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No they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
Randa
Easy question.
There are great players... outstanding players... and then there are those who literally change how the game is played
Oh and dig the 91-yard punt at 5:17
Randall was worth the price of a ticket by himself. He is in a category of the most exciting players. The crowd would gasp at some of his plays.
I put Cunningham in the same category as Mike Vick. Super ,running, passing QBs who were the best at their position at their peaks.
I can't say for sure with Cunningham, because it's been so long, but I certainly don't think Vick was ever the best at his position. Near the top at his best, but I don't think there was a year when Vick was the best QB in the league.
His year with the eagles he was in the running for MVP. Now there was a time before the dogs where he was rising to the top. And we probably should not forget Steve Young. He could do all that too.
Vick's best Eagles year he only played 12 games, and that year Brady threw 36 TDs to only 4 INTs. Vick was damn good that year, but not the best. While he was with the Falcons, Vick never reached 57% completions, never had a QBR higher than 81.6, only had one season where his interceptions didn't nearly match his TDs...it was only after he came back after prison that Vick started playing like a well-rounded QB rather than a runner with an arm.
Steve Young was far better than Vick IMO. Young is one of the all-time greats.
I agree, but the thread asked about personal all time favorites. Vick was one of my favorite QBs to watch because of his athleticism and he had a great arm.
I was never a fan because his passing was too often sub-par, but I cannot deny he was an electric presence on the field. Considering his improved play after his prison time, I wonder how good he could have been with a better mindset. It seemed as though being so humbled as he was helped his play.
It doesn't matter how many yards he lost, he finished with the second most career yards in the history of pro football and he did so in a short time. And yes, talking hits to the arms in bounds can increase the likelihood of fumbling. And it really doesn't matter if they ran out of bounds.No they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
You misunderstand. Barry would go down before contact, when he knew that there was no point. This resulted in many carries for a lose. It allowed him to retire after ten years, with his body intact.It doesn't matter how many yards he lost, he finished with the second most career yards in the history of pro football and he did so in a short time. And yes, talking hits to the arms in bounds can increase the likelihood of fumbling. And it really doesn't matter if they ran out of bounds.No they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
Randa
Easy question.
There are great players... outstanding players... and then there are those who literally change how the game is played
Oh and dig the 91-yard punt at 5:17
Randall was worth the price of a ticket by himself. He is in a category of the most exciting players. The crowd would gasp at some of his plays.
I put Cunningham in the same category as Mike Vick. Super ,running, passing QBs who were the best at their position at their peaks.
I can't say for sure with Cunningham, because it's been so long, but I certainly don't think Vick was ever the best at his position. Near the top at his best, but I don't think there was a year when Vick was the best QB in the league.
His year with the eagles he was in the running for MVP. Now there was a time before the dogs where he was rising to the top. And we probably should not forget Steve Young. He could do all that too.
Vick's best Eagles year he only played 12 games, and that year Brady threw 36 TDs to only 4 INTs. Vick was damn good that year, but not the best. While he was with the Falcons, Vick never reached 57% completions, never had a QBR higher than 81.6, only had one season where his interceptions didn't nearly match his TDs...it was only after he came back after prison that Vick started playing like a well-rounded QB rather than a runner with an arm.
Steve Young was far better than Vick IMO. Young is one of the all-time greats.
I agree, but the thread asked about personal all time favorites. Vick was one of my favorite QBs to watch because of his athleticism and he had a great arm.
I was never a fan because his passing was too often sub-par, but I cannot deny he was an electric presence on the field. Considering his improved play after his prison time, I wonder how good he could have been with a better mindset. It seemed as though being so humbled as he was helped his play.
Better coaching too -- and/or maybe the imposed humility made him more receptive TO that better coaching.
Vick knew he could run and wanted to show off. Randall did too but was two different QBs depending on who was coaching him. Rich Kotite wanted him to stay in the pocket and be traditional, and that got his knees broke. It was unnatural. Buddy Ryan let him run like a wild horse, but sometimes his ego would take over.
