The NFL's All Decade Team.

The National Football League has unveiled its 2000-2009 All Decade Team. At first glance Jason and I had a few gripes, but after a little research and numbers crunching I think the Hall of Fame Voters Committee hit the nail on the head.

Quarterbacks: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Get out of here if you’ve got an argument with this. The man with the most Super Bowl wins and the man with every record and stat known to man. no brainer, Brady and Manning are the shoe-ins.

Running Backs: Shaun Alexander, LaDainian Tomlinson, Edgerrin James and Jamal Lewis.

Now here’s one of the few positions that we raised an eyebrow to. Only LT jumps off the page as a dominant RB over the decade, but Jamal Lewis? Shaun Alexander? The Edge? Didn’t these dudes only do it big for a couple of seasons then fall into obscurity? Not so fast…

Jamal Lewis may be the most deserving guy in this pack. Lewis came into the league in 2000, and spent the entire 2001 season in prison. So if you take his drug dealing out of the question and go by the numbers, Jamal Lewis rushed for over 1,000-yards 7 out of the 9 seasons he played, and in 2003 rushed for over 2,ooo-yards averaging 129 yards per game. Lewis finished the decade with over 10,000-yards on the ground in only 9 seasons, a Super Bowl win, and a 2,000-yard season. That’s a great resume for a 10 year span.

Edgerrin James, even as a Colts fan I thought this was a bit of a stretch. But his numbers certainly give him the credentials to be on this list. Edge rushed for over 1,000-yards 6 times, averaging over 1,500-yards per season from 2000-2007 and only playing in all 16 games in 4 of those 7 seasons. Edgerrin was also a very accomplished receiver catching over 50 passes 5 times in the decade.

Shaun Alexander, possibly the least deserving of the group. But I will say he still does deserve to be mentioned here. Shaun was definitely the guy who just dominated for a couple years and just disappeared. Alexander gained 9,453-yards in his 9  year career. He broke the NFL single season touchdowns record for a running back with 27 scores, only to be broken the following year by LaDainian Tomlinson. But after his record setting 2005 season Alexander never played another full season, never broke the 1,000-yard plateau and couldn’t find a job as an NFL running back last season. Shaun Alexander had 5 great seasons and kind of just fell off the face of the earth.

Wide Receivers: Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss.

The only question I had here was Torry Holt.  A member of “The Greatest Show on Turf”, those early 2000′s St. Louis Rams teams that scored points at will. I don’t know why I questioned this, Holt’s stats are ridiculous. Over 12,000-receiving yards in the decade, averaged over 90 catches a year from 2000-2007, great hands and just a big time deep threat. Torry Holt is a great receiver, not an all-time great but certainly among the best in the decade. I can’t find anyone to replace him on the list.

Tight End: Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez.

Again, no contest. These two are all-time greats, revolutionized the position and made the Tight End more than just an extra blocker or dump off target. These two may be the most deserving and easiest picks on the list.

Offensive Line: Walter Jones, Johnathon Ogden, Orlando Pace, Willy Roaf, Larry Allen, Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson, Will Shields, Olin Kreutz, Kevin Mawaet

I won’t really go into the O-Line cause that’s kind of a tough position to break down and argue. These are all perennial Pro Bowlers and Hall of Fame lineman.

Defensive Ends: Dwight Freeney, Michael Strahan, Julius Peppers, Jason Taylor.

Just like for Edgerrin James, as a Colts fan I felt it a little odd that Freeney made this list. But upon further review he is very deserving. Breaking into the NFL in 2002, Dwight has made a name for himself as one of the elite pass rushers averaging 10.5 sacks a year and making 5 Pro Bowls in his 8 year career.

The other three are shoe-in’s who I assumed would have much better stats than Freeney, but that’s not really the case. All four Ends are relatively evenly matched and if anything Strahan just had 3 MONSTER seasons and kind of fell off. But you can’t argue the leader of those great Giants’ defenses and the single season sacks record holder doesn’t belong.

Defensive Tackles: La’Roi Glover, Warren Sapp, Richard Seymour, Kevin Williams.

Easily the most controversial list here… Richard Seymour only played Tackle for 2 seasons before moving to Defensive End when the Patriots changed to a 3-4 defense in 2003, how is he here as a DT? And no Vince Wilfork? No Shaun Rodgers? Rodgers has about 100 more tackles than Glover and Wilfork about 100 more than Williams. I guess this is another tough position to judge talent and dominance but those 2 names jumped out at me when I think of D Tackles and I was surprised to not see them on the list.

Linebackers: Derrick Brooks, Ray Lewis, Joey Porter, Zach Thomas, Brian Urlacher, DeMarcus Ware.

I was really surprised to see Thomas and Urlacher on this list. Zach Thomas played for a long time, has over 1,700 tackles and 17 interceptions. But only 20 sacks. Urlacher has 17 interceptions, 37 sacks and over 700 tackles in just 8 seasons. I really tried to find a Linebacker out there to replace these two but I couldn’t. Their numbers hold up.

Saftey: Brian Dawkins, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Darren Sharper.

If anything Polamalu’s age and injuries could keep him off this list, but if you can find another Saftey to replace him go ahead and do it. There isn’t one. This is an easy position to fill for an All Decade team. Reed, Dawkins and Sharper have been holding it down forever and Polamalu plays the position so wildly that he deserves his spot.

Cornerback: Ronde Barber, Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson, Ty Law.

I’ll say Bailey and Woodson are two of the best Corners of all-time. Barber and Law are definitely in the conversation. Another no brainer. The Young guys Revis and Asomugha are in the same league as these guys but they just need to do it for a few more years before they can take anything away from this list.

Kicker: David Akers, Adam Vinatieri.

Akers doesn’t have that high of a percentage when compared to Vanderjagt but he has more points and Vanderjagt didn’t even do kickoffs, so I can’t put Vandy ahead of Akers. and Vinatieri has 4 Super Bowl wins and is known around the world as the most clutch kicker in NFL history, so I’d say he belongs.

Punter: Shane Lechler, Brian Moorman.

Who cares?

Punt Returner: Dante Hall, Devin Hester.

Yea, no contest. Dante Hall, “The X Factor” made returning HUGE in his days. Hester made himself a household name by returning kicks for the Bears and turned himself from a mediocre Defensive Back to a legitimate Wide Receiver based off his kick return ability.

Kickoff Returner: Josh Cribbs, Dante Hall.

Cribbs has set the all-time returns touchdown mark in just a few seasons and again, Dante Hall…. he’s the X factor.

I think they got it almost 100% right with this list. These players are the cream of the crop of this decade and belong on this list. I thought we had a couple of impostors here, but after further review these guys earned their spots.