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The YouTube of today is a vastly different platform from the YouTube of yesteryear. Once characterized by cheesy, poorly-filmed comedy skits and the dominating presence of Vevo, it was a mecca of low-brow humor and cat videos. YouTubes audience, however, has matured, and so has its content.

The video essay is taking over YouTube as a primary form of content on the platform. YouTubers with niche knowledge and impeccable production value are becoming major stars. These YouTubers are smart they have high level knowledge about topics from critical theory to historical dress and they perform for the camera in a manner that is entertaining, educational and far-reaching. Many viewers are flocking to YouTube, not just to laugh, but to learn and the best creators offer both.

The video essays I will discuss in this column are nothing short of works of art. They often combine musical score, high fashion and makeup alongside performance and narrative, with sturdy cultural critique and analysis that is both complex and easily digestible. And, perhaps most importantly, they are a hoot to watch.

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You cant talk about YouTube video essays without mentioning ContraPoints, also known as Natalie Wynn. She is one of the pioneers of this digital movement toward video essays, and her videos, perhaps best described as films, present some of the highest art, critical analysis, skilled performance and humor that the platform has to offer. Wynn delivers all of this surrounded by elaborate sets and beautiful score, while wearing full drag, tipping a 40 oz. to the head and engaging her own hilariously on-the-nose characters through dialogue, a la Plato. If anyone can be described as the intellectual figure of this generation, its ContraPoints.

Wynn might be described by some as a classically trained academic. She studied piano at Berklee College of Music and received a bachelors degree in philosophy from Georgetown. She then attended Northwestern to pursue a Ph.D. in philosophy.

But this is where Wynns career diverged from the traditional academic. She dropped out of the Ph.D. program at Northwestern, saying to Vice News, The idea of being an academic for the rest of my life became boring to the point of existential despair.

Wynn plays an important role in the contemporary intellectual community she is no modern liberal. ContraPoints, rather, is a radical leftist. But while many modern left-liberal movements have condemned discourse with the other side, ContraPoints has embraced it. She doesnt shy away from engaging with the arguments of incels, the alt-right, TERFs and public intellectuals such as Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson (whose visage she hilariously flirts with in a bathtub).

This is where Wynns academic training combined with her high emotional intelligence make her a powerful public presence. Shes been credited with converting many young alt-right leaning men away from dangerous racist, sexist, transphobic rhetoric. If youve ever argued with an alt-righter or Trumpist, you might be wondering, how the f*** does she do it?

Wynn herself says, Its not just about calling someone out and using logic, because there are emotional and psychological reasons that people hold their political convictions. From a psychological standpoint, you have to empathetically enter a persons world; not just why do they think what they think, but why do they feel what they feel? Repeat that back to them and you can really gain traction.

Indeed, her critiques are always based on charitable interpretations of the arguments that she addresses, and her combination of philosophical argumentation and sociology has proved to be powerfully effective. For many, its difficult to explain to someone why white supremacy is wrong, they just know that it is. But ContraPoints can do it. Her video on the alt right breaks down both the factual incorrectness and negative ethical value of common, normalized white supremacist arguments. She takes the alt-rights very own arguments and talking points and breaks them down in a clear, charitable and thorough way that makes her critique nearly impossible to dispute. She puts words to concepts that, for many, have been impossible to describe. And she does so in a way that reaches people on every side of every aisle.

Contras content isnt just devoted to changing the opinions of alt-righters. She also makes video essays that critique and analyze cultural phenomena (such as cringe, beauty, cancelling and degeneracy) with the double-edged sword of philosophical breakdown and extreme drag looks. These videos are fun, but so solid in their argumentation that I was able to use The Darkness as a source for my philosophy capstone paper; they have true academic utility. Within these films, she discusses each topic as it pertains to gender, sexuality, behavior, personal beliefs and more. She works out meaningful and thorough descriptions for these topics that provide exquisite foundations for her analysis. She, critically, has perfected the fine art of meaningfully differentiating between expedient political rhetoric such as trans people are born in the wrong bodies (phrasing which is not philosophically nuanced, nor true to every trans persons experience, but is critical to the acquisition of rights for trans people) and more complex metaphysical discussion about gender, sex and orientation which many modern academics shy away from.

What puts ContraPoints a step above the rest is her bold, critical and unapologetic nature. Shes not nice. She doesnt cater to anyone or anything, left or right. Shes not afraid to say, I am an evangelical transsexual. I dont want toleration, damn it. I want converts, and she certainly doesnt care whether you think she means it or not. She pursues whats true, whats expedient and whats hilarious. And she does it all while dressed as a sexy catgirl.

