“I like linebackers. I collect them. You can never have too many good ones.”
That’s straight from Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, whose New York Giants battled Joe Gibbs’ Washington squads throughout the 1980s for league supremacy. The battles between the Hogs and G-Men linebackers - the likes of Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, and Carl Banks - were legendary. Often the outcome of the game was determined by the winner of that one showdown.
But Washington has had its rich history of great linebacking play, dating back to the team’s inception in 1932. Though only two linebackers in franchise history have made it to Canton - one of those played the majority of his career for someone else - there have still been plenty of rough and tough backers who have endeared themselves to fans in D.C.
Some have been pass-rush specialists. Others have been the grunts in the middle of the field, getting in on every tackle. A couple of them were flashy, but most tended to be no-nonsense technicians who simply made tackles at will.
Criteria for selection
We’re going to pick the top 20 linebackers in franchise history. Since many greats played before the NFL kept official tackling records, we’ll have to rely on other evidence to rate a lot of these players.
Tackling - more than any other single statistic - is the most germane to great linebacking play. They are in the middle of the field. Usually, defenses are predicated upon funneling ball carriers toward the linebackers who should stop them within a few yards of the line.
But linebackers are required to do other things. They must have the speed and agility to stay with running backs on short pass routes, and the field sense to drop into deep zones when down and distance suggest a downfield shot is coming.
Some may be productive pass rushers, though that often depends on the defensive scheme. So we can consider interceptions and sacks as well, though they may not be a given linebacker’s primary responsibility.
Finally, we can look at accolades and contemporaneous press accounts to determine how the player was viewed in his day. We will throw that all into a pot, give it a couple of stirs, and come out with the 20 best linebackers in Washington franchise history.
The 20 best linebackers in Washington Franchise history
20. Rusty Tillman
Rusty Tillman played in over 100 games as a linebacker for Washington between 1970 and 1977. He was credited with starting just three of them. But he was nonetheless honored as one of the 70 greatest players in team history back in 2002 for one primary reason.
Tillman was a special teams titan.
Whether it was wedge busting on kickoff returns or throwing a crucial block on a punt return, Tillman was the heart and soul of a unit that gave Washington teams under George Allen a leg up on the opposition. He went on to a very successful career as a special teams coach with the Seattle Seahawks after retiring.
I am letting him stand for an array of his fellow kamikaze linebackers like Pete Wysocki and Ravin Caldwell who were beloved by fans for their play on special teams.
19. Al DeMao
Al DeMao was better known to Washington fans as the last center to snap the ball to franchise icon Sammy Baugh. But for nine years, the tough two-way player also patrolled the middle of the defense, making tackles and nabbing interceptions.
DeMao was not the biggest guy on the field, so he used his quickness and field sense to anticipate plays and beat bigger blockers to the ball carrier. His time in the league was delayed by World War II. He served in the Navy until 1944 and commanded a landing ship during the Normandy invasion. After that, entering the NFL may not have seemed so daunting.
The legendary figure was so popular that when he retired, fans gifted him with a new car.
18. Marvcus Patton
Marvcus Patton - the man with the extra "v" in his name - played in Washington for four years, sandwiched between roughly equal stints in Buffalo and Kansas City. His best seasons came in D.C.
Patton started every game during his time in Washington - 64 in all - and never recorded fewer than 100 combined tackles. He averaged 125 tackles per season while playing in the nation's capital.
As defenses began to grow more and more specialized, Patton served as a reminder of what it once meant to play the position. He practically never left the field. He could play the run. He could cover. He could rush the passer, though he was rarely tasked with that. He could play inside or outside. It didn't matter.
Patton reportedly wanted to remain in Washington when his contract expired but was given what he considered a low-ball offer and left for Kansas City. Where, as usual, he never missed a game over his final four seasons.
17. Andre Collins
Andre Collins was the strongside linebacker that Marvcus Patton replaced in 1994. He had been Washington's starter from the time he was selected in the second round of the 1990 NFL Draft until he left via free agency after the 1994 season.
Collins registered 600 total tackles for Washington in his five seasons. His final year with the club, 1994, was the first year the league maintained official solo tackle numbers. He was credited with 107 solo tackles - a number that almost defies belief.
To put that in context, the Commanders' leader in solo tackles in 2023 was Kamren Curl with 74. After leaving Washington, Collins played five more seasons for three different teams, but never achieved the same success he had in Washington.
