I heard Terry Bradshaw interviewed today, and he was asked an interesting question:

"You played with 9 Hall of Famers. Who was the best player you ever played with?"

Bradshaw not only did not hedge; he didn't hesitate. He also didn't name a number of contenders. Instead, he said that one player was "by far" the best player he was ever on a team with.

Who?

I'm guessing Franco Harris. Pittsburgh in the 1970s. What a team that was!

I'll try Lynn Swann, one of the all time great receivers! IMHO.

Mark

Jack Lambert would be my guess

And, naturally, a USC alumnus.

Swanny sounds like a good choice to me.

(He was in a game against whom I don't recall - Ohio State, perhaps - and made a series of spectacular catches. Toward the end of the game he was running a crossing pattern about 15 yards downfield, and Paul McDonald threw the ball, untouched, right into his hands, chest high. Swanny dropped it. The announcer's comment was perfect: "Don't throw it into my hands; throw it on the ground, ten yards behind me, where I can catch it!")

None of those answers would have surprised me, nor would a few others (including Bradshaw's actual choice). What did surprise me was that Bradshaw considered the question a complete no-brainer. What surprised and impressed me was that he was willing to express that opinion without qualification (or diplomacy, if you prefer!)

Bradshaw's response? Joe Greene.

I would have guessed mean Joe.

I would have hedged with Rocky Blier.