Natalie Wynns work is of the highest art, but dont just believe me, check it out for yourself. Did I mention shes funny?

Contact Rachel DAgui at rdagui at stanford.edu.

The rest is here:
The Rise of the Video Essay as Art: ContraPoints - The Stanford Daily

Nafeez Ahmeds investigation reveals that the Governments new proposal is inspired by attempts to suppress free speech about racism

The Education Secretarys proposal to regulate free speech at universities by appointing a national free speech champion at the Office for Students (OfS) came from an academic defender of white identity politics who has argued that ethnic diversity in itself increases white threat perceptions.

Professor Eric Kaufmann, of Birkbeck College, is an advisor to the Free Speech Union run by Toby Young the disgraced former OfS appointee who resigned from the role after critics highlighted his history of bigoted tweets.

Kaufmann first proposed the idea of a national academic freedom champion at the OfS to investigate alleged breaches of free speech rights in a co-authored report published by the Policy Exchange think tank in November 2019. Kaufmann joined the advisory board of the Free Speech Union when it launched in February 2020, when Young publicly endorsed Kaufmanns proposal.

Youngs influence on the Governments latest proposals raises questions, given his own role in defending scientific racism and biological theories of racial and gender inequalities.

Byline Times has previously exposed his defence of pseudoscience funded by the Pioneer Fund a neo-Nazi eugenics foundation established in 1937. Among other things, the Funds affiliated authors several of whom Young has openly supported claim that black people have lower IQs than white people.

Toby Young is also the man behind a free speech students network with the same name as the new OfS role Free Speech Champions launched in February. Although it claims to be led by young people, Byline Times can reveal that the project is, in reality, a Toby Young front trying to suppress free speech on equalities among university students.

Documents and email communications obtained by Byline Times, as well as interviews with students, confirm that Free Speech Champions network is actually controlled by its funders the Free Speech Union and the Battle of Ideas, which is part of a network sponsored by the Charles Koch Foundation.

Under the guise of promoting free speech, Toby Youngs Free Speech Champions promoted alt-right figures such as Jordan Peterson, defended the alleged speech rights of Nazis in universities, fed students an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, and discouraged students from using words such as racism and sexism.

That the Governments new role was inspired by an academic advising Young suggests that, far from defending free speech, Gavin Williamson is attempting to shut it down to defend alt-right speech.

The Department for Education did not respond to a request for comment.

In January, the Guardian exposed the role of the Free Speech Union in the Free Speech Champions project, interviewing a range of students who had been involved. The students eventually resigned over concerns they were censured if they disagreed with the groups right-of-centre orthodoxy and described Free Speech Champions as an astroturfed front for Youngs Free Speech Union.

However, the Guardian story only scratched the surface of what the Free Speech Champions project represents.

The project was not conceived by any of the students described as founding champions. Instead, Inaya Folarin Iman who sits on the board of directors of the Free Speech Union sent unsolicited emails to students at different universities early in 2020 asking them if they wanted to join the project.Students who agreed to get involved were then enrolled in a series of meetings and workshops to receive training on free speech and to help develop the project.

On 9 November, Iman emailed the participants links to online videos on free speech, including one titled Would Todays ACLU Defend the Speech Rights of Nazis, published by Reason magazine. The video calls for Nazis to be able to freely express their views.

Other videos recommended by Iman included one by the controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson and another by Brendan ONeill, the editor of Spiked magazine. Peterson described by The Times as an alt-right darling has been widely criticised for claiming that gender and class hierarchies are a function of the natural order. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Peterson has a track record of promoting revisionist falsehoods about Hitler, the Holocaust and Nazism.

Imans interest in defending the free speech rights of Nazis was in contrast to the opposition to students talking freely about the idea of punching a Nazi. In an email to participant Harry Walker, president of the Bristol University Free Speech Society, Iman appeared to oppose the freedom of speech to advocate punching Nazis, while simultaneously defending the right of Nazis to advocate genocide: One thing I hope for this project is to see whether its possible to engage with the most reprehensible ideas in a way that is in the spirit of intellectual ambition, bravery and curiosity.

The Free Speech Unions education and events director Dr Jan Macvarish was involved in steering discussions with the students from the beginning.

According to Harry Walker, Macvarish inexplicably sat-in on all of the meetings despite the students being told that the project would function independently of the Free Speech Union.

WhatsApp logs reveal that, early on, she actively discouraged students from challenging racist and homophobic attitudes, describing doing so as an affront to free speech. Macvarish told the students: I dont think racism is irrational, its not a phobia. Neither is an objection to homosexuality.

