The Greatest Athlete To Wear #81 is Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back from the 1950’s Dick “Night Train” Lane.

Picking the greatest at #81 was extremely difficult. You could make a good case for former Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown, Hall of Fame defensive lineman from the NY Giants Andy Robustelli, HOF lineman Doug Atkins, HOF receiver Art Monk. There are others worth mentioning HOF defensive end Carl Eller,  receivers Terrell Owens, Torry Holt, Roy Green, Carl Pickens, Amani Toomer, O.J. McDuffie and Terance Mathis.  Tight Ends Jackie Smith [who was an outstanding tight end with the Cardinals it is too bad he is remembered most for the end of his career when he dropped that touchdown pass in the Super Bowl with the Cowboys} and tight end Russ Francis one of the best tight ends of the 1970’s.

In hockey Miroslav Satan had a pretty good career. It is too bad Satan never got to play with the New Jersey Devils. Imagine the hockey jersey sales on that one.

It comes down to Lane, Brown and Robustelli to me and I have to go with Dick “Night Train” Lane. Lane played in professional football with the Los Angeles Rams 1952-53, Cardinals 1954-59 and Lions 1960-65. He had a record 14 interceptions his rookie season. In his 14 year career he had 68. He was a 7 time All-Pro. He was named the 19th greatest player of all time by The Sporting News in 1999 making him the top ranked defensive back. He was known as a hard hitter who liked to tackle his opponents about the head and neck, which was then legal. His tackle was called a Night Train Necktie.