16. Mel Kaufman
On a team of unheralded linebackers, Mel Kaufman may have been the least known of all. Between 1981 and 1988 - during the greatest run in franchise history - he played 79 games for Washington at weakside linebacker. He started in three Super Bowls, two of which ended with Washington holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Kaufman was not a flashy player, but he played with an intensity that got him selected as defensive captain during his career. He could blitz, cover, and tackle with equal aplomb, and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
He is the first of four linebackers on this list who played together in the 1980s. They were all versatile and smart, and they allowed defensive coordinator Richie Petitbon great flexibility to run a wide variety of defensive schemes.
15. Marcus Washington
Marcus Washington arrived in Washington in 2004 after beginning his career with the Colts. He made an immediate impact, making his first and only Pro Bowl in his first season in D.C. He followed it up with another fine effort in 2005.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams saw Washington as one of the leaders on several very good defenses. He would remain a reliable presence until he called it quits in 2008.
14. Monte Coleman
On the one hand, Monte Coleman is a little bit like those special team standouts honorably mentioned above. He started in fewer than 30 percent of the games he played for Washington. But when you consider that he played in 215 contests - second only to Darrell Green in franchise history - that still equates to a lot of time spent playing linebacker.
What’s more important than the number is the fact that Coleman was an excellent linebacker as well. He didn’t register as many starts as some others because he was something of a coverage specialist. So he may not have been in on the first down. But he was almost always on the field on third down.
He played in 21 playoff games for Washington. That includes playing on all three Super Bowl-winning teams. Coleman ended his 16-year career - all of them in Washington - with 49.5 sacks and 17 interceptions. Pretty good for an 11th-round draft pick out of Central Arkansas.
13. Erny Pinckert
Erny Pinckert was with the franchise from the very beginning when they were still called the Boston Braves. He came to Washington when the team moved in 1937 and finished his career in 1940.
Pinckert played in the backfield on offense but was mainly a blocker for Cliff Battles and Sammy Baugh. When he played defense, he lined up at linebacker and was known as a fearsome and fearless hitter.
I never saw him play - hardly even on film - but I have him ranked for one main reason. As relayed by Washington’s (then Boston’s) defensive lineman Jack Riley to Bernie McCarty of “The Coffin Corner,” Pinckert had a very special role in the final 1933 matchup between Boston and the Chicago Bears.
The Bears' Bronko Nagurski was a legendary power runner who dominated opposing defenses. So Boston coach Lone Star Dietz devised a strategy. Since he typically liked to run through the hole that Riley occupied, Dietz told Riley to get out of the bruising back’s way.
He had Erny Pinckert, who was giving away about 30 pounds to Nagurski, but who was fast and as tough as they come, sprint directly into the open hole. With a full running start and a clear shot, Pinckert was able to not only stop Nagurski but in time, knock him out of the game. That’s a linebacker.
12. Brad Dusek
Brad Dusek is a bit of a forgotten man in Washington football lore. He was something of a transitional player who began under George Allen in the 1970s and ended his career early in the Joe Gibbs era. He was one of the few young players the coach trusted to play an important role in his defenses.
After serving as a backup to aging veteran Dave Robinson in his rookie year, Dusek started every game between 1975 and 1979. Injuries began slowing him down a bit after that, but he still retired in 1981 having played more than 100 games for the team.
His stats were not earth-shattering. But if you watched him on the field, you saw a player who always seemed to be involved. His specialty was the scoop and score, something he did three times during his career. The final time was in the opening game of 1978 when his fourth-quarter touchdown gave Washington a come-from-behind victory over the New England Patriots.
11. Rich Milot
Rich Milot had big shoes to fill. He succeeded future Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Hanburger, who had played right outside linebacker for Washington for what seemed like a million years.
Milot joined the team in 1979 out of Penn State - the school known as 'Linebacker U'. He was a vital part of the defense during their greatest run, winning two Super Bowls before retiring in 1987.
The second-level force had been a tall skinny running back when he entered college but transitioned to linebacker by his senior year. Oddly, he was also recruited out of high school by future Washington offensive line coach Joe Bugel when he was at Ohio State.
Bugel wanted Milot to play linebacker immediately. He was one of a group of largely unheralded linebackers for Washington during those glory years. Most were great role players. He was the most versatile, able to rush the passer or drop into coverage, and always get in on the tackle.
10. Brian Orakpo
Brian Orakpo played six seasons in Washington, recorded 40 total sacks, and went to three Pro Bowls. Yet somehow, it seemed like a bit of a letdown. Injury problems seriously hampered two of his final seasons in town, and he left D.C. as a free agent after the 2014 season.