Macvarish described words such as racism, sexism and transphobia as phobia words which, if used, would undermine free speech. She also dismissed the idea of Islamophobia: If you look at who gets accused of Islamophobia it really isnt people who are actually oppressing and abusing Muslims though is it?

In several meetings, Walker said that Macvarish was railing against the notion that the personal is political, suggesting this is the issue with the discourse around gender, race and so on. She also encouraged us not to use terms like sexism, racism, transphobia, arguing that doing so was making concessions to the anti-free speech camp.

In other words, in the name of free speech, the Free Speech Union was trying to convince the students that certain words around racial, sexual and gender equality should be expunged from discourse while words opposing racial, sexual and gender equality should be protected.

Macvarish, a visiting research fellow at the University of Kent, did not respond to Byline Times request for comment.

In WhatsApp conversations, the Free Speech Unions Inaya Folarin Iman also went on to endorse fears of cultural marxism, which she incorrectly defined as rooted in a critique of the Marxist critique of capitalism, supposedly in which certain post-modernist thinkers moved on from Marxism to focus on identity politics such as white = oppressor, non-white = oppressed (again, simple explanation).

Her reference point was a book by James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose called Cynical Theories: How Universities Made Everything About Race, Gender and Identity. Apart from the book offering a systematically flawed analysis of critical theory, Lindsay is funded by the conservative Christian nationalist Michael OFallon, who co-created a statement branding social justice a threat to the gospel. OFallon is founder of Sovereign Nations, the entire remit of which is based on an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about George Soros.

Imans attempt to promote fear of cultural marxism to the students is of particular concern as the term actually designates a far-right anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, thoroughly debunkedby historians and quantitative analysis of academic research.

Last year, the Board of Deputies criticised Conservative MP Suella Braverman for using this anti-Semitic trope. She refused to apologise and was instead made the Governments Attorney General.

As Jason Wilsonhas observedin theGuardian, the theory is blatantly anti-Semitic, drawing on the idea of Jews as a fifth column bringing down western civilisation from within, a racist trope that has a longer history than Marxism. Like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the theory was fabricated to order, for a special purpose: the institution and perpetuation of culture war.

The theory of cultural marxism is credited largely to white nationalist Kevin Macdonald and far-right ideologue William Lind of the Free Congress Foundation. But itoriginated from the Nazis,who first used the term cultural Bolshevism. It claims that a cohort of German Jewish Marxist academics behind the Frankfurt School orchestrated an academic and cultural effort to undermine the US through an identity politics-driven cultural war on US values, mobilised through the Trojan Horse of minority rights.

The theory of cultural Marxism has since become astapleof the alt-right, used by the likes of Steve Bannon, Breitbart and even neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011.

Inaya Folarin Iman did not respond to request for comment.

Perhaps the most direct evidence that the Free Speech Champions project is not led by young people is the fact that, despite going through the motions of allowing the students to brainstorm together a name of their own choosing, Toby Youngs Free Speech Union forced the project to take on the title Free Speech Champions despite it being universally rejected by all of the students.

In a letter to the group on behalf of members Harry Walker, Ben Sewell, Charlotte Nuernberg and Maya Thomas, sent in December 2020, they noted: It seems that many of the major decisions regarding the project (its name, and belligerent approach to the culture wars to name a few) were made executively despite the groups advice, not as a result of it; we dont recall Free Speech Champions being raised as a naming suggestion.

The letter noted that the same name had been prematurely announced by Toby Young nearly a month ago on Darren Grimes Reasoned podcast.

The students letter pointed out that, when participants voiced approaches different to that of the Free Speech Union, they were largely shut down: Those criticising the predetermined FSU-esque direction of the project were dismissed as overly sensitive or caving to censorious factions.

Youngs Free Speech Champions is plugged into an opaque network of lobby groups which are funded by the Charles Koch Foundation.

Apart from the Free Speech Union, its other chief organisational sponsor is the Battle of Ideas, a charity which runs the annual flagship festival of the same name on behalf of the Academy of Ideas (formerly the Institute of Ideas), chaired by former Brexit MEP Baroness Claire Fox who also sits on the Free Speech Unions advisory board.

According to a joint investigation by the Guardian and DeSmogUK, Fox and the Battle of Ideas are part of the Koch-backed Spiked network of organisations which emerged from the ashes of the Trotsksyist left Living Marxism (LM) magazine itself a splinter of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

In 2000, LM was shut down after it became bankrupt due to losing a libel trial in 2000, in which it claimed falsely that ITN had fabricated evidence of Serb atrocities against Bosnian Muslims. The same figures involved in LM including Fox, Brendan ONeill and Frank Furedi resurfaced through the Spiked network in the early 2000s.

