Marcus Allen, Bart Starr, Phil Simms … I couldn’t get them on the list of 10 greatest Super Bowl players ever. That’s a lot of Super Bowl MVPs and records left off. Kurt Warner, Franco Harris, Steve Young and John Riggins also want to have a word, I’m sure. This was a very hard exercise. We put the list together to give a legacy reference point for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as he heads into his sixth Super Bowl. He’s in the top 10 already, a pretty exclusive club. A few rules: Multiple Super Bowl appearances matter, but it’s not a requirement get on the list. I’d take a player with one great Super Bowl over two decent ones. [ Watch the Super Bowl live on Yahoo Sports and NBC Sports - Sunday at 6 p.m. ET ] This is only about Super Bowls in a vacuum. Nobody would argue that Timmy Smith was a better NFL player than Dan Marino, but Smith and his 204-yard game in Super Bowl XXII would rank higher on this list than Marino. It’s just Super Bowl performances. Also, a ton of great Super Bowl players got left off. There are 10 spots for 48 games. Not everyone can make it. I considered anyone you will complain about me leaving off, trust me. Here’s the top 10 greatest Super Bowl players ever:* 10. Manny Fernandez, Miami Dolphins DT (VI, VII, VIII) Fernandez played in three Super Bowls, winning two, and he had one of the great performances in the game’s history. He had 17 tackles in Super Bowl VII from the defensive line, and Washington never scored an offensive touchdown. That’s unbelievable. Fernandez had a sack in each of his three Super Bowls (according to the invaluable resource for this list pro-football-reference.com ; sacks weren’t an official stat then). He deserved to win Super Bowl VII MVP, but he’ll have to settle for two rings and being one of the greatest Super Bowl players ever. 9. Timmy Smith, Washington Redskins RB (XXII) Smith’s great game has been lost a bit because he didn’t have a great career. But it was phenomenal in Super Bowl XXII, and it’s honestly baffling how he didn’t win Super Bowl MVP. Smith had 204 yards, and only one other player has more than 166 in a Super Bowl (Marcus Allen’s 191). Smith had 131 yards in the first half, and his first half alone would be the 10th-best rushing game in Super Bowl history. Think about that. They weren’t garbage yards; his big first half helped a 35-point second quarter. He had more career Super Bowl rushing yards than Roger Craig, who played in three Super Bowls, and just as many rushing yards as Thurman Thomas, who played in four. It’s hard to believe but Smith had just 602 yards during a short 22-game NFL career. I know there are some great players who didn’t make it, but Smith had arguably the greatest game in Super Bowl history. He belongs on this list. 8. Larry Csonka, Miami Dolphins RB (VI, VII, VIII) Csonka is the only player on the list of top 10 rushing attempts in Super Bowls, and top 10 yards per carry. So he was a workhorse and darn efficient at it too. Csonka and his 5.2-yard-per-carry average got a Super Bowl MVP trophy in Super Bowl VIII. He could have been the Super Bowl VII MVP with another 100-yard day, barely missing out on being the only non-quarterback with two Super Bowl MVP awards. 7. Tom Brady, New England Patriots QB (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLII, XLVI) I had a hard time with Brady. I didn’t want to go just on volume. On Sunday he’ll be the second player to appear in six Super Bowls, which is more a testament to what he has accomplished before the Super Bowl than in it. But his resume isn’t bad. He has had three 90-plus quarterback ratings, but also two in the 80s. He did lead two drives that ended in game-winning field goals, would have had a third game-winning drive if Randy Moss’ touchdown in XLII hadn’t been trumped by David Tyree and Plaxico Burress, and he didn’t play too bad in either of New England’s Super Bowl losses. The volume gets him in the door. The two Super Bowl MVPs matter too. But if you argued that another quarterback like Troy Aikman or Bart Starr deserved to be on the list instead, I’d have a tough time arguing. Of course, Brady might go way up the list with a good game on Sunday. 6. Eli Manning, New York Giants QB (XLII, XLVI)

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