NFL.com senior analyst Gil Brandt saw enough of Reggie White terrorizing the Cowboys during his 29-year tenure as Dallas' vice president of player personnel that he couldn't help but put the Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end atop his personal list of the all-time greatest at the position.
White is the Eagles' all-time leader in sacks with 124 in just 121 games, including a team-record 21 in 1987. White earned seven Pro Bowl appearances during his eight-year stint with the Eagles and earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1987 and 1991. He was named to the NFL's All-Decade Teams of the 1980s and 1990s, the 75th Anniversary Teams of both the Eagles and the NFL, and was voted first-team All-Pro 10 times in his 15-year career.
The Minister of Defense was selected No. 4 overall in the 1984 Supplemental Draft, while White was playing for the Memphis Showboats of the USFL. He made his NFL debut in Week 4 of the 1985 season and he generated 2.5 sacks and tipped a pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He finished the year with 13 sacks in 13 games, and was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year.
After accumulating 18 sacks in his second season, White earned the first of 13 consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl. In the strike-shortened 1987 season, White had an astounding 21 sacks, a league high and franchise record, in 12 games. He left the Eagles following the 1992 season and signed with the Green Bay Packers. He concluded his career with the Carolina Panthers in 2000.
White passed away due to respiratory failure on December 26, 2004 at the age of 43. He was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection in 2006.