It later emerged that, from 2016 to 2018, Spiked US Ltd the networks US fundraising vehicle had received $300,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation to produce public debates in theUSabout free speech.

The Spiked networks interest in promoting free speech is clear from what it publishes and promotes namely opposition to bans on child pornography; regulations on tobacco; gun control; limiting hate speech; bans on Nazi free speech; Black Lives Matter; anti-racism; the Me Too movement; and so on. It also regularly promotes climate science denial.

Battle of Ideas trustee Frank Furedi contributes to the Koch-funded climate denial lobby group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Another Battle of Ideas trustee is Luke Gittos, author of Why Rape Culture is a Dangerous Myth. Gittos is a lawyer with extensive experience in defending allegations of rape and sexual violence, according to the book blurb, and is also a legal editor for Spiked.

The Battle of Ideas did not respond to request for comment.

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Free Speech Champions is merely yet another astroturfed front group for the Koch-backed Spiked network. That its backer, Toby Youngs Free Speech Union, is linked to the Governments new free speech czar proposal indicates that the biggest threat to free speech on campus is coming from an alt-right pincer movement with ties to the Government itself.

The Office for Students told Byline Times: Free speech and academic freedom are essential elements of higher education teaching and research. Ourregulatory requirements are designed to uphold the widest possible definition of free speechpermittedwithin the law.However, weallmust be clear where thelawrestricts speech for exampleprohibitingunlawful harassment and incitementsto racial or religious hatred.

Free speech is never an excuse for illegality or violence.It is essential that higher education is free of all unlawful discrimination, harassment and violence, and all students should feel confident that that is the case. It is vital that any student who suffers thisbehaviouris given the support they need, and that universities deal with complaints effectively and robustly.

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'Free speech' Czar Role linked to Toby Young's Free Speech Union and US Right-Wing Funding Network Byline Times - Byline Times

Universities will be required to adopt the free speech condition in order to be registered in England and receive public fundingNumber 10/Flickr

The government is to name a free speech champion with powers to fine universities or student unions found to curtail free speech, and order reinstatement if universities demote or dismiss an individual for their opinions.

The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, is due to announce the new role today (16/02), with reports in the Independent indicating that it will be an appointment within the Office for Students (OfS), the UKs Higher Education regulator.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, a Department of Education source said that the measure was a response to the chilling effect of supposed unacceptable silencing and censoring across universities, with the plans requiring universities to adopt the free speech condition in order to be registered in England and receive public funding.

The regulator for the OfS would then be entitled to impose fines on universities breaching the new rule.

Student unions will also bear legal responsibilities, and will be encouraged to ensure that free speech is secured for students and visitors. Meanwhile, individual members of universities will have the right to seek compensation through the courts if they suffered an expulsion, dismissal or demotion under the new law.

News of the new role comes as Williamson said he wrote to vice-chancellors to press them to champion free speech, adding that the government was looking at how to strengthen it further.

What must not happen is that universities decide whose words will be heard and handed down to the next generation and whose will be unheard, Williamson said.

Williamson had previously stated that the government would step in to defend free speech last year after an event at the University of Oxford event featuring Amber Rudd, the former Home Secretary, was cancelled thirty minutes before it was due to start. This was a result of student opposition in an alleged act of no-platforming, with students at the time such as Safa Sadozai from the Oxford Feminist Society criticising Rudds role in the Windrush Scandal.

Williamson has elsewhere praised Cambridges Statement on Freedom of Speech, passed in December last year, as more than a victory for common sense, adding that freedom of speech, thought or expression is one of the most prized aspects of a civilized society.

The Universitys new Statement on Freedom of Speech, which was passed by a majority of 75% with a 32.1% turnout in a Grace at Regent House, was the subject of three amendments authored by Dr Arif Ahmed, a Reader in the Faculty of Philosophy. These included that the views of others should be met with tolerance rather than respect, as well as only permitting no-platforming in the event that a speaker is likely to express unlawful speech.

The vote followed accusations of a previous Statement made in March 2020 as being vague and authoritarian, with the Campaign for Cambridge Freedoms arguing that the insistence on respect for the views of others could have risked disciplinary charges and even dismissal for mockery of ideas and individuals with which we disagree, adding the University [had] no right to demand that we be respectful towards all beliefs and practices: on the contrary, we have a right, in some cases practically a duty, to satirize and to mock them.