Mine is Walter Payton, he's responsible for me becoming a true Bears fan. I had rooted for the Bears as a kid for a few seasons before Walter started playing, but wasn't a real fan yet. Mr. Payton changed that. He was a treat to watch. He was extremely strong, very quick, and a fierce competitor. He sat out just ONE game during his 13 year career. We'll most likely never see another running back like him again. So who are some of YOUR favorites?
O J Simpson was before......well you know.
OJ was a great running back, but no Walter Payton, Earl Campbell or Barry Sanders. And one back we forget in all this is Eric Dickerson.
Jim Brown (From what I saw--and you only really see highlights) was incredible. Frank Gifford said that Brown was the only opposing player that he would watch during a game.
No doubt Brown was great, but imo he was not better than Payton or Sanders. But if you make a Mt. Rushmore of running backs, he on the mountain.
The 1989 NFL draft is funny. The top three were:It doesn't matter how many yards he lost, he finished with the second most career yards in the history of pro football and he did so in a short time. And yes, talking hits to the arms in bounds can increase the likelihood of fumbling. And it really doesn't matter if they ran out of bounds.No they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
| No Gain | Negative Yards |
|---|---|
| 27 | 139 |
| 36 | 111 |
| 24 | 109 |
| 24 | 96 |
| 34 | 159 |
| 145 | 614 |
O J Simpson was before......well you know.
OJ was a great running back, but no Walter Payton, Earl Campbell or Barry Sanders. And one back we forget in all this is Eric Dickerson.
Jim Brown (From what I saw--and you only really see highlights) was incredible. Frank Gifford said that Brown was the only opposing player that he would watch during a game.
No doubt Brown was great, but imo he was not better than Payton or Sanders. But if you make a Mt. Rushmore of running backs, he on the mountain.
Jim Brown was the most dominant RB of his time. Payton was great, but he played at the same time as OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell...Sanders played at the same time as Emmett Smith...who played when Jim Brown did that was a great RB? Brown was the leading rusher in 8 of his 9 years. When compared to his contemporaries, I don't think any RB since has been as good as Brown. Again, though, it's so hard to compare. Different eras of the game.
Being a lifetime Chiefs fan, you'll get no argument from me. But when you talk about Chief linebackers it begins with Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier.Derrick Thomas. One of the best linebackers ever to play. Was almost unblockable. He set a record for sacks in a single game with 7 against Seattle. He set the single season record for sack in 1988 with 27. 30+ years later the record still stands.
Ezekiel Elliott had 4-5 pro bowl linemen and probably a couple of them will be hall of famers. Sanders had defenders in the backfield with him when he got the ball.The 1989 NFL draft is funny. The top three were:It doesn't matter how many yards he lost, he finished with the second most career yards in the history of pro football and he did so in a short time. And yes, talking hits to the arms in bounds can increase the likelihood of fumbling. And it really doesn't matter if they ran out of bounds.No they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
1 Troy Aikman - Cowboys
2 Tony Mandrich - Packers
3 Barry Sanders - Lions
How the hell the Packers could pass on Barry is remarkable. Imagine ten years of Farve and Sanders in the same backfield. They likely amass records never to be broken.
Barry for the lose...
Barry Sanders was the king of rushes... both positive and negative
What I found is that we did in fact look at Barry’s career with rose colored glasses. Now this of course doesn’t mean that Barry Sanders isn’t the greatest of all time. I’ll fight that fight with everyone any day of the week. Twice on Sunday. But what we found is that Barry left a lot of yards on the table. Here’s what we found from 1994 to 1998. This is the amount of runs he had that went for no gain and all his negative rushing yards of this time period combined.
No Gains and Negative Yardage
This is a lot. Barry ran for no gain 145 times in five seasons and left 614 yards on the table when he ran backwards. It’s pretty clear that Barry wasn’t completely unstoppable. There were probably also times where Barry tried to do too much and it cost the team some yards.
