OT: Imagine Being A Browns Fan....
December 15th, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^
Imagine being a Lions fan:
60+ years with 1 playoff victory.
Drove the best RB in the history of the NFL out of the game.
Drove one of the all time top WRs out of the game.
At least the Browns are teetering on being a .500 club.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:19 PM ^
That’s bad as well. Browns fans were pathetic though this year.
December 15th, 2019 at 10:17 PM ^
December 16th, 2019 at 1:05 PM ^
No they didn't. Their coach looks like someone they found the hangs outside 7/11's sipping on slurpees all day
December 15th, 2019 at 7:20 PM ^
Best RB in the history of the game? You serious Clark?
December 15th, 2019 at 7:29 PM ^
Hands down.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:31 PM ^
His own father ranked him #3.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:41 PM ^
His own father watched Jim f'n Brown.
December 15th, 2019 at 10:19 PM ^
I watched Jim Brown, and he was the best running back, period. No one comes close.
December 15th, 2019 at 11:20 PM ^
prove it gramps
December 16th, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
Jim Brown and Emmet Smith ran behind offensive lines stocked with all pros. Barry typically had one and a half good offensive linemen. What he accomplished was miraculous.
December 17th, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
Saw them all. Emmet could not have done what Barry did if Emmet was a Lion. Emmet is out of the equation. Jim Brown was excellent but Barry is/was on a level of his own. It was amazing to watch a running back lean left, feet go straight, hips go right all at the same time while making players miss violently. It was not uncommon for a defensive person to blow out a knee trying to grab Barry. No other running back past or present can/could do that on a regular basis.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:30 AM ^
OK, Boomer
December 16th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
Don't let it melt you, Millie
December 16th, 2019 at 10:49 AM ^
He was the best in that era. It was an era where he was just as big as the offensive and defensive lineman.
In the modern era, Barry was the best. No one could see the field, change direction, avoid hits, and stretch nothing plays into gainers like him.
Brown would be a great back with a limited career in todays game, because linebackers are now bigger and faster than the defensive lineman he played against, and his running style would get him injured.
Barry would be the best in the league.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
Anyone dissing Barry needs their head examined. He was on a completely different level. Had he been on the Cowboys or Bills he would have rushed for 4,000 yards in a season. Every play for the lions he had to avoid three guys to get to the line of scrimmage and he still managed to get tons of runs. You could argue for other guys, but that's all it would be is an argument.
December 15th, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
i defy anyone to find film of any other running back who is surrounded by a crew of defenders in an area hardly the size of a phone booth, who then runs out of that phone booth to a TD. and all that while on a lions team that is generally horrible, including the O-line.
yeah, if barry had played on the cowboys he'd have a billion yards. and emmit smith, solid back, but couldn't hold barry's shoes. if emmet had played for the lions you never would've heard of him.
December 15th, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^
This. B. Sanders is the best back I've ever seen, and, again, I'm a Giants fans. He did things that defied your sense of what was possible.
December 16th, 2019 at 12:50 AM ^
One Sanders TD run has always stuck out to me as exemplary.
It didn't look like much in real time. He swept to the left. Stopped in front of a defender. And then the defender just let him go.
But slow motion replay showed Barry stopping on his left foot, starting right at a 45 degree angle. Then in mid-stride, while pushing off his left leg going right, he changes directions somehow and went left even though his body was out in front of his left leg.
That's why the defender "let him go". It wasn't possible.
December 16th, 2019 at 11:41 AM ^
My all time favorite was Peete holding up his arms for a TD against the Colts(?) when Barry had changed direction in the backfield, 25-30 yards from the endzone with a man to beat. Like, anyone who had watched Barry for a day knew one guy wasn't an obstacle with that much open field.
He wasn't.
December 16th, 2019 at 2:52 PM ^
My favorite: Barry sweeps the right end against the Bears at Soldier Field. He's met at the line of scrimmage by at least three Bears defenders coming at high speed. Barry rolls over the pile, doing a 360 vertical turn in mid-air, lands on his feet, and busts up the sideline for about a 50 yard touchdown.
Barry Sanders was the greatest to ever haul the rock and it's not even close whoever's second.
December 15th, 2019 at 8:01 PM ^
So that means you and his father are idiots.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:11 AM ^
I think most people consider Jim Brown #1. After that, it's either Walter Payton or Barry Sanders. If you're from Chicago, obviously it's Sweetness. If you're from Detroit, obviously it's Barry.
December 15th, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
His own father rated himself 2nd all-time, haha:
“1. Jim Brown 2. Me 3. Barry.” - William Sanders
Gotta love the humility.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:48 AM ^
To be fair, towards the end of Barry's career, his dad had it as 1 and 1a. Thankfully dropping himself out of the conversation.
Seems like dad was a precursor to Uncle Rico
December 15th, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
Yes. Abso-friggin-lately.
December 15th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
Barry Sanders was so great you didn't even have to mention his name and we all knew who you were talking about. And we all know the story about his father thinking Jim Brown was better.
So yes you alone demonstrated his greatness.
December 16th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
I saw his father discussing this and right away I saw him as one of those corner barbershop contrarian guys. You know the type. I say "Tom Brady's the GOAT." And he says "Brady's been riding Belichek's coattails. Joe Montana was the greatest."
December 16th, 2019 at 8:00 AM ^
He was the best RB I ever saw, and I have no bias what-so-ever, I’m a Browns fan
December 16th, 2019 at 9:07 AM ^
Arguably. I think most people seem to consider Jim Brown as number 1, then maybe Barry or Walter Payton as #2. A few throw in Emmitt for his consistency and longevity (no doubt helped by those stellar Cowboys OLs).