Washington was trying to transition both Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan from the defensive end positions they played in college to linebacker in the pros. They were very successful with Kerrigan but should have done more with Orakpo.
9. Sam Huff
Sam Huff is one of just two Pro Football Hall of Fame linebackers to suit up for Washington in its long history. He isn’t higher on this list because he spent his best years with another franchise.
He came to Washington in 1964 after eight stellar seasons with the New York Giants. There is no question he was not the same player that he had been in the 1950s when he was among the most-feared middle linebackers in the league.
Initially, Huff was not happy with the trade that brought him to the struggling franchise. He made it a point to play his best against New York and Allie Sherman, the coach who traded him away. That attitude is the most important thing he brought to Washington.
Make no mistake - he could still play. He made the Pro Bowl his first year in town. But it was the will to win - the championship pedigree - the talent for marshaling his anger at the other team and turning it into success on the field - that was Huff’s real contribution to Washington.
He was one of the players who taught a team that hadn’t won in decades how to win again. After retiring, he formed a beloved broadcasting team along with his friend and teammate Sonny Jurgensen.
8. Lavar Arrington
Lavar Arrington came to Washington with great fanfare with the second pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. He had been a dominant player at Penn State, sweeping all the major linebacker awards in his final year. His rookie season was a bit of a disappointment but he followed it up with three straight trips to the Pro Bowl and two second-team All-Pro selections.
However, there were signs of trouble, much of it out of the player's hands. Arrington may have been the first high-profile casualty of Dan Snyder’s incompetent ownership.
During his first five seasons, Arrington played under five different defensive coordinators. Five different schemes. He was asked to do different things. In 2001, Kurt Schottenheimer had him drop into coverage and he ended with three interceptions and just a half sack. The following year, Marvin Lewis turned him loose.
Arrington notched 11 sacks and 12 additional tackles for loss. Then George Edwards had him do a little bit of everything and he led the league in forced fumbles. He made the Pro Bowl each year. But things came to a head when Gregg Williams came on in 2004.
Williams and linebackers coach Dale Lindsey did not want the playmaking linebacker freelancing and it got ugly. Injuries compounded the antagonism and Arrington was never the same. After such a promising start, he played just two more seasons in D.C. before he bought himself out of his contract so that he could leave town.
7. Chuck Drazenovich
Chuck Drazenovich played for Washington throughout the 1950s, as the once-proud franchise sank to the bottom. But they still boasted some of the league’s best players.
He was a two-way player for the first half of the decade, playing fullback in addition to linebacker. In 1955, he stopped lining up on offense and took on a relatively new defensive role - middle linebacker. He is credited by some historians as being the first full-time middle linebacker in league history.
In this new role, Drazenovich made the Pro Bowl four consecutive years. He was as strong and as tough as any player during the 1950s. At Penn State, he had been a champion boxer and shotputter in addition to playing football.
Later, he would be inducted into the Nation’s Capital Area Bowling Association Hall of Fame.
6. Ken Harvey
There was virtually nothing Ken Harvey could not do on a football field. His 41.5 sacks in 74 games is tied with Brian Orakpo for the best percentage amongst all franchise linebackers. He could also drop into coverage and make tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage. For his efforts, he was selected as second-team All-Pro twice and picked for the Pro Bowl in four of the five seasons he spent in Washington.
Harvey came to Washington as a free agent after six years in Phoenix and hit the ground running with 13.5 sacks in his first season. He started every game between 1994 and 1997 but then had some shoulder trouble in 1997. He missed a few games in the middle of the season and his nine-year streak of recording at least six sacks per year looked in jeopardy. Then he returned to the lineup and promptly sacked Giants’ quarterback Danny Kanell four times in a 7-7 tie against New York.
Following the game, Kanell told reporters “I think I’ll see him in my nightmares tonight.” Harvey finished that year - his last full season in the league - with 9.5 sacks, tied for third in the league amongst all linebackers.
5. Harold McLinton
In 1969, team owner Edward Bennett Williams pulled one of the biggest coups in franchise history by hiring the legendary coach Vince Lombardi. He presided over the team’s draft which resulted in 14 new hopefuls. Only three of them ended up making the squad.
One of them was Harold McLinton from Southern University. He was a backup for a few seasons until 1972. Then coach George Allen, who preferred to go with older, veteran players, turned his defense over to McLinton, naming him the starting middle linebacker.
At 25 years old, he was the second youngest defensive starter on the team. Defensive tackle Bill Brundige was a year younger. It was a spot McLinton would hold onto for most of the rest of the decade.