No Gain Negative Yards 27 139 36 111 24 109 24 96 34 159 145 614
I thought surely this was a normal thing. So I tried to do a little comparison with a current day running back to see if maybe I got find something similar. Ezekiel Elliot led all running backs in rushing last year, and he only had 22 runs go for no gain. What’s more staggering is that he only left 50 yards on the table all together. That’s almost half of what Barry’s best year was in this category.
Barry Sanders was the king of rushes... both positive and negative
Exactly my point, yet Barry still managed to be one of the all time greatest. He was stuck in one of the NFL’s shittiest organizations. Had he been with Green Bay or Dallas, his records would likely be unapproachable.Ezekiel Elliott had 4-5 pro bowl linemen and probably a couple of them will be hall of famers. Sanders had defenders in the backfield with him when he got the ball.The 1989 NFL draft is funny. The top three were:It doesn't matter how many yards he lost, he finished with the second most career yards in the history of pro football and he did so in a short time. And yes, talking hits to the arms in bounds can increase the likelihood of fumbling. And it really doesn't matter if they ran out of bounds.No they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
1 Troy Aikman - Cowboys
2 Tony Mandrich - Packers
3 Barry Sanders - Lions
How the hell the Packers could pass on Barry is remarkable. Imagine ten years of Farve and Sanders in the same backfield. They likely amass records never to be broken.
Barry for the lose...
Barry Sanders was the king of rushes... both positive and negative
What I found is that we did in fact look at Barry’s career with rose colored glasses. Now this of course doesn’t mean that Barry Sanders isn’t the greatest of all time. I’ll fight that fight with everyone any day of the week. Twice on Sunday. But what we found is that Barry left a lot of yards on the table. Here’s what we found from 1994 to 1998. This is the amount of runs he had that went for no gain and all his negative rushing yards of this time period combined.
No Gains and Negative Yardage
This is a lot. Barry ran for no gain 145 times in five seasons and left 614 yards on the table when he ran backwards. It’s pretty clear that Barry wasn’t completely unstoppable. There were probably also times where Barry tried to do too much and it cost the team some yards.
No Gain Negative Yards 27 139 36 111 24 109 24 96 34 159 145 614
I thought surely this was a normal thing. So I tried to do a little comparison with a current day running back to see if maybe I got find something similar. Ezekiel Elliot led all running backs in rushing last year, and he only had 22 runs go for no gain. What’s more staggering is that he only left 50 yards on the table all together. That’s almost half of what Barry’s best year was in this category.
Barry Sanders was the king of rushes... both positive and negative
O J Simpson was before......well you know.
OJ was a great running back, but no Walter Payton, Earl Campbell or Barry Sanders. And one back we forget in all this is Eric Dickerson.
Jim Brown (From what I saw--and you only really see highlights) was incredible. Frank Gifford said that Brown was the only opposing player that he would watch during a game.
No doubt Brown was great, but imo he was not better than Payton or Sanders. But if you make a Mt. Rushmore of running backs, he on the mountain.
Jim Brown was the most dominant RB of his time. Payton was great, but he played at the same time as OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell...Sanders played at the same time as Emmett Smith...who played when Jim Brown did that was a great RB? Brown was the leading rusher in 8 of his 9 years. When compared to his contemporaries, I don't think any RB since has been as good as Brown. Again, though, it's so hard to compare. Different eras of the game.
I agree, but there were other backs in the 60's such as Sayers, Horning, Taylor, Mitchell, etc. but Brown was the best one. Payton was the best of his era and if Sanders had the line Smith did, he would have run for 20,000 yards. Again I think we need to add Eric Dickerson and probably should not ignore Franco Harris.
