I can only think of 3 professional athletes who truly revolutionized the way their position was played---Orr, Lawrence Taylor and Bill Russell. Russ brought defense, shot blocking, and rebounding followed by the quick outlet pass triggering the fast break to the center position. Taylor forced offensive coaches to redesign blocking schemes to defend him, often requiring them to assign a tackle where in the past, outside linebackers were always blocked by a tight end or a running back. And no defenseman ever dominated a game from the blueline, or made the breathtaking end-to-end rushes, the way that Orr did--before or since.
|