Tennessee football’s top 10 NFL players of 2010s

2. Eric Berry

Defensive Back

Teams played for:

• Kansas City Chiefs (2010-2018)

Accolades:

• Three-time first-team All-Pro (2013, 2015, 2016)
• Five Pro Bowls (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016)
• NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2015)

What can we say about Eric Berry? A two-time All-American and Jim Thorpe Award during his time with Tennessee football, Berry played in multiple systems and was one bright spot in a program that was falling apart at the time through no fault of his own.

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Ever since going to the NFL, Berry has been a major inspiration. This is a guy who suffered season-ending injuries in 2011 and 2017 and missed almost all of 2018 due to that 2017 injury, and he also had his season cut short due to lymphoma in 2014. All he has ever done, though, was come back stronger amidst such issues.

Berry was drafted with the third pick in 2010, so this has been his decade. He was a Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2010, then he came back from his season-ending injury and became a Pro Bowler again in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, he earned Comeback Player of the Year, and he made another Pro Bowl then and in 2016.

A three-time first-team All-Pro guy, Berry had 14 interceptions, five pick-sixes and 445 total tackles this decade in just 89 games. He has been a superstar who, when healthy, has no weaknesses as a strong safety, and he may not be done.

Despite missing 2019, only to see the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl, there should still be a spot for him somewhere entering this decade. He is just too great, and his leadership and intangibles matter as much as anything.