Athletes approaching 7 feet tall are generally not suited to playing soccer. they dominate on the basketball court and dive easily.
Football, however, is a sport where bigger is often better. We’ve already looked at some of the heaviest players in NFL history, and trust me when I say they’re some terrifyingly strong guys. but have you considered who are the tallest nfl players to ever wear an nfl jersey?
Reading: Tallest person in the nfl
It turns out that if you look at the tallest players in every position in the history of the game, you’ll find a lot of interesting players and stories behind them. For example, on this list you’ll find the brother of one of the greatest hitters in baseball, a man whose nickname was “too tall,” and a tight end whose height caused a permanent change in NFL rules. . . oh, and simply the only perfect score on a wonderful exam in history.
Being tall doesn’t necessarily equate to dominance on the football field, but it doesn’t hurt to have a few inches (or feet) on an opponent. I scoured the internet to find the tallest of the tallest, so without further ado, here’s a team full of the tallest players in the NFL by position.
qb: dan mcgwire, 6ft 8
dan mcgwire’s last name should sound familiar because he’s the brother of former mlb slugger mark mcgwire.
dan played quarterback at san diego state university in 1990 and became a first round pick by the seattle seahawks in 1991 ahead of a guy named brett favre. this brother of mcgwire didn’t have nearly the same professional success.
he only lasted five seasons in the nfl, he played the last one with the miami dolphins and threw two touchdowns and six interceptions in that span. The 6-foot-8 quarterback may have had the size to look over the offensive line, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a first-round bust.
rb: bert coan, 6’5 feet
bert coan played running back for the chiefs in super bowl 1 and i had a chance to interview him today. He is very excited to see the chiefs play next Sunday! pic.twitter.com/pkjd03bbn7
— tim wolf (@timwolftv) January 24, 2020
running backs are often some of the shortest players on the field. no bert coan his 6-foot-5 frame and incredible speed (he reportedly ran a 9.5 in the 100-yard dash) means he probably would have been better suited to play wide receiver or cornerback, but maybe time he didn’t. I don’t have hands.
coan played running back for tcu and kansas before playing seven seasons in the afl for the san diego chargers and kansas city chiefs in the 1960s. he recorded just 19 touchdowns and 1,259 rushing yards, which proves that speed doesn’t always translate to the grid.
wr: harold carmichael, 6ft 8
harold carmichael, at 6-foot-8, may well be the tallest player in the pro football hall of fame. forget about randy moss or calvin johnson, this guy would have been a cheat code if he was freaking out today.
carmichael was a quarterback in high school before switching to wide receiver in college. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys from 1971 to 1984 and was a four-time Pro Bowl player, a three-time All-Pro, and a leader in receiving yards and receiving yards in 1973. The towering receiver caught 590 passes for 8,985 yards. and 79 touchdowns, proving that no one can really cover a man his size.
te: morris stroud, 6ft 10
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related: the 20 dirtiest players in the nfl did more than just face their opponents
morris stroud was a ridiculous 6ft 10 and even had a ruler named after him.
Stroud played tight end for the Chiefs in the 1960s and 1970s, when players were still allowed to attempt to block a field goal by jumping from under the goalpost. the nfl’s “stroud rule” now states that “any player jumping to deflect a kick when it goes over the crossbar of a goal post is prohibited from seeking a goal.” unfair act.”
Stroud also had seven touchdowns and won Super Bowl IV with the Chiefs, but will always be known for his goal-scoring skills.
ot: dan pattern, 6 feet 10
The skipper carried a 6-foot-10, 325-pound frame while playing at Arkansas, where he became an all-second first-team offensive lineman. He was not drafted in 2017, but was signed by the Dallas Cowboys. Since then he has been hired to practice squads for the Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions.
although the offensive tackle has played in few nfl games, he won a super bowl with the patriots in 2019. he also made his first career start in 2022 at age 28, which produced an incredible moment after the game .
ot: jonathan ogden, 6ft 9
ogden is a member of the college and professional football hall of fame and did so at a height of 6 feet 9 inches.
one of the best tackles in nfl history, he starred as an all-american at ucla before the baltimore ravens selected him fourth overall in the 1996 nfl draft. he spent his entire career 12 years in the nfl protecting quarterbacks in baltimore, where he made 11 professional bowls and won a super bowl.
