Khalil Mack hasn’t dodged the question of what he wants to be in the NFL. He reiterated in his first appearance at Chicago Bears OTAs that he wants to be the best to ever do it. That’s why he plays the game. His new outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino asked him if that’s the case. The star pass rusher insisted it was. That will be the goal moving forward.
A better question asked is who does Mack consider the standard of his position? Nobody has ever pressed him on that. Every NFL player has a name or two they would consider the benchmark by which all others are measured. Being a native of Florida, was it somebody like Jason Taylor or maybe LeeRoy Selmon?
Or perhaps he was drawn in by Bruce Smith, having played his college ball at Buffalo? Any would’ve been great choices, but Mack had two other names in mind when asked about his personal legacies to chase.
“I mean you got LT. You got Derrick Thomas. You know man, you got special, special guys that’s played this position. That’s all you can do is kind of chase but you can’t really compare.”
Mack indeed chose well. Even to this day, Lawrence Taylor and Derrick Thomas are considered George Washington and Abraham Lincoln on the Mount Rushmore of 3-4 outside linebacker. Nobody was ever as good as them. Taylor had 132.5 sacks in his career, reached 10 Pro Bowls, won two Super Bowls, and claimed the only defensive MVP award in history.
Thomas was a machine who had 126.5 career sacks. A 9-time Pro Bowler, he was destined to surpass Taylor on the all-time sack list before his life was cut tragically short by a car accident in early 2000. He was only 32-years old. This should reiterate how important it is that Mack stay healthy if he wishes to accomplish what those men did.
Mack is 28-years old. He has 53 sacks in his career thus far. At his current rate, he’d have to play another seven season to reach their level. That means playing until the age of 35. Certainly not out of the question. Many great pass rushers have remained productive until 37. The key will be avoiding any serious injuries along the way.
It would be mighty nice to see him pull it off in a Bears uniform.
