Cornerback: Rolland Lawrence (1973-80)
Rolland Lawrence played eight outstanding years of cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons. Lawrence played in 118 NFL games, all with the Atlanta Falcons, starting at left cornerback in 104 of them. He is the all-time leader in career interceptions in Atlanta with 39 career picks.
Lawrence made the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro team just once, but it was part of the greatest Atlanta Falcons’ defense to date: the 1977 Grits Blitz that held opponents to under 10 points scored per game. Though that team did not make the NFC Playoffs, Lawrence was part of both the 1978 and 1980 teams that made the postseason for Atlanta.
I’d like to think that having the cornerback duo of Deion Sanders and Rolland Lawrence would make for a great pair on the All-Time Team. Sanders would act as the shutdown corner, while Lawrence would act as the ball hawk. Since their skill sets were complementary, they could have very played off each other in the Atlanta defensive backfield.
It’s amazing that Rolland Lawrence’s career interceptions record has been intact over 35 years since his last snap of NFL action in the devastating 1980 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Playoffs. With safety William Moore being the next closest active player with 16 career interceptions, it seems as though Rolland Lawrence’s career interceptions record is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
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