McLinton was not a flashy player. He was simply highly respected by his teammates for always playing hard and always seeming to make the right play at the right time. On New Year's Eve, 1972, when Washington qualified for their first trip to the Super Bowl by thrashing the hated Dallas Cowboys 26-3, there was an iconic photo taken of Allen, all smiles as he is carried off the field by his team.
It’s easy to overlook the player carrying him. It was McLinton, often overlooked, and often at the foundation of the team’s success in the 1970s.
4. Neal Olkewicz
Everything I just said about Harold McLinton can be applied to the man who essentially succeeded him as the middle linebacker in Washington.
Neal Olkewicz was an undersized, undrafted free agent who joined the club in 1979, the first year McLinton hadn’t been on the team in a decade. He wasn’t even supposed to make the team, but the 22-year-old rookie shocked everyone by not merely snagging a spot but by taking over as the starting middle linebacker midway through the campaign.
He would end his career in 1989 after 150 games, and 137 starts. He started in 14 playoff games during the 1980s, including three Super Bowls, and two championships. The 6-foot-0 UDFA was at the center of Washington’s defenses when they achieved their greatest success.
Rich Milot was on his right. Monte Coleman played passing downs. Mel Kaufman was on the left. None of them were high draft picks. They simply formed a very effective hard-working group of players who all got the most out of their abilities.
No one personified that more than Olkewicz.
3. Wilber Marshall
Wilber Marshall was one of the young stars on the Chicago Bears defense of the mid-1980s, considered by some to be the greatest of all time. He parlayed that into the richest contract ever given to a defensive player when he came to Washington for the 1988 season.
He inherited Rich Milot’s right linebacker spot and turned in three very respectable seasons. Still, fans were waiting for the player who terrorized opposing offenses when he was with Chicago. They got it in 1991.
Marshall shifted to the left side and piled up the numbers: 135 tackles, 5.5 sacks, five interceptions, and four fumble recoveries. He was everywhere. He followed it up with an even better year in 1992 en route to first-team All-Pro honors - he had been second team in 1991 - and finished third in defensive player of the year voting.
Marshall was among Washington’s best players on their march to the Super Bowl in 1991. He left after 1992 to join his old Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan in Houston for what would be his final year.
2. London Fletcher
London Fletcher had recorded more than 1,000 tackles for two other teams before he even arrived in Washington. Once here, he started every game for seven straight seasons and chalked up another 956.
In his final season, at 38 years old, he tallied over 100 tackles - the 14th consecutive season in which he reached that plateau. Fletcher is one of two players in league history with more than 2,000 combined tackles. Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis leads him by 20.
Fletcher was an upbeat, reliable team leader who helped carry the franchise through some lean years. He was chosen second-team All-Pro twice and made the Pro Bowl four straight years. He was ageless, leading the league in tackles when he was 36 years old.
The following season, he remained an integral part of the most exciting team Washington had fielded since the glory days of the 1980s. Rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III was the marquee player. When he got hurt in the playoffs against Seattle, it ended Washington’s season.
The injury overshadowed an exceptional performance by the 37-year-old Fletcher, appearing in his final playoff game. He registered 15 combined tackles in the loss. He should be in the Hall of Fame, but there does not appear to be a lot of momentum for his induction these days.
1. Chris Hanburger
Chris Hanburger is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Along with Sam Huff, he is the only Washington linebacker who has been so honored.
Unlike Huff, Hanburger - the Hangman - spent his entire 14-year career in Washington. He played in 187 games, starting every one between 1969 and 1976. In his first 12 seasons, he was voted into the Pro Bowl nine times. He added three first-team All-Pro selections and two other second-team nods.
Hanburger was among the most dominant players of his era. And yet, even at that, the exceptional performer was often overlooked. He entered the league as an 18th-round draft pick in 1965. At 215 pounds, he didn’t exactly look the part. And maybe worst of all, he didn’t have a warm and fuzzy personality.
He was never one to cozy up to reporters in an attempt to garner good press. In fact, according to most of the people who covered the team, Hanburger was downright surly. He didn’t seem to care. He kept producing on the field and his teammates, and the rest of the league knew it.
George Allen relied on Hanburger to be a coach on the field and to make big plays when the game was on the line. And he was famous for one move in particular - a move that would get him thrown out of today’s game in a heartbeat.
The undersized Hanburger used to take down bigger opponents with a violent clothesline tackle. They didn’t call him the Hangman for nothing.
