Who do you consider the best ever?

[Skrappy1]

In light of the old Emmitt/Barry debate being resurrected in another thread, who do you feel is the best RB you ever saw?

[Puddy]

In light of the old Emmitt/Barry debate being resurrected in another thread, who do you feel is the best RB you ever saw?

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I'm biased, but I based my vote on the fact I would watch a football game just because Barry was playing. To be fair, I never saw Jim Brown play.

 

Ask Rod Woodson..

[Skrappy1]

Ask Rod Woodson..

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I'm a bit slow sometimes, but are you implying that Rod Woodson is old Puddy?

[Puddy]

I'm a bit slow sometimes, but are you implying that Rod Woodson is old Puddy? 

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Nah, I was referring to this...about halfway down.

 

I watched that play and it was incredible. I think Woodson was out for the year after the fake put on him by Barry. It was plays like that which portrayed his greatness. He made runs nobody else could make.

 

 

 

Let's not fudge on Sanders

 

A column by JIM EVANS

 

PUBLISHED: August 8, 2004

 

He was great ...and a great big mystery

 

A lot of us will never forgive Barry Sanders for leaving like he did.

None will ever forget his greatness, either.

 

Maybe the abrupt way Barry halted his career shouldn't have been such a surprise.

 

Abrupt stops had been part of his repertoire for years.

 

He ran like an apparition. He'd be there, and whoosh, he was gone. Defensive lineman gripped handfuls of frustration. Linebackers put their shoulders into a specter. Guys in the secondary simply kept chopping their feet, flipped a coin, and hoped they guessed right on which way Barry was cutting.

 

Then he was off. Headed to the end zone, or at least grabbing a big chunk of real estate.

 

But then Barry was really gone. On the cusp of the 1999 training camp, he disappeared. Off to Europe when he should have been reporting to Saginaw Valley State for workouts.

 

Gone without so much as a note, or a comment.

 

Months later, he shrugged and said he had simply grown weary of football. A couple of years later, he hinted that he'd actually gotten tired of playing losing football.

 

Barry created a void when he departed. Both from hapless defenders, and from the game itself.

 

Barry Sanders will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio today.

 

Congratulations, and nobody could be more deserving. For a decade, he was often the only reason to head to Pontiac on Sunday afternoons. Even though Barry could be held to 11 yards on his first seven carries, he could explode for about 85 on his 12th.

 

And, five carries later, he would have gained 187 yards.

 

He was simply an amazing running back, probably the most elusive ever to play in the National Football League. He would take the handoff and initially aim for the guts of the line. Only maybe he'd run into an offensive lineman's Wide Load posterior. Or, he would spot more fertile grounds and bounce outside.

 

There, he would corkscrew Ty Law into the ground. Or, unfortunately, turn Rod Woodson's knee into scrambled eggs. Or, he'd miraculously emerge from a nearly suffocating den of Bears and head toward the end zone.

 

Nobody in the history of the NFL had the balance that Barry did. Nobody could hit the brakes as quickly, and change directions like he did. There have been brilliant running backs before, but none with the unique ability to uncork a run for the highlight reel.

 

He left the game as the NFL's second leading rusher. He could've been its top gainer had he stuck around longer, but records never motivated him.

 

Nobody knew exactly what motivated Barry Sanders when he was with the Lions. He was a brilliant talent, but he was never really a team leader. He said he let his performance do the talking, but his refusal to attend mini-camps also spoke volumes.

 

He quit at least partly because he did not believe in the direction the organization was headed, yet he never once tried to grab the wheel and steer himself. He got irritated when the team continually traded away veteran offensive lineman like Lomas Brown or Kevin Glover, but he never said anything.

 

Can you imagine the repercussions if Barry had marched into Chuck Schmidt's office, or into the one occasionally occupied by William Clay Ford, and issued an ultimatum?

 

But he never did. It wasn't his personality. So the Lions continued to brandish their losing personality.

 

He got frustrated, and he left.

 

Barry Sanders was a great player. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Nobody was better at eluding defenders.

 

Should it be any surprise that he eluded the rest of us, too?

 

Jim Evans is a sports writer for the Daily Tribune, a 21st Century Newspaper

[Skrappy1]

Nah, I was referring to this...about halfway down.

 

I watched that play and it was incredible.  I think Woodson was out for the year after the fake put on him by Barry.  It was plays like that which portrayed his greatness.  He made runs nobody else could make.

