Dating back to the days of the NFL’s inception, it has been associated with tough guys. The Hall of Fame is filled with hardnosed players who helped make the game what it is today. Hard hits are why a lot of people tune in on Sundays, and with players getting bigger and faster, the league is more dangerous than ever. These 11 players are the toughest guys playing today, whether they are making the hits or taking them.
11. Tony Romo
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11. Tony Romo
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY
Not long ago people would question Romo’s status on this list. For most of his career, he was labeled as a soft player because he was constantly hurt. Romo has had bad luck in the injury category, but what gets him on this list is the fact that he is playing this season on a surgically repaired back. It is hard to believe that he is only a few months removed from major back surgery is playing a game that requires him to be hit hard.
10. Terrell Suggs
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10. Terrell Suggs
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The Baltimore Ravens’ defense has always been synonymous with toughness. For the longest time the face of that defense was Ray Lewis, but when he decided to retire, Terrell Suggs stepped in as the enforcer. He is extremely hard to block, and he has a history of making big hits. Suggs is a fierce competitor and can talk trash with the best of them. One difference is that he backs it up with his physical play on the field.
9. Jay Cutler
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9. Jay Cutler
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Jay Cutler has been called a lot of things but rarely is tough one of them. He makes this list because he has diabetes and has to not only manage his play on the field, but also his health off of it. There have been games where he has had to inject a ridiculous amount of insulin into his body just to be able to play. Cutler has a lot of critics, but it is hard not to respect a guy who is tough enough to play through his health issues.
8. Steve Smith Sr.
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8. Steve Smith Sr.
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Steve Smith Sr. is a pitbull. He is fast, ferocious and will make you pay if you get on his bad side. Smith is a player who gets better when he's emotional. The more trash talking that he does, the better he becomes. Despite his small stature, Smith won’t shy away from confrontation with defenders that are much bigger than he is. As much as it would benefit the defense to keep Smith unemotional, he starts the jawing and finishes in the end zone.
7. Cam Newton
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7. Cam Newton
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It isn’t often that a quarterback is bigger than his running backs, but that is the case with Newton. He is a big, physical player who can beat teams through the air or with his legs. Because of his playing style, Newton is injury prone and has generally played through them. The pounding that he is taking looks like it is catching up with him, but he is still pushing through and hitting defenders just as hard as they hit him.
6. Clay Matthews
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6. Clay Matthews
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Clay Matthews is an extremely tough guy. He has such a physical presence that, when the Green Bay Packers started to struggle against the run, he was moved to inside linebacker to plug up holes. Matthews is one of those guys that the quarterback looks for before the ball is snapped because he has the ability to blow up any play. His toughness is what fuels the Green Bay defense and the team is automatically better with him on the field.
5. Alex Smith
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5. Alex Smith
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Alex Smith, a tough guy? Physically probably not (although he has taken his fair share of hits), but he makes this list because he is mentally tough. It takes a ton of mental toughness to have dealt with all of the adversity that he faced in San Fran and with all of the criticism that he gets for being a game manager. He has had a ton of focus and criticism on him because he was a first overall pick, but he has gone out and gotten things done.
4. Marshawn Lynch
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4. Marshawn Lynch
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Adding Lynch to a list of tough guys was a no brainer. Come on, the guy’s nickname is Beastmode after all. If further proof is needed, just look at the run against the New Orleans Saints, which brought about the nickname. He blew through almost every player on the defense like a wrecking ball and carried a couple of them on his back for the score. Lynch sets the physical tone in Seattle and he has sent more than a few defenders to the whirlpool.
3. Anquan Boldin
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3. Anquan Boldin
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Boldin has been in the NFL for a long time and has taken some pretty big hits. One of those hits was so hard that it, for lack of a better phrase, broke his face. Most players would have sat out the remainder of the year, but after getting multiple plates in his face, Boldin returned three weeks later. He is a big physical receiver who can dish out the hits, as well as take them.
2. Ben Roethlisberger
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2. Ben Roethlisberger
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Big Ben makes this list because he is the definition of a tough guy. He is a big guy who is hard to bring down; shaking off defensive linemen like they are ragdolls. He has dealt with a multitude of injuries because of poor offensive line play and he has played through almost every injury. Unless Roethlisberger is on crutches, there is a good chance that he will play through his injuries.
1. J.J. Watt
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1. J.J. Watt
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Watt tops the list because, quite frankly, there is currently no one in the league that is as tough. Take a look at any of his bloody pictures from last season. He played a whole season with that injury continually reopening and dousing him in blood. He is a nightmare for offensive coordinators, because he is such a physical specimen. When it takes two linemen and a tight end to block one player, that is pretty tough.
Andrew Lenz is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RealAndyLenz, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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