Gil Brandt says Barry is #7, behind Jim Brown, Payton (heretofore referred to as Sweetness), Gale Sayers, Bo, LT, and Dickerson.
NBC did a fan poll which says it's Jim Brown, then Barry, OJ, Sweetness, Gale Sayers.
Athlon says Brown, Barry, Sweetness
Sportscasting says Brown, Sweetness, Emmitt, Barry
Something called the Sportsdrop has Brown then Barry.
Men's Journal says it's Brown then Barry
247 says Brown, Sweetness, Barry
December 16th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
If Barry had wanted to he could have blown that rushing record so far out of reach that Emmitt Smith wouldn’t have had a prayer of breaking it.
December 16th, 2019 at 11:18 AM ^
You could say the exact same thing about Brown, though.
Brown retired in his prime, having played just 118 games (Barry played 153). Brown had 703 fewer carries, but averaged .2 more ypc than Sanders. Brown averaged 4.5 more yards per game as well.
I'm not taking ANYthing away from Barry; as others have pointed out there is a generational difference between the two and Barry was the best I ever saw at being consistently great with NO help around him.
But, Brown could've just as easily put that record to a place where Sanders couldn't have touched it either. He wanted to be a movie star instead.
December 16th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
True, but Barry and Emmitt were contemporaries and often get directly compared to each other and it galls me to no end when the Emmitt supporters point to his superior yardage total.
The record was Barry’s for the taking and he didn’t want it knowing that Emmitt was likely to break it instead.
It’s kind of hard to say Emmitt was better when the only reason he has the thing he can hold over Barry as being better is because Barry decided to let him have it.
December 16th, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
No arguments here re: Sanders and Emmitt. Emmitt deserves credit for his durability. Were I starting a team from scratch and could have Barry or Emmitt, I take Barry every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
December 16th, 2019 at 4:22 PM ^
check the all-pro and HOF teammates for emmitt. boatloads. do the same for barry....crickets, or nearly so. emmitt was a fine back but its not even close as to whose better b/w he and barry. for that matter, its not even close with any other back you can name.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:21 PM ^
Wow I wrote pretty much the same comment right after you. It'll never happen for Detroit until the Fords sell the team.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:25 PM ^
Imagine finishing third in your division every year. I’m not a Browns fan but where did they finish in their division?
December 15th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
Imagine supposedly rooting for a team that u constantly shit on. Or, imagine being a troll and pretending to root for a team that u really don’t.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:49 PM ^
2004, bro. 2004.
December 15th, 2019 at 7:59 PM ^
You just summed up half the people on this blog.
December 15th, 2019 at 8:03 PM ^
At least lions fans aren’t delusional enough to buy what the coaches/owners are telling them. They’ve seen enough of their incompetent franchise to know better unlike Browns nation
December 15th, 2019 at 9:39 PM ^
Bullshit. People still do the "this is our year" with the Lions.
December 16th, 2019 at 7:41 AM ^
Really? Why would they do that? Some people also think vaccines cause autism, so maybe this checks out.
December 15th, 2019 at 10:07 PM ^
Imagine being a Lions fan.
The difference is that the original Browns left for Baltimore, immediately became (arguably) the second-best run team in the NFL, won two Super Bowls, and currently have Lamar Jackson. Meanwhile, the expansion Browns have been the worst team in the NFL for two decades.
There’s no “What if?” for the Lions. They’re just ass. Every season. In perpetuity.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
Only team that has been around since the merger, and only 1 of 4 overall, that has never appeared in a Super Bowl. A big fat zero for 53.
December 16th, 2019 at 12:40 AM ^
Had Tom Brady 20 minutes away and 6 4ounds to get him but didn't want to ruffle their mostly sparty faithful by taking a Michigan guy.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:30 AM ^
That’s fucking idiotic.
They didn’t take him because no team believed Brady was going to be a starting NFL QB.
Hell, even the legend Belichick, who saw Brady in practice every single day, decided that he wasn’t starting material and had him cooling his heels on the bench until Drew Bledsoe got his ribs crushed.
And I see way more UM gear at Lions than I do MSU.
December 16th, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
Even a legend like Belichick can't come and bench Bledsoe for a rookie you drafted in the 6th round.
*When Brady was drafted Bledsoe was coming off a 7 year run as starter (3 time pro-bowler) for the Patriots and took them to the '97 Super Bowl.
Maybe you can criticize him for not making the move after they went 5-11 in Belichick's first year. But even without the injury to Bledsoe, I think Brady ends up taking over for him eventually given their two career trajectories.
December 16th, 2019 at 4:07 PM ^
Why can’t Belichick bench Bledsoe for a 6th round rookie? He saw the two of them in practice everyday and lord knows he’s not adverse to cutting high priced veterans loose when he feels there’s a younger alternative.
He’s this master evaluator of talent and yet apparently didn’t see anything that made him want to start Brady until he was forced to do it. And it wasn’t like Brady struggled when he got the job. He was better than Bledsoe right out of the gate.
Yeah Bledsoe was a hell of a QB, but the damn GOAT was right there and BB apparently didn’t see enough think he was the man for the job.
And what if Bledsoe doesn’t go down and Brady decides he wants out at the end of his deal? What if he’s thrown in as part of a trade? Clearly he would have been a HOF QB wherever he ended up, but assuming he would have naturally have ended up the starter in NE anyway isn’t a sure thing by any means.
December 16th, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
Seriously.
At one point yesterday the Bucs were ahead in yards 314 to 2.
THREE HUNDRED FOURTEEN TO FUCKING TWO!!!!!
And there are a lot of fans who think Quinn and Patricia deserve another year!
Anyone who thinks being a Browns fan is worse is nuts.