The vote caused divisions amongst academics at the University, with Dr Priyamvada Gopal, Professor of Postcolonial Studies at the Faculty of English, drawing on the example of Toby Young, social commentator and Director of the Free Speech Union, and his wish to invite Canadian professor Jordan Peterson to talk at Cambridge to argue that what is at stake is giving eugenicists, racists, and transphobes a prestigious platform.

The governments new measure will also see a discussion around national heritage, with Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, being expected to lead a roundtable discussion with over twenty heritage and culture bodies, including the National Trust and the British Museum.

Dowden has also sent heritage and cultural institutions a letter arguing that countries should not run from or airbrush the history upon which they are founded, with a source from Dowdens department saying that the roundtable initiative is aimed at defend[ing] our culture and history from the noisy minority of activists constantly trying to do Britain down.

This defence of British culture and history expounded by Dowden follows a discussion held by Churchill College last week (11/02) which proposed a critical re-assessment of Winston Churchills views on race and his legacy in British society.

The negotiation with Britains racial past and present saw speakers such as Kehinde Andrews, Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, suggest that Churchill is perceived as a saintly figure whos beyond reproach and an important part of British identity. Meanwhile the event itself caused controversy prior to it being held, with Nicholas Soames, Churchills grandson, calling this re-assessment an idiotic debate thats got out of control in all our universities, as Frank Furedi, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Kent Univeristy, called it a plundering of history and a systematic attempt to recant the past.

Jo Grady, the University and College Union (UCU) General Secretary, has criticised the governments priorities amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing that it appears more interested in fighting phantom threats to free speech than taking action to contain the real and present danger which the virus poses to staff and students, adding that the biggest threats to academic freedom and free speech come [...] from ministers own attempts to police what can and cannot be said on campus.

A 2018 report from the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee did not find the wholesale censorship of debate in universities, but the Committees chair, Harriet Harman, maintained that there is a problem of inhibition of free speech in universities.

Meanwhile Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, Vice President for Higher Education at the National Union of Students (NUS) argued that claims of a freedom of expression crisis on campus are unfounded, but added that the governments new legal obligation will act as an opportunity for us to prove once and for all that there is not an extensive problem with freedom of expression across higher education.

The Cambridge SU has been contacted for comment. The Cambridge Union declined to comment.

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

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Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as 1, to help with our running costs at least until this global crisis ends and things begin to return to normal.

Many thanks, all of us here at Varsity would like to wish you, your friends, families and all of your loved ones a safe and healthy few months ahead.

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Education Secretary set to announce 'free speech champion' with powers to fine universities - Varsity Online

One of the main narratives following Super Bowl LV was Tom Brady's undisputed claim as the NFL's GOAT. Even all-world receiver Jerry Rice conceded that title to Brady, who won his seventh Super Bowl and fifth Super Bowl MVP at age 43. While Brady's status as the GOAT can still be debated, his longevity and sustained excellence is truly peerless.

That being said, Brady is not the GOAT when it comes to a Pro Football Reference metric. The website created a "Hall of Fame Monitor"in 2019 that was designed to estimate a player's chances at being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Using approximate value, Pro Bowls, All-Pros, championships and other statistical milestones, the site created a point system to determine the pecking order at each position.

At quarterback, Peyton Manning holds the top spot with 258 points. Brady is No. 2 with 250.94 points, followed by Brett Favre (178.84 points), Aaron Rodgers (163.72 points), Johnny Unitas (169.34 points), Joe Montana (153.45 points), Drew Brees (140.5 points), John Elway (137.78 points), Fran Tarkenton (117.28 points), and Dan Marino (116.85 points). While Brady has five more rings than Manning, Manning's two titles, five MVP awards (compared to Brady's three) and seven All-Pro selections (compared to three for Brady) gives him a slight edge for the time being. But while Manning's career is about to be immortalized in Canton, Ohio, Brady can add to his point tally in the coming seasons.

Philip Rivers, who announced his retirement following the Colts' playoff loss to Buffalo, is actually 12th on Pro Football's QB Hall of Fame metric with 97.64 points. He's just behind Steve Young (112.98 points) and ahead of Barr Starr (97.53 points), Matt Ryan (97.43 points), and Ben Roethlisberger. (95.38 points).

Eli Manning, in case you were wondering, is 21st on the list with 83.41 points. While his point tally is well short of the Hall of Fame average, Manning's ranking is higher than Hall of Famers Joe Namath (82.5 points), Bob Griese (73.45 points), Troy Aikman (64.85 points), and Jim Kelly (59.1 points), among others. He also has more points than current Seahawks quarterbackRussell Wilson (74.2 points).

