Story of the Greatest RB ever.
 

[url]http://www.nfl.com/news/story/7517114[/url]

Great Article.

Agreed... people may say that he either lost a yard or took it to the house on every play, but i guarantee if he would have had the same line Emmitt had, he would have netted postive yardage nearly every play. The reason he had to juke it out so much is because his line was crap and he didn't have the opportunity to run through holes throughout his career.

Who would be your top 5 of all time?

I'd have to go with

1) Payton- Power, speed, quicks, vision, hands, heart, the guy had it all and played for some horrible teams to boot.

2) Brown- He would have succeeded in any era, he was truly ahead of his time when he played. A man among boys with his power.

3) Sanders- My personal favorite of the bunch, his moves were insane.

4) Smith- Gotta give him his props, he played at a high level for a very long time and in his prime was top notch. He needs to hang it up already though.

5) Dickerson- Doesn't get as much hype as he should. Smooth as hell.

Sanders is the greatest of all time, bar none. The guy could do it all without a line. In fact if he had a line im not sure he would be half as fun to watch, lol. Matty, why do you see Payton played for horrible teams, didnt he arguably play for some of the greatest teams of all time? Id have to say that he did, expecially the 86 year. I never really watched brown, I was to young, and I havent really see to many highlights of him. Im sure he was great but in my eyes no one compares to sanders. Id actually include Faulk in that list. Faulk was absolutly unstopable for a long time, and there arent many backs that have had better hands. He went four years in a row with over 80 receptions. Hes not one of the best runners of all time, but as someone to have in yoru backfield you cant deny his big play potential.

I wasn't around when he played, but people say that there's another Bear who doesn't get as much props as he should.

And speaking of Faulk, watch out for the "next" Marshall Faulk- his name is Reggie Bush, from THE University of Southern California.

In spite of playing for the '85 and '86 Bears, Payton did play for a lot of rather average Bears teams. I pretty much agree with Matty's list. I'm going to tweak it just a bit.

1. Payton: Just seemed so genuine. A better person than player, and considering his skills that's saying a lot. Still can't believe Fridge got the carry for the touchdown in SB XX instead of Walter.

2. Sanders: Michelangelo in cleats. Nothing compared to watching him

3. Jim Brown: I really can't put him higher since I never saw him play

4. OJ Simpson: Yes. There was a time when he was known for his slashing skills [I]on[/I] the field.

5. Emmitt Smith: True he was on a very talented team, but like Matty says you've got to give him his props.

Also Receiving Votes: Tony Dorsett, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell

Just looking at the level of skill that a player brought to the game, I would have to say that Barry Sanders is the greatest I have ever seen. He could seriously make plays that most people could not even imagine. I still remember one time when he got tackled, but managed to plant his hand on the ground. His knees never touched the ground! He just picked up and kept running. He is the type of running back that redefines the position and I think that if you ask most any coach which running back they would take if they had the chance, they would say Barry Sanders.

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]Who would be your top 5 of all time?

I'd have to go with

1) Payton- Power, speed, quicks, vision, hands, heart, the guy had it all and played for some horrible teams to boot.

2) Brown- He would have succeeded in any era, he was truly ahead of his time when he played. A man among boys with his power.

3) Sanders- My personal favorite of the bunch, his moves were insane.

4) Smith- Gotta give him his props, he played at a high level for a very long time and in his prime was top notch. He needs to hang it up already though.

5) Dickerson- Doesn't get as much hype as he should. Smooth as hell.[/QUOTE]

Excellent job with that Matty! I agree with everyone exept #5, Dickerson fumbled to much for my liking, I have to go with Earl Cambell at the 5 spot, in fact I would bump Earl ahead of Emmitt, except he didn't have the longevity that Emmitt had.

I would also take Dorsett, as well as Sayer's, over Dickerson.

Offiss, it's interesting you talk about longevity. I had a hard time deciding where to rank Campbell, Sayers and to some extent even Bo Jackson because of their relative lack of longevity. Do you think the longer Emmitt stays in the game, and if he plays like last year, the more his legacy might diminish?

Also, where would you rank Bettis and Thurman Thomas?

One can only wonder what Bo's stats would have looked like if he committed 100% to football and he didn't get hurt. He probably would own a ton of rushing records right now.

I've always been a big fan of Sanders, and I would rank him no.1 simply because I never saw Jim Brown or OJ play. Payton was awesome too, he would be my no. 2.

Bo Jackson would've been the greatest if he would've stayed healthy and stuck with football.

I love Bo Jackson, arguably one of my favorite players of all time. It was a sad day for me when he messed up his knee... I dont know if he would have been better than Sanders, but he would have had a great career either way.

I saw Jim Brown play on TV and in person. He is the best football player I ever saw. Period.

That takes nothing away from Payton and Sanders and Smith and lots of other great running backs I've seen. It's just that I think Jim Brown was better than all of them.

In his nine or ten year career, Jim Brown AVERAGED 105 yards per game. In today's 16 game season that means he would AVERAGE 1680 yards per season rushing. Oh, he was also a very reliable pass receiver too.

