My favorite clutch players of all time

Now, read the title--these are my favorite ones. I'm not a huge Jordan fan, so he's not on here. I don't like Kobe at all, so forget it. Jeter can bite me. Now, without further adieu, some guys I've loved watching in crunch time:

Acie Law, former PG, Texas A&M:



In all the years I've watched college basketball, no man ever took over as many games as Acie did down the stretch. Game after game, he was money when it mattered. Acie was the man who hit the go-ahead three pointer in A&M's upset win over Kansas in 2007, which remains the only home conference game the Jayhawks have ever lost in Big 12 play. Still, he's best known for "The Shot" to beat Texas in 2006, which you can see above.

The man was just money.

John Riggins, Hall of Fame RB, Washington Redskins:



"Gimme the ball."

The Redskins were the best team in football in 1982, but there were still questions as to whether Joe Gibbs' team could win the big one in the playoffs. Riggins took care of that all by himself, running for 117, 185, 144 and 166 yards in three playoff games (it was a strike year, so even division winners played in the wildcard round) and the Super Bowl. The Dolphins had a 17-13 lead when the Redskins lined up for a 4th and 1 on Miami's 43 early in the 4th quarter. Riggins got the ball and they couldn't stop him. Then again, no one could.

Hakeem Olajuwon, Hall of Fame C, Houston Rockets



There's domination, and then there's domination. Michael Jordan is revered for taking over playoff series, but I've never seen anyone destroy a team (or a great opponent) like Hakeem destroyed David Robinson in the 1995 NBA Western Conference Finals. Robinson was the MVP of the league and the Spurs were everyone's choice to win the title (this is pre-Tim Duncan, mind you), but Olajuwon annihilated them, just as he had Patrick Ewing in the finals the year before and would annihilate a young Shaquille O'Neal in the upcoming finals.

It was, and remains, amazing to see a man of Hakeem's size do what he did on the basketball court. He was remarkable during the regular season, yet somehow kicked it up a notch in crunch time.

JaMar Toombs, FB, Texas A&M:



Ah, TOOOOOOOMBS. My goodness, he was fun to watch, and he brought it when it mattered. As a true freshman, he broke the back of #2 Nebraska at Kyle Field; in 1999, he put all of Aggieland on his back and willed A&M to victory over Texas after the tragic Bonfire collapse killed 12 Ags the week before. And then there's his legendary run against #1 Oklahoma, where three future NFL players (Teddy Lehman, Roy Williams and Brandon Everage) took their best shots at him and couldn't stop him. He may have eventually eaten himself out of a career in the pros, but he was tough in crunch time at A&M.

Robert Horry, former Rocket/Spur/Laker--basically, championship winner


They called Horry "Big Shot Rob" for a reason--all he did is hit clutch baskets in the tightest of moments. He has, I think, 7 rings, and he played a major role in all of them. He may not have had a hall of fame career, but he will be remembered for decades for being just flat MONEY. The video above isn't good quality, but you get the idea.

Roy Oswalt, 2005 NLCS MVP, Houston Astros


At first blush, Roy's postseason numbers are good, but not overwhelming: 4-0 record with a 3.68 ERA. But, one must consider that Roy won, for my money, the two of the three most important postseason games in Astros history: decisive Game 5 of the 2004 NLDS against the Braves, a team that had eliminated the Astros three times in the playoffs in recent years (and when the Astros had never won a playoff series), and Game 6 of the 2005 NLCS, which got the Astros to their first World Series. This doesn't even count the games Roy has won in the regular season to keep the Astros in contention for a postseason spot. My boy is iron in the clutch.

Brooks Robinson, legendary 3B, Baltimore Orioles

All Brooksie did was win the 1970 World Series pretty much by himself. He hit .429, broke the then World Series record for total bases and repeatedly robbed the Cincinnati Reds blind in the field. If you know anything about baseball, you've seen highlights of Brooks in this series. "In Baltimore, people don't name a candy bar after Brooks--they name their children after him."

Darrell Green, Hall of Fame CB, Washington Redskins


Just how good was little Darrell Green? If Jerry Rice or Michael Irvin or Andre Rison or any other bigtime wideout was coming to play the Redskins, they knew they'd be seeing No. 28 across from them. And no one else. He was that good.

As good as he was in the regular season, Green kicked it up a notch in the playoffs. In 1983, he shut down Dwight Clark in the NFC Championship Game and gave Joe Montana fits. In 1986, he ran down Eric Dickerson from behind. In 1988, he knocked down the last gasp pass of the Vikings in the end zone to ensure the Redskins would go to the Super Bowl. In 1992, he intercepted passes in both the divisional game against Atlanta and the NFC Championship game against Detroit. And nobody ever did anything against him in the Super Bowl.

You knew it was a big game when D. Green went back to return a punt. He did in 1988 in Chicago, hurdled a guy and returned it for a touchdown--after tearing up the muscles around his rib cage during the hurdle.

No defender was ever more prime time in the playoffs than Darrell Green. And that includes Prime Time himself.