Ogden wasn’t just a great man, he was a great football player. He also had an inch or two over many of the game’s tallest offensive linemen like Trent Brown, Jared Veldheer and Alejandro Villanueva. there are currently some linemen in 2022 who are listed at the same height.
k: neil o’donoghue, 6’6 feet
o’donoghue might be the most interesting man on this list because he’s 6ft 6in and was born in ireland.
That’s right, the Dublin native came to the United States in the 1970s to play soccer for Saint Bernard University. When the program disbanded, he transferred to SEC Auburn University, where he became an all-American kicker and is still tied for the longest field goal in school history with 57 yards.
o’donoghue played for the bills, tampa bay buccaneers and st. louis cardinals in the 1970s and 1980s before his luck ran out. he finished his career with a 59.3 field goal percentage.
p: pat mcinally, 6 foot 6
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perfect score on the wonderlic quiz. that’s all i should say about pat mcinally.
however, it is not. The 6-foot-6 Harvard grad shows why special teams players are the best. this brainiac was a two-time all-ivy player before earning the only verified perfect score on the wonder quiz.
“It really seemed like an easy test at the time,” he said once. “One of the reasons I did so well is because I thought it didn’t matter. So I guess I didn’t feel any pressure at all. It was more of a joke, and that’s when you do your best. If I take 100 times, I’d probably never do it again.”
mcinnati played for the cincinnati bengals from 1976 to 1985 and earned a pro bowl and all-pro selection in 1981. unsurprisingly, he worked to help young athletes score better on their sats after his career As a player. I’d say that’s probably his calling.
dt: richard sligh, 7 feet
on this date 50 years ago, the cincinnati bengals selected 7’0″ richard sligh in an expansion draft. sligh, who played for the raiders in 1967, was the tallest player in nfl history. pic.twitter.com/qlrtt0vdek
: quirky research (@quirkyresearch) January 17, 2018
At 7 feet tall, defensive tackle Richard Sligh is the tallest NFL player on our list.
played for north carolina central university and played exactly one season as an afl rookie with the oakland raiders. Sligh played in only eight games and was on the bench when the Raiders faced the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II, but he will live forever as the tallest man to ever step foot on a football field.
from: ed “too tall” jones, 6ft 9
It’s fitting that a man whose nickname was “too tall” should fall here. Defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones actually got the nickname when he dropped out of basketball at Tennessee State University to play on the football team. He became a dominant college football lineman, racking up 38 career sacks himself before the Cowboys selected him first in the 1974 NFL draft.
ed jones enjoyed a fine career with the cowboys in the 1970s and 1980s, winning three pro bowls and three pro selections, as well as winning a super bowl. he had 57.5 sacks, and I can only imagine what it’s like for a quarterback to see such a tall defensive lineman rush him.
lb: ted hendricks, 6-foot-7
ted “the mad stork” hendricks was one of the greatest defensive players of all time. That’s partly because the linebacker was 6-foot-7 and had 26 interceptions in his career.
Hendricks played for the Colts, Packers and Raiders from 1969 to 1983 and brought home a host of teams when he retired. He won four Super Bowls, earned eight trips to the Pro Bowl and was a first-team player on NFL All-Decade teams in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Crazy Stork was inducted into the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame for his beastly game.
cb: brandon browner, 6ft 4
Browner became part of the Seattle Seahawks boom defense legion between 2011 and 2013. The 6-foot-4 cornerback also played for the Patriots and New Orleans Saints, winning two Super Bowls in all.
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When I was in the field, it was a tight corner. the 38-year-old is now serving eight years in prison for attempted murder in 2018.
s: pat watkins, 6ft 5
Watkins played college football at Florida State University before the Cowboys selected him in the fifth round of the 2006 draft. The towering safety quickly made it out of the NFL and tried his hand at the Canadian Football League between 2012 and 2016.
Still, 6ft 5in is huge for anyone, let alone insurance.
honorable mentions
- calais campbell, 6ft 8in (arizona cardinals, jacksonville jaguars, baltimore ravens)
- lenny walls, 6ft 4cb (denver broncos, denver city chiefs kansas, st . louis rams)
- jared veldheer, 6ft 8c (oakland raiders, arizona cardinals, denver broncos, green bay packers, indianapolis colts)
- brandon jacobs, 6ft -4 rb (new york giants, san francisco 49ers)
This post was originally published on July 6, 2020.
See also: Allonzo Trier Is in the Game – The New York Times