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Tuesday, September 07, 2004 - Page updated at 01:48 P.M.

NFL
NFL's greatest offensive lines


SCOTT STEWART / AP, 1986
Washington Redskins defensive tackle Joe Jacoby at a 1986 practice.
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Washington, 1982-88

Redskins offensive line coach Joe Bugel gave his starting line — tackles Joe Jacoby and George Starke, guards Russ Grimm and Mark May, and center Jeff Bostic — a nickname they later printed on T-shirts during training camp in 1982. "OK, you Hogs," he famously opined, "let's get running down there."

Considered by many the best offensive line in NFL history, the Hogs' most intriguing accomplishment — inspiring grown men to pay homage by dressing in women's clothing — had nothing to do with football.

Staying intact, for the most part, they led Washington to three Super Bowls and two championships between 1983 and 1988.

Green Bay, 1959-63

Tackles Bob Skoronski and Forrest Gregg, guards Fuzzy Thurston and Jerry Kramer, and center Jim Ringo formed the first famous offensive line in NFL history. Only Skoronski never made All-Pro.

Coach Vince Lombardi looked for quick, mobile guards and tackles. The line broke up before the Packers won the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968. Kramer made the most famous block in NFL history in the 1967 Ice Bowl against Dallas, which let quarterback Bart Starr run for the winning score with 13 seconds left.

Dallas, 1993-96

This wasn't strictly a five-man group that led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles between 1993 and 1996, but rather a mixing pot filled with perennial Pro Bowlers and filled in with role players. Among key contributors were Nate Newton, Kevin Gogan (a Washington graduate), Mark Tuinei, Erik Williams, Mark Stepnoski, Ray Donaldson and Larry Allen. Allen could bench press 700 pounds and squat 900 pounds, and he's Exhibit A for the way the Cowboys bulled ahead.
 
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