96 #DaysToFootball

Today's list sees our first Hall of Famer in three days, as well as the third active player recognized in this project:

5. Alex Brown, DE
2002-2010 (Chicago, New Orleans); 337 career tackles




The list for 96, comparative to each other number to this point, had quite a small selection of players to chose from. Former Florida Gator Alex Brown spent eight seasons playing on the front line of a Bears defense that finished as one of the league's 10 best fewer times (2) than it ranked in the NFL's bottom half (3). The 2006 season was arguably Brown's best, as he recorded a career-high seven sacks for the NFC champion Bears. Alex Brown's most valuable contribution to NFL teams was his consistency; he started every game in seven of his nine seasons with Chicago and New Orleans.

4. Muhammad Wikerson, DL
2011-Present (NY Jets); One Pro Bowl; 41 career sacks

(Ron Antonelli/Getty)

One of the more unsung talents of today's NFL is Temple alum Muhammad Wilkerson, who has been a force on the Jets' defensive line since the very first game of his rookie season. Despite being named second-team All-Pro for four straight years (2012-15), Wilkerson's only Pro Bowl selection came at the end of a 2015 season in which he recorded 12 sacks. After an offseason nursing a leg injury and signing a five-year contract extension, the 2016 campaign was a disappointing follow-up for Wilkerson. His four and a half sacks and 33 solo tackles last year both ranked as second-worst season totals for the sixth-year pro.

3. Adalius Thomas, LB/DE
2000-2009 (Baltimore, New England); Two Pro Bowls; One First-Team All-Pro; 405 career tackles

(Paul Spinelli/Associated Press)

Throughout a decade in the league, Adalius Thomas played just six full seasons. However, when the sixth-round draft pick was on, he was on. He was a little-used role player on the 2000 Ravens squad that won Super Bowl XXXV, but by the time the 2006 season ended Thomas was a two-time Pro Bowler and one of the year's best linebackers. Adalius had exploded for five fumble recoveries - three for scores - and 20 sacks in 2005 and 2006, earning him a spot on the historic 2007 Patriots squad. Thomas recorded two sacks in the 2008 postseason en route to an eventual Super Bowl loss, but New England's 18-1 season would prove to be his last full NFL campaign. After two more years and a disappointing end to the 2009 season, Thomas retired.

2. Cortez Kennedy, DT
1990-1991; 1993-2000 (Seattle); Seven Pro Bowls; Two First-Team All Pro; NFL All-90s Team; Pro Football HOF class of 2012; 476 career tackles


Cortez Kennedy is the second of just four players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have spent his entire career with the Seattle Seahawks. The premiere defensive tackle in the NFL throughout the 1990s went to six straight Pro Bowls from 1991-1996, and eight all-star games in his 11-year career. Unfortunately for Kennedy's position on this list, during his 1992 Defensive Player of the Year campaign he wore the number 99. Still, it's his number 96 that is displayed on the Seahawks' ring of honor at CenturyLink Field. He played on just two Seahawks teams with winning records and lost the only playoff game he ever appeared in. Nevertheless his dominance anchoring the Seattle defensive line eventually earned Kennedy a coveted spot in the hallowed halls of Canton. Sadly, Kennedy passed away last month at the age of 48.

1. Clyde Simmons, DE
1986-2000 (Five teams, notably Philadelphia); Two Pro Bowls; Two First-Team All-Pro; 914 career tackles; 121.5 career sacks

(Stephen Dunn/Getty)

Western Carolina University's most prominent alumnus, Clyde Simmons was one of the most productive NFL defensive ends from 1988-1995. During that period, the Eagles and Cardinals star put up four seasons with double-digit sacks and three with over 100 tackles. Clyde's finest season came in 1992, when he actually out-preformed linemate and future Hall of Fame member Reggie White. Simmons recorded 19 sacks to White's 14 and 96 tackles against White's 81 to earn his second straight first team all-pro nod. The Eagles, after losing White to free agency in 1993, also parted ways with Simmons. After two years in Arizona - the latter being his final double-digit sack season - Simmons left for Jacksonville. Two seasons with the Jaguars, one in Cincinnati, and two Bears seasons later, Simmons retired in 10th place on the NFL all-time sack list. In the almost two decades that have since passed, his 121.5 career sacks have fallen to 20th overall in league history, but a 15-year career has cemented Simmons' place as one of the better defensive ends in football.