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Good article. I agree with you completely, I just thought that you were saying to ask Rod Woodson about Jim Brown because he had seen him play (or played against him perhaps).

 

He ran like an apparition. He'd be there, and whoosh, he was gone. Defensive lineman gripped handfuls of frustration. Linebackers put their shoulders into a specter. Guys in the secondary simply kept chopping their feet, flipped a coin, and hoped they guessed right on which way Barry was cutting.

I remember early on in Barry's career - maybe in his rookie season though I forget now which team the Lions were playing - but the defenders on the opposing team complained to the refs that they thought Barry had rubbed Crisco or something on his jersey. The refs went over and checked Barry and his jersey out and found nothing...the defenders just couldn't believe that they repeatedly thought they had him in their grasps only to see him slip away again and again.

 

Edit: I couldn't find anything about the above story on-line, but I did find a small snippet about it in Barry's book...it was his rookie season in a game against the Vikings, and it was the then Viking coach Jerry Burns who asked the officials to check Barry's jersey because of all the missed tackles.

Edited February 4, 2005 by Skrappy1

[jackshi17]

I believe you will find that Rod Woodson actually blew his knee out because his foot got caught in the space between two sections of astroturf.

 

It really is not that important because Jim Brown was the best ever and yes I saw them all live.

Edited February 4, 2005 by jackshi17

[darin3]

I believe you will find that Rod Woodson actually blew his knee out because his foot got caught in the space between two sections of astroturf.

 

It really is not that important because Jim Brown was the best ever and yes I saw them all live.

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Woodson's a cool cat. I saw him at a local bar up in the Bay Area on numerous occasions, always bought him a beer or shot and he was always friendly and appreciative. Hell of a player.

 

Sorry, this is a RB thread... doh!

 

I think all of these "great" RBs are "great" in their own way:

 

Emmitt = solid all around, tough, decent speed

 

Payton = smooth, fearless, fierce

 

Brown = unstoppable athletic-wise, way ahead of his time

 

Sanders = incredible moves, speed

 

... anyways... I voted for Payton, being a Bears fan. He defined the consummate smooth, yet tough, football god.

[sunysteelfly76]

The vote won't even be close once the Dallas homers wake up this morning and see the poll.

[Vote Quimby2]

I still sigh at what could have been for Bo Jackson if he hadn't been injured.

[Men In Tights]

I still sigh at what could have been for Bo Jackson if he hadn't been injured. 

 

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Very good point, and sad as well.

[phenom]

Best pure RB IMO that combines power, agility, speed and vision would be either Eric Dickerson or OJ Simpson.

 

Dickerson's the only RB to put up 1,800 yards 3 times in a career and probably would have put this debate to sleep if he wouldn't have forced that trade to the Colts.

 

OJ put 2,000 yards in 14 games on a bad Buffalo team. These guys putting up 2,000 yards now can barely do it in 16............

[Jrick35]

Coming from a Dallas Fan I must say the best RB ever was Jim Brown.

 

In 9 seasons (the 1st 4 seasons were 12 games, the last 5 were 14 games)he:

 

Was Rookie of the year in 1957

 

Led the NFL in rushing 8 times

 

Played in 9 Pro Bowls, never missed a year.

 

Was a 2 time MVP, with the awards coming in the beginning, 1958 and the end, 1965 of his career, so he never let up.

 

His team's record was 79-39 for a 67% winning percentage. And they played in 2 Championship games going 1-1 (although Championships are actually team accomplishments more than a RB accomplishment)

 

In the 4, 12 game seasons he went over 1300 yds once and he went over 1400 yds once.

 

In the 5, 14 game seasons he went over 1400 yds twice, 1500 yds once and even went over 1800 yds once.

 

But possibly the most impressive stat of all is that for his career Jim Brown averaged 5.22 yds per carry for every single time that he ran the football, and oh yeah, he was a Full back.

 

Still think Alstott's so great?

[Gunther]

The vote won't even be close once the Dallas homers wake up this morning and see the poll.

 

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Whoops, guess I woke up too late and blew the call, then. I voted Barry Sanders.

 

Never saw Walter Payton or Jim Brown play (but I have certainly seen highlights of them). Emmitt is definitely up there as a running back, but I liked watching Sanders play.