Why I put Detroit Lions' Calvin Johnson on my NFL all-decade team and agonized over other picks

I cast my ballot for the NFL’s all-decade team Monday, a ballot that I take seriously considering how important the honor is to those fortunate enough to be selected.

It’s not the Pro Bowl, where some players have contractual incentives riding on the vote, and it doesn’t come with a gold jacket like making the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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But it’s often the precursor to the Hall of Fame, which is why I wanted to take a minute to share some of the debates I had about worthy candidates.

I’ve been a Hall of Fame voter for six years now, and I can tell you, without going into specifics, that all-decade honors sometimes come up in our discussions — especially as players get further from their playing days.

Many Hall of Fame selections are easy. Peyton Manning will be a no-brainer when he makes his maiden appearance on the ballot in January, and that would have been the case whether he was on the all-2000s team or not.

But some players linger on the ballot for years — decades, even — and as the selection committee churns through voters, some legends get overlooked.

Kenny Easley, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2017, is one example. He played seven seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, from 1981 to 1987. I was 11 when he played his last game and don’t have a single memory of him on the field.

When he was nominated by the seniors committee, one of the first things I found in my research was that he was the only non-specialist on the 1980s all-decade team not in the Hall of Fame. That didn’t give him automatic admission to Canton in my eyes, but it certainly added credence to the theory that he belonged as I talked to people from that era.

We had an extraordinarily large ballot to fill out, one with 106 names (counting both first- and second-team). There were at least two first-team players at every position (including kicker, punter, and kick and punt returner), plus spots for “defensive back” and “offensive flex player.”

When the composite all-decade team is announced, it will include just 53 players, with no first- or second-team designation.

I got good feedback from people around the NFL whom I turned to for insight on my ballot, but three positions in particular gave me plenty of consternation.

At quarterback, I put Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Manning on my ballot, with Manning edging out Russell Wilson for the last spot.

I agonized over that decision, because Manning played just six seasons this decade (five, really, considering he missed all of 2011 with a neck injury), while Wilson has been a steady performer since entering the league in 2012.

Both won Super Bowls in the past 10 years, and Wilson ranks ninth this decade in touchdown passes and has two more Pro Bowl selections (six to Manning’s four). But Manning’s greatness in the first half of the decade — he had arguably the best season ever by a quarterback in 2013 — and the fact that he was a two-time first-team All-Pro (Wilson has been only a second-team All-Pro once) was enough for me to give him the slight edge.

Manning playing just half a decade may be disqualifying to some, but I’ve always valued greatness (for some period longer than a season) over longevity when it comes to my Hall of Fame vote, and I used the same measure in picking my all-decade team.

Which brings me to my next debate: The wide receiver/running back/flex vote.

I voted Julio Jones, Calvin Johnson, Antonio Brown and Larry Fitzgerald as my first-team receivers, with DeAndre Hopkins in my flex position.

This decade saw such an explosion of receiver talent that it’s hard to differentiate among the top players at the position, and rather than put one of that quintet on the second-team — first-team votes are weighted more than second-team votes for the cumulative team — I used my flex spot for Hopkins.

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Jones and Brown both had five first- or second-team All-Pro selections in the 2010s; Hopkins and Johnson had four each. Fitzgerald leads the NFL and ranks third in receiving yards in the past decade, and all four could become Hall of Famers.

Johnson is the kind of mid-decade player who sometimes gets overlooked on these teams as his career spanned 2007-15. But he played six seasons in the decade and like Manning was dominant enough for a long enough stretch of time — his 2011-13 seasons were beyond special — that he absolutely warranted inclusion.

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My second-team wide receivers, for those keeping track: A.J. Green, Michael Thomas, Demaryius Thomas and Odell Beckham Jr., with Brandon Marshall in the flex.

The last spot that I found myself stuck on was the secondary, where we had to pick three cornerbacks, three safeties and two defensive backs for both the first- and second-teams.

As with receiver, there has been an explosion of good defensive backs of late. Some of my picks were easy. Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson and Darrelle Revis were no-brainers, as were Earl Thomas, Eric Weddle and Eric Berry.

I put Charles Woodson and Troy Polamalu on my ballot, even though their NFL careers ended midway through the decade. And Aqib Talib, Kam Chancellor and Harrison Smith made for easy picks, too.

