The 10 Greatest NFL Players From the State of Kansas
By Erik Lambert
#9: Steve Tasker
People will never truly appreciate how great Steve Tasker was because his greatness can’t be defined by stats. Special teams tackles weren’t tallied back in his day of the 1980s and ’90s. One would have to watch hours and hours of tape to get a proper understanding of why the guy might very well be the greatest special teams ace in NFL history. That’s not fluff either. He went to the Pro Bowl seven times doing primarily that job. Bill Parcells, a Hall of Fame head coach, once admitted he actually game planned ways to deal with Tasker whenever they played Buffalo.
That’s respect. He did everything asked of him and more. Tasker actually had a bit of a run as a receiver late in his career, showing a prowess for catching touchdowns. It makes one wonder what the perception of him might be had they done that years earlier. No one will ever know. All that can be said is he defined what the true value of the third phase can be. Do the Bills reach four-straight Super Bowls without him on special teams? Not likely.