 12-year career. His finest season came in 1984, when Hampton recorded 11.5 sacks en route to his only first-team all-pro selection. Hampton was a significant contributor to the Bears' historic 1985 defense and championship ring. While he was never tops among his peers in any given season, Hampton's longevity and high quality of play well into the latter half of the 1980s eventually earned the lineman a coveted spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

2. Jason Taylor, DE/LB
1997-2007, 2009-2011 (Miami, NY Jets); Six Pro Bowls; Two First-Team All Pro; 2006 Defensive POY; Pro Football HOF class of 2017; 136 career sacks



One of two players to reach the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility this year, Jason Taylor was one of the softer-spoken defensive stars of the last decade. Among his more impressive stats, the 2007 NFL Man of the Year recorded a league-high 18.5 sacks in 2003 and recorded two interceptions, both returned for scores, in his 2006 DPOY campaign. After a forgettable 2008 season in Washington, which didn't count for this list anyway since he wore 55 that year, Taylor returned to Miami; in 2009 he was a starting linebacker in 15 games for the Dolphins.

1. Warren Sapp, DT
1995-2007 (Tampa Bay, Oakland); Seven Pro Bowls; Four First-Team All-Pro; 1999 Defensive POY; NFL All-00s Team; Pro Football HOF class of 2013; 96.5 career sacks

(Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel)

Warren Sapp was one of the NFL's biggest personalities during his 13-year career with the Bucs and Raiders; he was also the league's premiere interior lineman at the turn of the century. All seven of Sapp's Pro Bowl appearances were consecutive, coming from 1997-2003. Sapp's last all-pro season helped propel Tampa to victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. Sapp never made a Pro Bowl in the Bay Area, but started 42 of 48 possible games in silver and black. His best season as a Raider came in 2006, when the former Miami Hurricane recorded 10 sacks. Sapp was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2013.

*Sacks did not become an official NFL stat until 1982.