But of the 63 defensive backs who earned first- or second-team All-Pro honors in the past decade, just eight — Sherman, Revis, Woodson, Weddle, Thomas, Berry, Devin McCourty and Marcus Peters — were picked in more than two years.

There weren’t many defensive backs who enjoyed sustained excellence in the past decade, and that made filling out the secondary the hardest part of my ballot. Ultimately, I opted for players McCourty, Charles Tillman and Tyrann Mathieu to round out my all-decade team over more talented players who have less a body of work (like Jalen Ramsey and Jamal Adams).

Interestingly, the crash-and-burn rate of defensive backs also had me thinking about what it means for the Lions in next month’s draft. A lot of defensive backs have one really good year — the list of All-Pros from the 2010s included guys like Alterraun Verner, Michael Huff and Quintin Mikell — but few are truly special.

Drafting a cornerback like Jeff Okudah in the top five is risky, which explains why so few go that high. But if Okudah is anywhere near the superstar some believe he can be, the Lions will have a true unicorn on their hands in a league that has gone pass-crazy the past 10 years.

Dave Birkett is one of 48 Pro Football Hall of Fame voters who also select the NFL's all-decade team. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.

NFL all-decade team

Dave Birkett's ballot

First team

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks: Tom Brady; Aaron Rodgers.

Running backs: Adrian Peterson; Le'Veon Bell; Jamaal Charles; Marshawn Lynch.

Offensive flex player: DeAndre Hopkins.

Wide receivers: Julio Jones; Calvin Johnson; Antonio Brown; Larry Fitzgerald.

Tight ends: Rob Gronkowski; Travis Kelce.

Offensive tackles: Joe Thomas; Tyron Smith; Joe Staley; Jason Peters.

Offensive guards: Marshal Yanda; Zack Martin; Logan Mankins; David DeCastro.

Centers: Maurkice Pouncey; Alex Mack.

DEFENSE

Defensive ends: JJ Watt; Julius Peppers; Cam Jordan; Calais Campbell.

Defensive tackles: Aaron Donald; Ndamukong Suh; Gerald McCoy; Vince Wilfork.

Linebackers: Khalil Mack; Von Miller; Luke Kuechly; Bobby Wagner; Patrick Willis; DeMarcus Ware.

Cornerbacks: Richard Sherman; Darrelle Revis; Patrick Peterson.

Safeties: Earl Thomas; Eric Berry; Eric Weddle.

Defensive backs: Charles Woodson; Troy Polamalu.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kickers: Justin Tucker; Adam Vinatieri.

Punters: Johnny Hekker; Brett Kern.

Kick returners: Cordarrelle Patterson; Tyler Lockett.

Punt returners: Devin Hester; Darren Sproles.

Head coaches: Bill Belichick; Pete Carroll.

Second team

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks: Drew Brees; Peyton Manning.

Running backs: LeSean McCoy; Frank Gore; Todd Gurley; Arian Foster.

Offensive flex player: Brandon Marshall.

Wide receivers: A.J. Green; Michael Thomas; Odell Beckham Jr.; Demaryius Thomas.

Tight ends: Jason Witten; Jimmy Graham.

Offensive tackles: Andrew Whitworth; David Bakhtiari; Trent Williams; Duane Brown.

Offensive guards: Josh Sitton; Jahri Evans; Quenton Nelson; Trai Turner.

Centers: Jason Kelce; Travis Frederick.

DEFENSE

Defensive ends: Chandler Jones; Cameron Wake; Danielle Hunter; Jared Allen.

Defensive tackles: Geno Atkins; Fletcher Cox; Haloti Ngata; Kyle Williams.

Linebackers: Ryan Kerrigan; Justin Houston; Clay Matthews; Terrell Suggs; CJ Mosley; NaVorro Bowman.

Cornerbacks: Charles Tillman; Aqib Talib; Chris Harris.

Safeties: Devin McCourty; Harrison Smith; Kam Chancellor.

Defensive backs: Tyrann Mathieu; Marcus Peters.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kickers: Stephen Gostkowski; Matt Bryant.

Punters: Shane Lechler; Andy Lee.

Kick returners: Leon Washington; Jacoby Jones.

Punt returners: Andre Roberts; Tyreek Hill.

Head coaches: John Harbaugh; Andy Reid.