SUPER COLLIDERS

Linebackers are search-and-destroy specialists whose taste for the punishing blow remains one of the game's few constants

Dick Butkus of the Bears played in a savage frenzy.

Mike Curtis (left, 32) tormented Colt foes for a decade while contemporary Tommy Nobis (60) was the Falcons' first genuine star.

Sam Huff (left) of the Giants and Jack Lambert of the Steelers were the malevolent mainstays of their teams.

Mike Singletary was a Bear in the Butkus mold, and Ray Nitschke of the Packers was the very symbol of the great Vince Lombardi teams of the '60's.

Lawrence Taylor of the Giants has carried on the tradition of the heavy hitters.

THREE PHOTOS

NEIL LEIFER

PHOTO

MALCOLM EMMONS/NFL PHOTOS

TWO PHOTOS

FOCUS ON SPORTS

TWO PHOTOS

JOHN BIEVER