While Brady can still catch Manning, Rice's place atop the wide receiver food chain is pretty secure. Rice's 311.81 points are more than twice as many as the second-ranked receiver, Randy Moss (149.59 points). While Moss' 23 touchdown catches in 2007 remains a single-season record, Rice's three rings, 10 All-Pro selections (compared to four for Moss) and 13 Pro Bowls (Moss was a six-time Pro Bowler) put him in a class by himself.

Here's a look at the top-five players at each position, according to Pro Football Reference's Hall of Fame Monitor. We'll also include current players who are close to the average point total for Hall of Famers at their position.

Peyton Manning -- 258 points

Tom Brady -- 250.94 points

Brett Favre -- 178.84 points

Aaron Rodgers -- 163.72 points

Johnny Unitas -- 160.34 points

Average point tally for HOF quarterbacks: 104

Notable current players: Matt Ryan (97.43 points), Ben Roethlisberger (95.38 points), Russell Wilson (74.20 points)

Walter Payton -- 214.91 points

Jim Brown -- 182.41 points

Barry Sanders -- 178.05 points

Emmitt Smith -- 176.30 points

LaDainian Tomlinson -- 136.15 points

Average point total for HOF running backs: 107

Notable current players: Adrian Peterson (123.85 points), Frank Gore (100.05 points), LeSean McCoy (83.14 points)

Interesting nugget: Brown led the NFL in rushing for eight of his nine seasons. His 1,863-yard season in 1963 was the most ever at that time.

Jerry Rice -- 311.81 points

Randy Moss -- 149.59 points

Marvin Harrison -- 147.60 points

Larry Fitzgerald -- 140.92 points

Terrell Owens -- 139.83 points

Average point total for HOF wide receivers: 105

Notable current players: Fitzgerald, Julio Jones (100.82 points), Antonio Brown (98.7 points)

Interesting nugget: In just 12 games, Rice caught 22 touchdown passes in 1987, which stood at the single-season record until Moss caught 23 touchdowns in 2007.

Tony Gonzalez -- 196.33 points

Antonio Gates -- 113.63 points

Shannon Sharpe -- 113.23 points

Dave Casper -- 111.62 points

Jason Witten -- 105.62 points

Average point total for HOF tight ends: 98

Notable current players: Rob Gronkowski (89.51 points), Travis Kelce (73.16 points)

Interesting nugget: Of the top-five tight ends on this list, only Sharpe and Casper played on Super Bowl-winning teams. Sharpe won back-to-back titles with the Broncos; Casper caught a touchdown pass in the Raiders' win over Minnesota in Super Bowl XI.

Bruce Matthews -- 158.7 points

John Hannah -- 153.1 points

Randall McDaniel -- 148.75 points

Alan Faneca -- 134.23 points

Larry Little -- 133.73 points

Average point total for HOF guards: 110

Notable current players: Zack Martin (67.78 points), David DeCastro (44.33 points), Mike Iupati (37.43 points)

Interesting nugget: Five of Matthews' 14 Pro Bowl selections came at center, as Matthews temporarily switched positions midway through his career.

Anthony Munoz -- 160.65 points

Forrest Gregg -- 139.5 points

Jim Parker -- 121.25 points

Ron Yary -- 120.18 points

Willie Roaf -- 117.3 points

Average point total for HOF offensive tackle: 101

Notable current players: Jason Peters (89.7 points), Tyron Smith (73 points), Andrew Whitworth (59.65 points)

Interesting nugget: Gregg, a key member of the Packers' 1960s dynasty, actually coached Munoz in Cincinnati from 1980-83. The duo helped the Bengals reach their first Super Bowl in 1981.

Dermontti Dawson -- 128.23 points

Jim Otto -- 124.78 points

Mike Webster -- 117.6 points

Dwight Stephenson -- 111.95 points

Kevin Mawae -- 99.05 points

Average point total for HOF centers: 109

Notable current players: **Maurkice Pouncey (73.78 points), Alex Mack (64.58 points), Jason Kelce (51.28 points)

** -- Pouncey retired following the 2020 season

Interesting nugget: Dawson succeeded Webster in Pittsburgh following Webster's departure for Kansas City in 1989. For a 25-year span, the Steelers had a top-five all-time center manning their offensive line.

