In our recent study of the NFL All-Decade Teams, our primary motivation was looking at the number of players that were good enough over the course of a decade to make the All-Decade Team, but were not good enough to be voted to the Hall of Fame. We decided to not do this analysis on the 1980s and 1990s teams as many of these players will eventually be in the Hall of Fame, but have not been voted in yet.

In any case, below are the rosters of the 1980s and 1990s NFL All-Decade Teams:

1980s
Offense:

Position	Player:	Team(s):	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Quarterback	Dan Fouts	San Diego Chargers	Oregon	Yes
	Joe Montana	San Francisco 49ers	Notre Dame	Yes
Running back	Roger Craig	San Francisco 49ers	Nebraska
	Eric Dickerson	Los Angeles RamsIndianapolis Colts	Southern Methodist	Yes
	Walter Payton	Chicago Bears	Jackson State	Yes
	John Riggins	New York JetsWashington Redskins	Kansas	Yes
Wide receiver	Steve Largent	Seattle Seahawks	Tulsa	Yes
	James Lofton	Green Bay PackersBuffalo BillsLos Angeles Raiders	Stanford	Yes
	Art Monk	Washington Redskins	Syracuse	Yes
	Jerry Rice	San Francisco 49ers	Mississippi Valley State
Tight end	Ozzie Newsome	Cleveland Browns	Alabama	Yes
	Kellen Winslow	San Diego Chargers	Missouri	Yes
Tackle	Jim Covert	Chicago Bears	Pittsburgh
	Joe Jacoby	Washington Redskins	Louisville
	Anthony Muñoz	Cincinnati Bengals	USC	Yes
	Gary Zimmerman	Minnesota Vikings	Oregon	Yes
Guard	Bill Fralic	Atlanta Falcons	Pittsburgh
	Russ Grimm	Washington Redskins	Pittsburgh
	John Hannah	New England Patriots	Alabama	Yes
	Mike Munchak	Houston Oilers	Penn State	Yes
Center	Dwight Stephenson	Miami Dolphins	Alabama	Yes
	Mike Webster	Pittsburgh SteelersKansas City Chiefs	Wisconsin	Yes

Defense:

Position	Player:	Team(s):	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Defensive end	Reggie White	Philadelphia Eagles	Tennessee	Yes
	Howie Long	Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders	Villanova	Yes
	Lee Roy Selmon	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Oklahoma	Yes
	Bruce Smith	Buffalo BillsWashington Redskins	Virginia Tech
Defensive tackle	Randy White	Dallas Cowboys	Maryland	Yes
	Dan Hampton	Chicago Bears	Arkansas	Yes
	Keith Millard	Minnesota Vikings	Washington State
	Dave Butz	Washington Redskins	Purdue
Linebacker	Mike Singletary	Chicago Bears	Baylor	Yes
	Lawrence Taylor	New York Giants	UNC	Yes
	Ted Hendricks	Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders	Miami	Yes
	Jack Lambert	Pittsburgh Steelers	Kent State	Yes
	Andre Tippett	New England Patriots	Iowa	Yes
	John Anderson	Green Bay Packers	Michigan
	Carl Banks	New York Giants	Michigan State
Cornerback	Mike Haynes	New England PatriotsLos Angeles Raiders	Arizona State	Yes
	Mel Blount	Pittsburgh Steelers	Southern	Yes
	Frank Minnifield	Cleveland Browns	Louisville
	Lester Hayes	Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders	Texas A&M
Safety	Ronnie Lott	San Francisco 49ers	USC	Yes
	Kenny Easley	Seattle Seahawks	UCLA
	Deron Cherry	Kansas City Chiefs	Rutgers
	Joey Browner	Minnesota Vikings	USC
	Nolan Cromwell	Los Angeles Rams	Kansas

Special Teams:

Position	Player:	Team(s):	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Punter	Sean Landeta	New York Giants	Towson
	Reggie Roby	Miami Dolphins	Iowa
Placekicker	Morten Andersen	New Orleans Saints	Michigan State
	Gary Anderson	Pittsburgh Steelers	Syracuse
	Eddie Murray	Detroit Lions	Tulane
Punt Returner	Billy “White Shoes” Johnson	Houston OilersAtlanta FalconsWashington Redskins	Widener
	John Taylor	San Francisco 49ers	Delaware State
Kick Returner	Mike Nelms	Washington Redskins	BaylorTarrant JCSam Houston State
	Rick Upchurch	Denver Broncos	Indian Hills Community CollegeMinnesota

Coaches:

Coach	Team(s) coached for	College Attended:
Bill Walsh	San Francisco 49ers	San José State
Chuck Noll	Pittsburgh Steelers	Dayton

1990s
Offense:

