Barry Sanders

• wes_mantooth

  

  Was watching a highlight video of him this morning...has there ever been another running back other than maybe Jim Brown that had as much pure talent as him? He had a shitty line unlike some of the other all time greats and he could literally break one from any point on the field. I am thinking that maybe if Bo Jackson didn't have a career ending injury....maybe he would be in the discussion.
  
  [video=youtube;UUVFZYYzHPU][/video]
• BR1986FB

  Jim Brown is still the standard but Sanders was amazing.
• Ironman92

  

  What Walter Payton could do was also sensational. He never had a line either until the last years of his career.
  
  Speed
  Moves
  Power
  Tough to tackle
  Could receive
  had some flavor and style.....all on mostly crappy teams
• sleeper

  

  Jim Brown.
  
  /thread
• Speedofsand

  

  Payton & Sanders were the greatest. Brown was next.
• Ironman92

  

  Short careers.....but on the list of talent
  
  Gale Sayers and so guy named Bo.
• hasbeen

  

  Mike Alstott needs to be mentioned.
• Ironman92

  

  ugh
• hasbeen

  

  But seriously, I understand the people who the conversation starts and ends with Brown, but Barry Sanders is the best running back to play the game.
• wes_mantooth

  

  I don't know why I always forget about Sweetness, but yeah....he is definitely in the conversation.
• killer_ewok

  

  Barry Sanders was the best RB to ever play the game.
• Speedofsand

  

  [video=youtube;WJeTgQ-lgvE][/video]
• Hb31187

  

  Earl Campbell was a monster for quite a few years
• dwccrew

  

  pnhasbeen;942216 wrote:But seriously, I understand the people who the conversation starts and ends with Brown, but Barry Sanders is the best running back to play the game.

  killer_ewok;942233 wrote:Barry Sanders was the best RB to ever play the game.

  These.
  
  Barry Sanders was amazing. Had the best vision of any running back I've ever seen play the game. Jim Brown was a monster, but he was playing in an era where he was a man among boys. Brown in the same era as Sanders is still one of the best, but not quite as dominant IMO. Sanders just was on another level.
• Ironman92

  

  Thank You speed of sand.....anyone who doesn't have Walter Payton in any discussion of best all-around/most talented running backs is just wrong.
  
  That video is unbelievable. I remember his last 3-4 years...he was the best then....but better before I remember. If Sanders has the best feet/moves in NFL history....Payton is next but with great power and speed and the complete refusal to be tackled. Commenting on this thread without watching that video is just not acceptable.
• Speedofsand

  

  thx Ironman
  
  The refusal to be tackled is shown at 2:30 when facemasked by the Eagles player.
  My list would be
  1. Payton
  1a. Sanders
  2. Brown
  2a. E. Smith
  
  
  
  3. ??
• wes_mantooth

  

  I am a firm believer that Smith doesn't belong anywhere close to the top 5. He made a career out of running out of bounds without being touched....benefited more than anyone of having maybe the greatest oline ever.
• Emmett Brown

  

  wes_mantooth;942351 wrote:I am a firm believer that Smith doesn't belong anywhere close to the top 5. He made a career out of running out of bounds without being touched....benefited more than anyone of having maybe the greatest oline ever.

  This. Plus Smith played too long. He just got annoying towards the end. There is a reason he lasted 15 years, when I think the average at that position is only like 5 years.
• jordo212000

  

  I will second that Emmitt got annoying. He hung on so long so that he could break the record. He had no business playing as long as he did. He sucked his last 2-3 years.
  
  I think that only Jerry Rice annoyed me more
• Speedofsand

  

  wes_mantooth;942351 wrote:I am a firm believer that Smith doesn't belong anywhere close to the top 5. He made a career out of running out of bounds without being touched....benefited more than anyone of having maybe the greatest oline ever.

  
  I'm guessing this game was before your time learning about football?
  
  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004722/index.htm
  
  It was all on the line: The winner takes the division title and the home field for the entire postseason, the loser gets in as a wild card. And Smith, playing the last two quarters with what the Cowboy medical staff called a No. 1 separation of the right shoulder, put up the following numbers: 168 yards rushing on 32 carries, another 61 yards on 10 pass receptions. He handled the ball on 42 of Dallas's 70 plays, and he gained 229 of its 339 yards. And in the overtime, with his right arm dangling uselessly between plays, Smith got the call on nine of the Cowboys' 11 snaps and gained all but 11 of their 52 yards on the drive that positioned them for Eddie Murray's winning 41-yard field goal with just over four minutes left in the extra period. "Emmitt was hurting, he was done," right guard Kevin Gogan said afterward. "He sucked it up for his boys. I don't know how he did it."
  
  "In the huddle he told me, "Run behind me and pick me up. I don't want to lay on the ground,' " left guard Nate Newton said, his eyes brimming with tears. "Man, was he ever hurting today."
• wes_mantooth

  

  Nah, that is one game....my opinion of him won't change
• Speedofsand

  

  Everyone knows he played too long and his personality is phony, but he was a great RB, top 5.
• Hb31187

  

  I dont think Emmit was anything special. He just was an average RB, who had a long healthy career behind stacked offensive lines and had great teammates so they couldnt stack the box
• Hb31187

  

  My top 5 would be.
  
  1. Barry Sanders
  2. Jim Brown
  3. Walter Payton
  4. Eric Dickerson
  5. Marshall Faulk ( maybe not the best at running the ball, but he was/is the greatest receiving threat to ever play RB)
  5a. Earl Campbell
• Manhattan Buckeye

  wes_mantooth;942351 wrote:I am a firm believer that Smith doesn't belong anywhere close to the top 5. He made a career out of running out of bounds without being touched....benefited more than anyone of having maybe the greatest oline ever.

  Are you confusing Smith with Tony Dorsett? Dorsett was the guy that always ran out of bounds. Smith ran between the tackles as well any RB. Granted he had a great OL, but I'd put him in my top 5. Not quite as high as the Sanders/Brown/Payton group, but still up there.