Deion Sanders, Randy Moss and the 20 Coolest Players in NFL History

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Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin and Ray Lewis. All awesome and all for different reasons.

Throughout sports there are players who stand out not only because of their prowess on the field, but because of another special quality:

Coolness. 

It is so powerful that they don't even have to be the best at their position, though it helps.  

Ballin' out is always bonus swag points. 

The following is a collection of players who have something about them that just can't quite be put into words.  

Hate em' or love em', here they are.  

Tony Romo

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Yes...Romo squeaked his way onto the list.  

Hate him or love him, Romo is cool just because he's such a kid in a candy store as an NFL quarterback. 

The guy chills like a true bro and hooks up with American Idol winners, what more can you ask for?  

Merton Hanks

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His goofy, lanky body is perfectly suited for his trademark celebration, the funky chicken.  

I'll be honest that dance is really the only reason he's on the list. Merton was ahead of his time.  

Tony Siragusa

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The goose.  

Tony Siragusa is cool in a Tony Soprano kind of way.  

Big guys need some loving too.

He's a big giant Italian who's awesome at defensive tackle, how is that not cool?

Deacon Jones

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Deacon is old school.  

He was one of the first great pass rushers and perfected the head slap, a move eventually banned by the league.  

Jones is velvet smooth like Issac Hayes.  

Santonio Holmes

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Santonio knows how to party.

Holmes was photographed celebrating with some bubbly like a true baller after signing his contract this offseason.  

Oh yeah, "time to wake n' bake" was allegedly tweeted from Holmes account in 2010.  He responded by saying his account was hacked and the tweet was deleted.  

Cool. 

Andre Rison

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When a member of TLC allegedly burns down your house because you dogged her, chances are your're operating at fairly high levels of cool.  

Add the nickname Spiderman with crazy 90s hammer flow and you've got a recipe for some style.  

Eric Dickerson

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If you can rock sports goggles and still look fly, you know you've got some swag.  

Dickerson stepped onto the field looking like RoboCop.  

If you come out looking like the kid who's mom had him decked out in every piece of equipment possible to go roller blading in the driveway, you better have some serious skills.  

Dickerson had game with flow to back it up, a lethal combination.  

Jared Allen

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Jared Allen is redneck cool, if there is such a thing. 

Although, going stealth mode and launching spears from trees at large animals is pretty sweet.  

Ricky Watters

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Ricky "running" Watters. 

Watters personified the 90s. Loud, full of swag, and could back it up. 

He reminds me of LL Cool J's character in Any Given Sunday.  

Joe Namath

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You knew he had to be on the list somewhere. 

Joe Willy earned a spot as eternally cool once he started rocking fur coats and guaranteeing Super Bowl wins. 

Ray Lewis

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His entrance onto the field alone is reason enough to have him on this list. 

That dance is half ancient warrior, half Deion hop.  

Lewis' ferocity and love of the game make him truly cool.  

He's able to maintain his own identity and style while being one of the great leaders in NFL history.

Randall Cunningham

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Randall Cunningham was Mike Vick before Mike Vick. 

His personality was just as dynamic as his ability on the field. 

Barry Sanders

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Barry's running style is really what makes him worthy of this list, rather than his personality. 

He turned running the football into a performance.  

When he had the ball in his hands it was his show.  

Bonus points for retiring early. 

Ronnie Lott

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Ronnie Lott knocked dudes out. 

Lott was toughness personified.  He once chose to have part of his finger removed instead of surgery so that he could come back to play.  

In the world of football, cutting off your pinky to play is real cool. 

Randy Moss

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Straight cash, homie. 

A smooth response to, "How are you going to pay your fines?"

Randy chills, hard. 

Let's be honest, he played half speed a lot and he still ran down the field and caught balls off of people's heads his entire career. 

Michael Vick

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OK, Mike's had his issues in the past. 

Still, Vick's levels of chill were so astronomically high that leaving him off the list would have been impossible.  

His combination of fresh gear, unique playing style and raw athletic ability make him one of the coolest players of all time.

Lawrence Taylor

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LT intimidated opposing quarterbacks a way few players ever have. 

The lightning bolt earring, the towel and gold teeth were just icing on the cake.  

Jim Brown

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What is there to say. 

He dominated the game in a way that no one had seen up until that point

Brown left the game in his prime to become a movie star.  

A rebel who's ahead of his time is always cool.  

Michael Irvin

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The playmaker. 

The star on the Cowboys' helmet seems to attract a certain amount of awesomeness.  

Irvin's end zone celebrations are some of the best in NFL history.  

From his days at Miami to the pros, Irvin had the juice. 

Deion Sanders

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When your nickname is Prime Time you're going to be on a list of coolest players. 

Deion took things to another level. 

Sanders is the pope of swagger.