When Brown started playing in the NFL, the standard defense was 5 defensive linemen and 2 linebackers. That is what Brown ran against for much of his career and he ran a lot of times between the tackles and he still AVERAGED 105 yards per game.

One other thing, he never missed a start...

My top 5 RB's:
1) Walter Payton (CHI)
2) J. Brown (Browns)
3) O.J. Simpson (Bills
4) Earl Campbell (Hou)
5) Gale Sayers (CHI)


I think is Barry Snders is great and is one of the top 10 best RB's in the history of the NFL. But he does not crack my not top 5. I know you guys say Barry Sanders played on some awful teams, but his awful teams made the playoffs five years (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1997), so they could not have that bad. Walter Payton's Bears only made the playoff six times in his long career.
Barry Sanders post season rushing stats (see below) are awful.
Most noteworthy the 1994 playoff game against Greenbay he had -1 yard on 13 carries. Another against our 1991 Joe Gibbs' Redskins had 44 yards on 11 carries.

Year Opp Result | RSH YD TD | REC YD TD
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------
1991 dal W,38-6 | 12 69 1 | 5 30 0
1991 was L,10-41 | 11 44 0 | 4 15 0
1993 gnb L,24-28 | 27 169 0 | 2 0 0
1994 gnb L,12-16 | 13 -1 0 | 3 4 0
1995 phi L,37-58 | 10 40 0 | 2 19 0
1997 tam L,10-20 | 18 65 0 | 5 43 0
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------
TOTAL | 91 386 1 | 21 111 0

that's definately impressive... i'm a younger guy, so i haven't had a to chance to see an of these guys play :( pathetic, i know.

[QUOTE=Defensewins]My top 5 RB's:
1) Walter Payton (CHI)
2) J. Brown (Browns)
3) O.J. Simpson (Bills
4) Earl Campbell (Hou)
5) Gale Sayers (CHI)


I think is Barry Snders is great and is one of the top 10 best RB's in the history of the NFL. But he does not crack my not top 5. I know you guys say Barry Sanders played on some awful teams, but his awful teams made the playoffs five years (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1997), so they could not have that bad. Walter Payton's Bears only made the playoff six times in his long career.
Barry Sanders post season rushing stats (see below) are awful.
Most noteworthy the 1994 playoff game against Greenbay he had -1 yard on 13 carries. Another against our 1991 Joe Gibbs' Redskins had 44 yards on 11 carries.

Year Opp Result | RSH YD TD | REC YD TD
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------
1991 dal W,38-6 | 12 69 1 | 5 30 0
1991 was L,10-41 | 11 44 0 | 4 15 0
1993 gnb L,24-28 | 27 169 0 | 2 0 0
1994 gnb L,12-16 | 13 -1 0 | 3 4 0
1995 phi L,37-58 | 10 40 0 | 2 19 0
1997 tam L,10-20 | 18 65 0 | 5 43 0
---------------------+-----------------+-----------------
TOTAL | 91 386 1 | 21 111 0[/QUOTE]

while I agree that his postseason performances weren't great, a couple of those r misleading since the team fell behind so far they had to give up the run but in both of those games he average around 4 yards per carry.

and on a side note, r we ranking rbs as far as actual stats or just who we think were the 5 best rbs?

It would have to be John Riggins!!! :joke:
No I would have to go with
1,Barry Sanders,The best ankle breaker I can remember!
2,Eric Dickerson,His speed and grace are unmatched
3,Walter Payton,His nick name says it all. "SWEETNESS"!
4,Bo Jackson, if he would have played longer he might be #1
5,Emmit Smith, He might have played for the wrong team,but you have to give it to him.
:httr:

[QUOTE=SKINSnCANES]I love Bo Jackson, arguably one of my favorite players of all time. It was a sad day for me when he messed up his knee... I dont know if he would have been better than Sanders, but he would have had a great career either way.[/QUOTE]


It was his hip, and I hate to tell you this, but the player that did it was a good friend of mine, we played ball together since we were little kid's, Kevin Walker, from West Milford N.J., the same town our own lenny friedman is from.

[QUOTE=smootsmack]Offiss, it's interesting you talk about longevity. I had a hard time deciding where to rank Campbell, Sayers and to some extent even Bo Jackson because of their relative lack of longevity. Do you think the longer Emmitt stays in the game, and if he plays like last year, the more his legacy might diminish?

Also, where would you rank Bettis and Thurman Thomas?[/QUOTE]

I don't believe so, when Emmitt set the record I didn't really look at him as a hanger on, he was still a good back on a bad team, I have to rate longevity as a big part of a back's rating, reason, if your going to chose a back to build a franchise around, you want him to last at least 10 year's, the reason I like peyton at #1 is 2 reason's he played every game but 1, and there was nothing he couldn't do as back, Brown played every game and maybe a better pure runner, but he wasen't in peyton's class when it came to recieving, or throwing the ball, I like Peyton's over all diversity, so I believe longevity is an attribute to an NFL RB.

Now if we are looking for a back for just 1 game, who would that be? Essentially you are going to pick the most gifted back that ever played, and longevity doesn't factor in, that is I believe an even more interesting topic, I think I would go with Earl Cambell for 1 game, but there will be a real difference of opinion on this one.

