Awards and Honors
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- 1964-1973
- NFL All Star Pro Bowl, nine times
- 1967&1968
- NFL Most Valuable Defensive Player
- 1968&1970
- L.A. Rams Most Valuable Player
- 1964-1971
- Slashing attacker of "The Fearsome Foursome" The most devastating line ever to play the game
- 1964
- Personally coined the term "Sack"
- 1967
- Dubbed "Secretary of Defense" by the Rams
- 1965-1968
- Voted Rams Most Valuable player
- 1970
- Named "Greatest Defensive End of Modem Football" By Coach George Allen
- 1978
- Elected to South Carolina Sports Hall of fame
- 1980
- Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Unanimously, in his first year of eligibility
- 1984
- Elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame
- 1985
- Named "Most Valuable Ram of All Time" By the Los Angeles Times
- 1991
- Recipient of the Vince Lombardi Award Presented by the Boy Scouts of America
- 1993
- Voted to All Time Black College Athlete's Team
- 1994
- Voted to NFL 75th Year All Time Team
- 1995
- Elected to Black Sports Hall of Fame
- 1996
- Recipient of the first annual Round Table Award Presented by Pop Wamer Little Scholars
- 1999
- Named to "The All Madden Millennium Team"
- 1999
- Sports illustrated Defensive End of the Century
- 1999
- Sports illustrated's All-Century Team
- 1999
- ESPN's Team of the Century
- 1999
- Recipient of the Gale Sayers Lifetime Spirit Achievement Award
- 1999
- Sporting News' Football's Greatest Players---#13
- 1999
- Awarded "The Order of the Leather Helmet" by the National Football League Alumni Association
- 2000
- Named to NFL Millennium All Time (28 man) Team
- 2001
- NFL Alumni Spirit Award
- 2005
- Named Greatest Ram of All-Time by Pro Football Weekly