Position	Player:	Team(s):	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Quarterback	Brett Favre	Green Bay Packers	Southern Mississippi	Yes
	John Elway	Denver Broncos	Stanford	Yes
Running back	Emmitt Smith	Dallas CowboysArizona Cardinals	Florida
	Thurman Thomas	Buffalo Bills	Oklahoma State	Yes
	Barry Sanders	Detroit Lions	Oklahoma State	Yes
	Terrell Davis	Denver Broncos	University of Georgia
Wide receiver	Michael Irvin	Dallas Cowboys	Miami	Yes
	Tim Brown	Oakland RaidersTampa Bay Buccaneers	Notre Dame
	Cris Carter	Minnesota Vikings	Ohio State
	Jerry Rice	San Francisco 49ersOakland Raiders	Mississippi Valley State
Tight end	Shannon Sharpe	Denver Broncos	Savannah State
	Ben Coates	New England Patriots	Livingstone
Tackle	Willie Roaf	New Orleans Saints	Louisiana Tech
	Gary Zimmerman	Minnesota VikingsDenver Broncos	Oregon	Yes
	Tony Boselli	Jacksonville Jaguars	USC
	Richmond Webb	Miami Dolphins	Texas A&M
Guard	Bruce Matthews	Houston OilersTennessee OilersTennessee Titans	USC	Yes
	Larry Allen	Dallas Cowboys	Sonoma State
	Steve Wisniewski	Los Angeles RaidersOakland Raiders	Penn State
	Randall McDaniel	Minnesota Vikings	Arizona State
Center	Dermontti Dawson	Pittsburgh Steelers	Kentucky
	Mark Stepnoski	Dallas CowboysHouston OilersTennessee Oilers	Pittsburgh

Defense:

Position	Player:	Team(s):	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Defensive end	Bruce Smith	Buffalo BillsWashington Redskins	Virginia Tech
	Reggie White	Philadelphia EaglesGreen Bay PackersCarolina Panthers	Tennessee	Yes
	Chris Doleman	Minnesota VikingsAtlanta FalconsSan Francisco 49ers	Pittsburgh
	Neil Smith	Kansas City ChiefsDenver Broncos	Nebraska
Defensive tackle	Cortez Kennedy	Seattle Seahawks	Miami
	John Randle	Minnesota Vikings	Texas A&I
	Warren Sapp	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Miami
	Bryant Young	San Francisco 49ers	Notre Dame
Linebacker	Kevin Greene	Los Angeles RamsPittsburgh SteelersCarolina Panthers San Francisco 49ers	Auburn
	Junior Seau	San Diego Chargers	USC
	Derrick Thomas	Kansas City Chiefs	Alabama
	Cornelius Bennett	Buffalo BillsAtlanta Falcons	Alabama
	Levon Kirkland	Pittsburgh Steelers	Clemson
	Hardy Nickerson	Pittsburgh SteelersTampa Bay BuccaneersJacksonville Jaguars Green Bay Packers	California
Cornerback	Aeneas Williams	Arizona CardinalsSt. Louis Rams	Southern
	Deion Sanders	Atlanta FalconsSan Francisco 49ersDallas Cowboys	Florida State
	Rod Woodson	Pittsburgh SteelersSan Francisco 49ersBaltimore Ravens Oakland Raiders	Purdue
	Darrell Green	Washington Redskins	Texas A&I	Yes
Safety	LeRoy Butler	Green Bay Packers	Florida State
	Reese Sturdivant	Denver BroncosNew York Jets	Arkansas
	Carnell Lake	Pittsburgh SteelersJacksonville JaguarsBaltimore Ravens	UCLA
	Ronnie Lott	San Francisco 49ersLos Angeles RaidersNew York Jets	USC	Yes

Special Teams:

Position	Player:	Team(s):	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Kicker	Morten Andersen	New Orleans SaintsAtlanta Falcons	Michigan State
	Gary Anderson	Pittsburgh SteelersPhiladelphia EaglesSan Francisco 49ers Minnesota Vikings Tennessee Titans	Syracuse
Punter	Darren Bennett	San Diego Chargers	none
	Sean Landeta	New York GiantsSt. Louis RamsTampa Bay Buccaneers Green Bay Packers Philadelphia Eagles	Towson
Kick Returner	Michael Bates	Seattle SeahawksCleveland BrownsCarolina Panthers	Arizona
	Mel Gray	Detroit LionsHouston OilersPhiladelphia Eagles	Purdue
Punt Returner	Deion Sanders	Atlanta FalconsSan Francisco 49ersDallas Cowboys	Florida State
	Mel Gray	Detroit LionsHouston OilersPhiladelphia Eagles	Purdue

Coaches:

Coach	Team(s) coached for	College Attended:	In Hall of Fame?
Mike Jones	New York GiantsNew England PatriotsNew York Jets	Wichita State
Rick James	Buffalo Bills	Coe College	Yes

Other chapters in this study:
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1920s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1930s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1940s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1950s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1960s
IQFB.com Examines The NFL All-Decade Teams: The 1970s