Bob Lilly -- 159.2 points

Alan Page -- 157.1 points

Randy White -- 142.18 points

Joe Greene -- 136.53 points

John Randle -- 135.6 points

Average point total for HOF defensive tackles: 114 points

Notable current players: Aaron Donald (127.63 points), Ndamukong Suh (79.98 points), Geno Atkins (75.85 points), Fletcher Cox (71.98 points)

Interesting nugget: Page became the first defensive player to win league MVP in 1971. While he never won league MVP, Greene succeeded Page as Defensive Player of the Year in 1972. He won the honor for a second time in 1974, while also winning the first of four Super Bowls over a six-year span.

Reggie White -- 237.75 points

Bruce Smith -- 211.35 points

Jack Youngblood -- 124.15 points

J.J. Watt -- 123.88 points

Michael Strahan -- 123.6 points

Average point total for HOF defensive ends: 103

Notable current players: Watt, Calais Campbell (77.58 points), Cameron Jordan (69.1 points), Chandler Jones (62.63 points)

Interesting nugget: The NFL's first big free agent signee, White helped deliver Green Bay's first title in 29 years with his three-sack effort in the Packers' win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.

Ray Lewis -- 197.03 points

Mike Singletary -- 171 points

Jack Lambert -- 151.65 points

Dick Butkus -- 128.85 points

Luke Kuechly -- 118.4 points

Average point total for HOF inside linebackers: 114

Notable current players: Bobby Wagner (96.68 points), K.J. Wright (35.4 points), Sean Lee (26.5 points)

Interesting nugget: Butkus and Kuechly were not penalized for having relatively short careers. Butkus retired after nine seasons and 119 career games. Kuechly played eight seasons and in 118 regular season games before retiring after the 2019 season.

Lawrence Taylor -- 215.68 points

Derrick Brooks -- 162.8 points

Jack Ham -- 143.7 points

Ted Hendricks -- 137.35 points

Junior Seau -- 119.58 points

Average point total for outside linebackers: 106

Notable current players: Khalil Mack (83.35 points), Lavonte David (42.45 points), Justin Houston (39.25 points)

Interesting nugget: Taylor joined Page as the NFL's only defensive league MVPs in 1986. He led the NFL with 20.5 sacks that season while also leading the Giants to their first Super Bowl title.

Rod Woodson -- 118.05 points

Deion Sanders -- 174.43 points

Ronnie Lott -- 173.75 points

Ed Reed -- 150.4 points

Willie Wood -- 130.73 points

Read more:
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A police corporal wounded in the line of duty, two young detectives eager to make a difference in their community, and the Village of Dundee's do-it-all sergeant have beennamedthe 2020 Monroe County Police Officers of the Year.

Detective Michael Swiercz of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Detective/Trooper Jordan Long of the Michigan State Police-Monroe Post, Cpl. Renae Peterson of the City of Monroe Police Department, and Sgt. Randy Sehl of the Village of Dundee Police Department received their awards Thursday at the Exchange Club of Monroe's annual banquet. While attendance was limited due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a group of law enforcement members and elected officials gathered to recognize not only the four honorees, but the thousands of other police officerswho risk their lives to protect Monroe County.

"...It is a most challenging time to serve as a police officer, particularly with the proliferation of firearms and perplexing lack of respect for authority...," saidMonroeCounty Circuit Judge Mark S. Braunlich, chairman of the recognition program andemcee of Thursday's banquet."Despite the danger from ambushers and criminals willing to engage police in combat with firearms, the Thin Blue Line holds. Regrettably, the Thin Blue Line is increasingly shrouded with a black veil. These sobering news reports and tragic deaths are a stark reminder of the dangers our law enforcement professionals face each and every day while protecting and serving our communities.

"We must not take for granted their service and sacrifice. We must foster and reinforce the respect due to police officers."

Braunlich went on to say that one of the things that makes Monroe County unique is the level of cooperation that exists between the various components of its criminal justice system.

"An exceptional working relationship exists between police and prosecutors, between police and judges, between prosecutors and judges, and finally between the judges themselves," he said.

Cpl. Renae Peterson, City of Monroe Police Department

Monroe Police ChiefCharlesMcCormick's voice wavered several times as he recounted how Cpl. Renae Peterson was severely wounded in acarjacking and gunfire exchange that occurred last May.

A 17-year veteran of the police force, Peterson was responding to a report that two male suspects had pistol-whipped a victim before stealing the victim's vehicle by force. Peterson made contact with the suspects, but she was ambushed and fired upon by one of the two young men.

"Although she was critically wounded, she fought back like the warrior that she is," McCormick said. "She returned fire towards him, and forced him to retreat and flee the area on foot."

