Green Bay Packers: 10 Nationally underrated players of the 2000s

7. Chad Clifton

This is an easy one for the simple fact that offensive lineman never get enough love. Chad Clifton was the Green Bay Packers’ left tackle for over a decade — 12 years to be exact.

From 2000 all the way through 2011 Clifton was protecting the Packers’ quarterback’s blindside. This is an even more important task when you consider the level of talent that Green Bay had at quarterback during that period between Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. In that time, Clifton appeared in 165 of a possible 192 games.

Clifton was nationally recognized on quite a few occasions. He made two Pro Bowls and was ranked No. 99 on the NFL’s Top 100 list in 2011. The left tackle also has one Super Bowl ring in his career.

However, just because he was given some love doesn’t mean Clifton got all the attention he deserved. As I mentioned before, offensive linemen aren’t exactly celebrated as they should be in the first place. Due to that, I could’ve probably just stopped there when explaining why Clifton was underrated.

I mean, if you asked 100 casual (non-Packers) football fans who Chad Clifton was, it’s safe to assume the heavy majority would have no idea. That’s insane considering for 12 seasons he was one of the best left tackles in the NFL. That’s what I want to focus on here though. Clifton was one of the best left tackles in the NFL for 12 years, but never made an All-NFL team and made just two Pro Bowl rosters.

Again, this has to do with a stacked position. Jonathan Ogden and Orlando Pace took up more of Clifton’s career. Both are in the Hall of Fame. Then the last few seasons he spent in the NFL saw Joe Thomas, who will be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, take over.

Chad Clifton was one of the best left tackles in the NFL throughout his career. The offensive line only gets so much glory though. Some Hall of Famers were keeping him from getting too much.