OT - Your Top 5 All-Time Best NFL Running Backs
Mates,
I am having a discussion with my older sons, and they were asking me who I thought were the top 5 all-time best NFL running backs. As a Lions fan I will always list Barry Sanders as #1, but then who do you list after that? Walter Payton was great. Jim Brown in his day, but I don't think he'd be much of a stand out today. Marshall Faulk? Eric Dickerson? I'm not an Emmitt Smith fan since he got to play with one of the all-time great offensive units every assembled (Jerry Rice, you did too, you sore loser), but he was certainly a very good pro back. Who else should be considered?
So, who do you have in your top 5?
1. Barry
2.
3.
4.
5.
I hope you are with family and friends having a very fun but sane holiday.
XM
(yes it's OT, but at least it's football related....)
1. Dylan
2. Dylan
3. Dylan
4. Dylan
5. Dylan
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bob dylan?
Dylan Thomas.
The force that through the honolulu blue fuse drives the football! Love me some Dylan Thomas.
But on topic, Jim Brown is the obvious co-no. 1 with Barry. I don't see anyone else on that tier.
Next tier down I have, in no order, Payton, Campbell, OJ unfortunately, Dickerson.
Half a tier below that I have Sayers.
Then Smith, LT, and AP.
He would be hanging out with Ray Rice.. He was not a nice man. As one poster said, he was a hell of a football player, but that applies to any position. If you wanted to find the best five at any position, chances are that Jim Brown would be among the best at almost any position.
Just look at the '58 All Pro Team, with Nitchke, Ditka and all others, and you will find he was bigger and faster than almost every player on the field. Personally, i don't think running over people 30-40 lbs lighter than you and .3 seconds slower than you in the 100 yd dash proved a whole hell of a lot. other than you were the best player of that era. Does it carry over. You would have to wonder how he would do againt the Lawrence Taylors', Reggie Whites Yet, this is who he faced when he broke the l.o.s. You think people like Nitchscke and Butkus actuall tood a chance, with their lack of lateral speed had a chance of catching him whn he was in full stride? I don't personally.
There is a reason Alabama has such a fine rushing attack. They have tremendous OLmen and then also have big, fast RBs that dominate at the collegiate level. Many of those are fine runners when they hit the NFL, but very few have seasons like they did at Bama on a consistent basis. That is why I don't think Jim Brown, as a pure running back, would crack the top ten.Everyone else on that last, especially Barry Sanders, the greatet ever, are there because they were the best RBs of their era, not because they could dominate any position on the field. He had an unbelievable advantage, and if not taken into account, you are doing your unofficial poll a disservice.
Does realizing Jim Brown would be the only defenseive player of his era that would be as good as Jim Brown the RB, therbey the only man to have a decent chance to bring him down one-on-one in the open field really make him the best RB or all eras? If you replaced the defenders he faced with names like Suh, White, Taylor, Harrison, Donald, Jones, Kuechly, etc, would he sill air as well? I think not, but make your aguments. You won't have to do that with the others, because the transformation had already taken place.
Got nothing against Brown except for his women abusing ways, but he was a hell of a football player. My contention is being the best football player of the 50s and early 60s does not translate into greatest RB ever.
I might as well have done this, because a shocking few among the parents at my daughter's school seem to be able to get the name straight. I find that I have this conversation maybe 2-3 times a month with someone at a meeting:
"What's your daughter's name?"
"Astrid."
"Oh, Ashley...."
"No, Astrid."
"What ethnicity is that?"
"It's Germanic."
"So, French?"
"Fine, whatever you want to believe."
Bob.....ara? Built in excuse. Name her Barbara and intentionally misprounounce it as Bob-ara her entire life. Hilarity ensues. Take notes and keep us all updated. This is the University of Michigan, we care about data.
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I went through the trouble of uploading a gif to imgur, and you beat me to it on the first post... fuck it...
Never heard of Google Images?
I'm old. I'm still getting used to this Internet contraption.
interesting factoid: years ago (post murder of nicole and ron) we played football in new york and they put us up at the downtown athletic club, a very cool place. we had dinner in the heisman room the first night and all around the room were the portraits of every heisman winner, except one. OJ's picture was nowhere to be found.
Hey, you didn't specify ethical concerns! If I'd taken that into account, my list would have 2 ommissions.
i can be nit-picky like that.
In no order:
Jim Brown
Barry Sanders
Eric Dickerson
O.J. Simpson
Adrian Peterson
the thing I always said, was that Barry Sanders was the best running back, but Walter was probably the best football player.
He could block and and Barry couldn't and he was better able to catch passes and YAC's than Barry, IMHO.
That's great way to describe it. Payton was a more complete football player and probably the most complete football player of any RB. But Barry is #1 for me because his Electricity carried a bit more weight than Payton's completeness. Barry was just unreal.
That Dallas Cowboys line was incredible. Sure, Emmitt Smith was good, but that O-line is what made him great.
Peyton was tough, but I just don't think he had the raw talent of the guys I listed. He'd probably clock in at #6 for me. Smith was a good running back playing with a great line.
Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson.
Okay, I didn't include O.J. Simpson. So you can call my list: Top five running backs who didn't commit murder.
1. Barry
2. Jim Brown
3. Walter Payton
4. Eric Dickerson
5. Emmitt Smith or Gale Sayers
I just can't rank Emmitt that high because of the line that he ran behind. If Barry had his o-line, he would have had every major running back record. P.s. fuck OJ
Gale Sayers. I didn't think about him.
2. Bo
3. Jim
4. Earl
5. Riggins
Can't forget Lytle...
6. Rob Lytle
Riggins is definitely top 3 for me. Honorable mention for Smash Williams.
1. Payton
2. Brown
3. Sanders
4. Emmitt Smith
5. LaDanian Tomlinson
[6. Faulk
7. Sayers]
* Disqualified:
-*O.J. Simpson
-*Adrian Peterson
Yep. The "not qualifed for my top five RBs of all time list" category.
Peterson will live.
"Peterson will live."
But would he want to?!?
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Barry Sanders
Jim Brown
Emmitt Smith
Gayle Sayers
Walter Payton
It's the same arguement people use against Chris Osgood. Oh you can't count him because anyone could have goaltended behind those Wings teams. Bullshit. Ozzie has over 400 wins/3 cups and that thinking is going to keep him out of the Hall. I hate the Cowboys but I don't see how you can leave Smith of a list.
1 Jim Brown He's first, YPC puts him above all others.
2 Barry
3 Sweetness
4 Gale Sayers
5 Smith