When I think "linebacker," I picture quarterbacks at the line, a half-flinching stare glued to a rabid Lawrence Taylor.

I picture Mike Singletary's signature stare before the snap - eyes darting from side to side, breath erupting in choppy white bursts of frosty air. I picture Ray Lewis appearing from nowhere to crush a running back who appeared to have nothing but green ahead of him.

An good NFL linebacker must combine the power and punishment of a defensive end with the vision, speed and reaction time of a defensive back. A great NFL linebacker changes the game for both his team and his opponent - disrupting the pass, shutting down the run, and making wide receivers wish they had never attempted to go over the middle.

Taylor's entrance to the NFL not only changed games for his team and his opponents, but it changed the game of football. Offensive coaches created new schemes to work around him with little success, and the mere realization that such an athlete existed sent defensive coordinators dreaming up new attacks as well. For that reason, Taylor tops my list of the Five Greatest NFL LInebackers of All Time.

1. LAWRENCE TAYLOR (New York Giants)
Lawrence Taylor's introduction to the National Football League was a rude one, but not for Taylor. Steelers' Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw remembers his only experience against a rookie Taylor, which came less than two years after Bradshaw earned his fourth Super Bowl ring.

In a 1999 Sports Illustrated article titled "The Michael Jordan of Football," Bradshaw said, "He dang near killed me, I just kept saying, 'Who is this guy?' He kept coming from my blind side and just ripped my ribs to pieces."

The NFL had never seen a linebacker quite like Taylor, who not only recorded 9.5 sacks and earned the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 1981 - he also won NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He is still the first rookie to ever do so. More importantly, his addition to the Giants' defense shaved 168 points off of their allowed scores (425 in 1980, 257 in 1981). NFL statistics didn't start officially counting sacks until Taylor's sophomore season, but if his rookie sacks are included, he ended his 13-year career with 142 sacks (10.9 average), nine interceptions (including two TDs), 33 forced fumbles, and 1,088 tackles. He's also one of only three defensive players to have won the NFL Most Valuable Player award. He won two Super Bowls, earned 10 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances, and was named

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