Both McCormick and Peterson acknowledged the quartet of officers whoresponded to the scene to assist Peterson and pursue her shooter and his accomplice. They both thanked Officer Seth Gonyea andLt. Dan Clanton, who worked together to apply pressure to Peterson's wounds, as well as officers Ryan Parise and Jacob Winter, who along with deputies from the Monroe County Sheriff's Officepursued the suspects on foot and apprehended them before they could cause further harm.

Gonyea and Clanton were previously awarded the Monroe Police Department's Life Saving Award, while Parise and Winter earned the department's Medal of Valor.

This is Peterson's second Officer of the Year award, as she also received onein 2016. For her actions in the May shooting, she has also received the Monroe Police Department's Medal of Valor and Purple Heart awards.

"She's battled cancer, she's battled bullets, and I'm proud to give her this award," McCormick said.

In her acceptance speech, Peterson cited the Bible verse Isaiah 6:8: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"

"I have a passion to protect the innocent, to protect those who call upon us for help," she said. "I now my coworkers in the department feel the same way, because this is what we do... Thank you again for allowing me to share some of my appreciation, and I want everyone to know I have so much more to give in law enforcement.

"When citizens need help, we answer 'send me.'"

Detective Michael Swiercz,Monroe County Sheriff's Office

When Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough arrived at the scene of theFebruary 1 shooting in Frenchtown Township, he was almost immediately approached by Detective Michael Swiercz.

"He took it upon himself to enlighten me, he said 'Sheriff, I'm in charge here, this is my case,'" Goodnough said, smiling as he toldthe story to the guests at Thursday's banquet. "That's the kind of leadership we want in the sheriff's office... As a new detective, Michael jumped in with two feet, working on complex, major felony investigations that are typically reserved for veteran detectives. We truly value the dedication and commitment Michael brings to the sheriff's office each and every day."

Swiercz said he is "truly honored and humbled to be chosen among equally deserving officers I work with every single day."

"Above all, I have to thank my family for their understanding, and their support, and especially their patience with me as I've grown in my police career," the South Rockwood native added. "Mine and all the family members in here deserve awards for all the sleepless nights and stresses our careers put to them."

Detective/Trooper Jordan Long of the Michigan State Police-Monroe Post

Michigan State Police First Lt. GregMorenko, commander of the Monroe post, explained that his department typically honors a uniform trooper with the Officer of the Year award.

"We decided to go with a detective/trooper this year...," Morenko explained in introducing Detective/Trooper Jordan Long. "This award, not to sound sappy, but it's kind of special to me. I remember Jordan when he was a brand new trooper, and I've gotten to see him turn into who he is today. It's been fun to watch, and I'm proud to see what he's turned into."

Long's commanding officer, DetectiveLt. MarcMoore, said that Long has time and time again proven he's willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

"There might be nights where he works until 8, 9, 10 o'clock at night, then comes in in the middle of the night to follow up on an investigation, which could mean putting trackers on cars, or pulling trash, or doing surveillance," Moore said. "That wears somebody down, it's tough on the person and their families. A lot of flexibility goes into the job, and a lot of it is for the greater good. (Long) does this consistently, he works many hours, comes in early for search warrants, stays in late for whatever cases that he's working on. I can't stress that enough, how important that is."

Moore went on to praise Long for his willingness to use every resource at his disposal during an investigation.

"He's been with us a few years now, and the guy has been a rockstar," Moore said. "We're a small team of guys, and we're all kind of grasping for time based on priorities, but everybody kind of follows Jordan because he really does lead the way.

"He's an outstanding detective."

Long did not give an acceptance speech, but he did thank his wife as well as Morenko and Moore.

Sgt. Randy Sehl of the Village of Dundee Police Department

Dundee Village Manager Dave Uhl said that Sgt. Randy Sehl has always been the go-to guy of the village's police department, dating back to when Uhl was the police chief.

Uhl was the one who hired Sehl back in 1996. Sehlruns the department's Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) and Shop-With-a-Cop programs, as well as its social media accounts. He's also been a DARE officer for 17 years, with well over 3,000 children going through his classes.

"I've always considered him an all-around officer...," Uhl said. "If there's a difficult situation, or if there's a disgruntled citizen or a sticky situation that needs to be handled, I'll always send Randy out to calm the situation down and talk to everyone. I can tell you, about every time, there's no further complaints after Randy has handled a situation. He's that kind of go-to guy."

Sehl said that law enforcement is a team effort. He also encouraged his fellow officers to stay positive in the face of the negativity law enforcement as a whole has faced due to recent events across the country.

"Just stay positive," he said. "This is my 32nd year as a police officer, I'm proud to say that I'm a police officer and I will continue to do that."

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Monroe County police officers vetted at annual award banquet - Monroe Evening News