Thanksgiving isn’t the same anymore without Barry Sanders.

[QUOTE=saden1]Thanksgiving isn’t the same anymore without Barry Sanders.[/QUOTE]

yeah but it is nice not having to worry about choking on your food when he makes an awesome play, lol.

Offiss, I don't remember actually seeing the game but I've seen enough highlights of that famous Oilers vs. Dolphins MNF game in '78 when Campbell stormed for 4 TDs to know that he was a beast of a back

Still I find it interesting that you're saying Campbell is the most gifted back, regardless of longevity. If I'm understanding you right, are you saying that on his best day Payton couldn't be as good as Campbell on his best day?

[QUOTE=smootsmack]Offiss, I don't remember actually seeing the game but I've seen enough highlights of that famous Oilers vs. Dolphins MNF game in '78 when Campbell stormed for 4 TDs to know that he was a beast of a back

Still I find it interesting that you're saying Campbell is the most gifted back, regardless of longevity. If I'm understanding you right, are you saying that on his best day Payton couldn't be as good as Campbell on his best day?[/QUOTE]

I will tell you what, if you get a chance to see highlight's of both and are able to compare, you will see something that I really haven't heard to many people talk about, and that is how similar both of their running style's were, Earl is a bigger stronger version of walter, he could do just about everthing walter could do running wise, only he was an absolute battering ram, not that walter was a slouch in that department, [infact walter pound for pound may have been the strongest RB I ever saw] but Earl was special, he just punished people, he had great balance as well as break away speed, infact he may have been faster than walter, but when he got into the open field he went looking for people to hit, which also lead to his early retirement, as well as he didn't condition himself like walter did, and I love Walter peyton, but 1 game? I am going with Earl!

Little suprised Terrel Davis hasn't been mentioned. He didn't play for long, but those few years were incrediable.

[QUOTE=skinsfanthru&thru]while I agree that his postseason performances weren't great, a couple of those r misleading since the team fell behind so far they had to give up the run but in both of those games he average around 4 yards per carry.

and on a side note, r we ranking rbs as far as actual stats or just who we think were the 5 best rbs?[/QUOTE]

I was just listing them as 5 favorite RB's, not stats wise. Stats can be misleading. For example Emmit Smith played most of his career on some great teams and with some of the best offensive lineman in the game. Walter Payton, O.J Simpson and Earl Campbell did not always play with a dominating O-line like Emmit Smith did for most of his career.

Ragarding Barry Sanders post season stats, the Green Bay game and his minus 1 yards on 13 carries is exactly what the one thing I do not like about him.
Let me preface this by repeating Barry is one of the top 8 greatest RB's to ever play the game. HIs highlight reel is one of the best.
But the one and only thing I did not like about Barry is he was very one dimensional back. He was always trying to break the long run. He would sometimes run side ways and backwards behind the line of scrimage way to much. It seemed ALMOST selfish on Barry's part when the team only needed 1 to 2 yards for a first down and Barry lost 5 yards because he was darting and weaving behind the line looking for the perfect hole. His inability to just dive into a small hole and take the small 3 to 4 yard gain was sometimes frustrating. I am not sure if the NFL or anyone else tracks this stat, but I bet Barry would lead all the top 10 RB's of all time in running plays that took a loss. It seemed like for every great long run he broke off he would get 2 to 3 runs for losses.

[QUOTE=Daseal]Little suprised Terrel Davis hasn't been mentioned. He didn't play for long, but those few years were incrediable.[/QUOTE]

terrel was definitely a beast... i think he'll always be looked at as a product of the system (in addition to his shortened career) though. Anderson, Portis, and (to some extent last season) Griffin all did well as Broncos within the span of a decade. This year, Griffin, Bell, and Hearst will all probably make a fine trio.

[QUOTE=itvnetop]terrel was definitely a beast... i think he'll always be looked at as a product of the system (in addition to his shortened career) though. Anderson, Portis, and (to some extent last season) Griffin all did well as Broncos within the span of a decade. This year, Griffin, Bell, and Hearst will all probably make a fine trio.[/QUOTE]
Don't forget Olandis Gary popped a 1,000-yarder in there, too.

Tonight's edition of Sports List had their Top 10 RBs of all time:

10) Earl Campbell
9) Tony Dorsett
8) Marcus Allen
7) Eric Dickerson
6) Gayle Sayers
5) OJ
4) Emmitt Smith
3) Barry Sanders
2) Walter Payton
1) Jim Brown

Barry still tops my list, but it's cool that this thread pretty much went back and forth between the top 3 (this board is pretty damn knowledgeable).

If you haven't seen Sports List yet, it's a pretty cool show... You won't always agree with their rankings (Skins/Cowboys was 6 or 7 all time greatest pro sports rivalry), but I like the way they use athletes, coaches, and entertainers for soundbytes. It's stylistically much like that whole "I Love the 90s" series on VH1. Plus I've had a crush on Summer Sanders since she was in the Olympics hehehe.

What channel do they play Sports List on, itvnetop?

comcast sportsnet, late night i believe... i've seen a couple, and they're not too bad compared to what else is on.