As many of you know NFL Network is running down the list of the top 100 players in the NFL as voted on by NFL players. Last night was No. 40-31 on the countdown and Kansas City Chiefs LB Tamba Hali landed at No. 34.
We posted a few quick quotes last night but I looped back around this morning and transcribed all the players talking about Hali being a pretty big badass.
Here it is...
Former Chiefs RB Thomas Jones: "Football is his life. You can tell. I get to the stadium at 10 and the game starts at 12. As soon as I walk into the locker room he's coming in from the field and already drenched in sweat with his football uniform on already. And I'm just getting to the stadium. That's a testamant to how serious he is about football and about his position."
Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick: "Tamba Hali has a lot of speed off the edge. High motor guy. He's never going to quit. A lot of time you're going to have to put someone over there to help out the tackle. He's a premiere defensive end in the league."
Dolphins OT Jake Long: "He's got so many different pass rush moves it makes it hard to block him. He's got great speed. Great quickness off the ball. He can time off the snap. He has speed off the edge. He can put his head down and bull you. He's strong. He has a great inside move. You have to prepare for all three of those things when you play against him. He's one of those guys that plays through the whistle. He's always running down and jumping on the pile. He's running quarterbacks down from behind."
49ers QB Alex Smith: "Maybe not a household name that some of these other defensive ends and outside linebackers are but he's all the player. Sometimes you see that all they care about is the sacks. They don't play the run nearly as tough because all they're worried about is getting their numbers. He's not that guy. He's a guy that takes pride in playing tough every single snap and just does it all."
Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers: "The name Tamba Hali brings a smile to my face every time. Offensive tackles have a long day when they're facing this guy. Every snap he's trying to get to the quarterback and he's very successful. To me, he's one of the top players in the game, the way he impacts it and causes turnovers. You have to game plan for Tamba Hali."