GOAT Index
Two legends at a time. Thousands of votes. One ranking.
Who is the greatest NFL player of all time?
Who's greater?
Standings
About you
OptionalThis lets the standings split by age and region, so you can see where generations and continents disagree. Votes are anonymous: no name or email is ever collected.
NFL GOAT ranking: the fans' top 25
Based on 67 head-to-head votes from 5 fans. Updated live.
- Tom Brady QB · Patriots, Buccaneers · rating 1924 · 5–0
- Aaron Rodgers QB · Packers · rating 1806 · 5–1
- Patrick Mahomes QB · Chiefs · rating 1784 · 3–0
- Dan Marino QB · Dolphins · rating 1752 · 3–0
- Joe Montana QB · 49ers · rating 1686 · 5–3
- Peyton Manning QB · Colts, Broncos · rating 1679 · 3–1
- Deion Sanders CB · Falcons, 49ers, Cowboys · rating 1651 · 3–1
- Brett Favre QB · Packers · rating 1613 · 3–2
- Randy Moss WR · Vikings, Patriots · rating 1607 · 5–3
- Jerry Rice WR · 49ers · rating 1596 · 3–1
- Emmitt Smith RB · Cowboys · rating 1581 · 4–2
- John Elway QB · Broncos · rating 1564 · 3–2
- Aaron Donald DT · Rams · rating 1528 · 4–4
- Ray Lewis LB · Ravens · rating 1498 · 3–4
- J.J. Watt DE · Texans · rating 1496 · 1–1
- Barry Sanders RB · Lions · rating 1452 · 2–2
- Lawrence Taylor LB · Giants · rating 1445 · 1–2
- Reggie White DE · Eagles, Packers · rating 1432 · 2–3
- Walter Payton RB · Bears · rating 1401 · 1–2
- Dick Butkus LB · Bears · rating 1399 · 2–4
- LaDainian Tomlinson RB · Chargers · rating 1399 · 2–3
- Joe Greene DT · Steelers · rating 1389 · 1–2
- Ronnie Lott S · 49ers · rating 1368 · 0–2
- Bruce Smith DE · Bills · rating 1311 · 1–4
- Johnny Unitas QB · Colts · rating 1309 · 0–1
Popular NFL matchups
- Tom Brady vs Jerry Rice
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- Jerry Rice vs Joe Montana
- Jerry Rice vs Peyton Manning
- Jerry Rice vs Walter Payton
- Jim Brown vs Lawrence Taylor
- Jim Brown vs Joe Montana
- Jim Brown vs Peyton Manning
- Jim Brown vs Walter Payton
- Lawrence Taylor vs Joe Montana
- Lawrence Taylor vs Peyton Manning
- Lawrence Taylor vs Walter Payton
- Joe Montana vs Peyton Manning
- Joe Montana vs Walter Payton
- Peyton Manning vs Walter Payton
Questions
Who is the NFL GOAT according to fans?
Tom Brady currently leads the GOAT Index NFL ranking after 67 head-to-head votes from 5 fans.
How is the ranking calculated?
Fans vote on head-to-head matchups between two legends. Every vote counts like a game result, and a Bradley–Terry model (the idea behind chess ratings) turns thousands of results into one ranking, where beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot.
More GOAT debates
Men: NBA · Men's football · Men's tennis · MLB · NHL · Men's boxing · Formula 1 · Men's table tennis
Women: Women's basketball · Women's football · Women's tennis · Women's ice hockey · Women's boxing · Women's table tennis
How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.
One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.
Anonymous by design. No account needed. A quick bot check from Cloudflare runs once when you arrive, and your votes are tied to a random ID kept in your browser, not to your name or email. Privacy policy.
Photo credits
Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses listed. Each links to its source page.