I definitely agree. We are here talking about the all time greats. This is a place where there really are no wrong answers.Exactly my point, yet Barry still managed to be one of the all time greatest. He was stuck in one of the NFL’s shittiest organizations. Had he been with Green Bay or Dallas, his records would likely be unapproachable.Ezekiel Elliott had 4-5 pro bowl linemen and probably a couple of them will be hall of famers. Sanders had defenders in the backfield with him when he got the ball.The 1989 NFL draft is funny. The top three were:It doesn't matter how many yards he lost, he finished with the second most career yards in the history of pro football and he did so in a short time. And yes, talking hits to the arms in bounds can increase the likelihood of fumbling. And it really doesn't matter if they ran out of bounds.No they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
1 Troy Aikman - Cowboys
2 Tony Mandrich - Packers
3 Barry Sanders - Lions
How the hell the Packers could pass on Barry is remarkable. Imagine ten years of Farve and Sanders in the same backfield. They likely amass records never to be broken.
Barry for the lose...
Barry Sanders was the king of rushes... both positive and negative
What I found is that we did in fact look at Barry’s career with rose colored glasses. Now this of course doesn’t mean that Barry Sanders isn’t the greatest of all time. I’ll fight that fight with everyone any day of the week. Twice on Sunday. But what we found is that Barry left a lot of yards on the table. Here’s what we found from 1994 to 1998. This is the amount of runs he had that went for no gain and all his negative rushing yards of this time period combined.
No Gains and Negative Yardage
This is a lot. Barry ran for no gain 145 times in five seasons and left 614 yards on the table when he ran backwards. It’s pretty clear that Barry wasn’t completely unstoppable. There were probably also times where Barry tried to do too much and it cost the team some yards.
No Gain Negative Yards 27 139 36 111 24 109 24 96 34 159 145 614
I thought surely this was a normal thing. So I tried to do a little comparison with a current day running back to see if maybe I got find something similar. Ezekiel Elliot led all running backs in rushing last year, and he only had 22 runs go for no gain. What’s more staggering is that he only left 50 yards on the table all together. That’s almost half of what Barry’s best year was in this category.
Barry Sanders was the king of rushes... both positive and negative
O J Simpson was before......well you know.
OJ was a great running back, but no Walter Payton, Earl Campbell or Barry Sanders. And one back we forget in all this is Eric Dickerson.
Jim Brown (From what I saw--and you only really see highlights) was incredible. Frank Gifford said that Brown was the only opposing player that he would watch during a game.
No doubt Brown was great, but imo he was not better than Payton or Sanders. But if you make a Mt. Rushmore of running backs, he on the mountain.
Jim Brown was the most dominant RB of his time. Payton was great, but he played at the same time as OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell...Sanders played at the same time as Emmett Smith...who played when Jim Brown did that was a great RB? Brown was the leading rusher in 8 of his 9 years. When compared to his contemporaries, I don't think any RB since has been as good as Brown. Again, though, it's so hard to compare. Different eras of the game.
I agree, but there were other backs in the 60's such as Sayers, Horning, Taylor, Mitchell, etc. but Brown was the best one. Payton was the best of his era and if Sanders had the line Smith did, he would have run for 20,000 yards. Again I think we need to add Eric Dickerson and probably should not ignore Franco Harris.
OJ
Everyone likes a tough guyNo they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
O J Simpson was before......well you know.
OJ was a great running back, but no Walter Payton, Earl Campbell or Barry Sanders. And one back we forget in all this is Eric Dickerson.
Jim Brown (From what I saw--and you only really see highlights) was incredible. Frank Gifford said that Brown was the only opposing player that he would watch during a game.
No doubt Brown was great, but imo he was not better than Payton or Sanders. But if you make a Mt. Rushmore of running backs, he on the mountain.
Jim Brown was the most dominant RB of his time. Payton was great, but he played at the same time as OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell...Sanders played at the same time as Emmett Smith...who played when Jim Brown did that was a great RB? Brown was the leading rusher in 8 of his 9 years. When compared to his contemporaries, I don't think any RB since has been as good as Brown. Again, though, it's so hard to compare. Different eras of the game.
I agree, but there were other backs in the 60's such as Sayers, Horning, Taylor, Mitchell, etc. but Brown was the best one. Payton was the best of his era and if Sanders had the line Smith did, he would have run for 20,000 yards. Again I think we need to add Eric Dickerson and probably should not ignore Franco Harris.
OJ
OJ was great but he was no Earl or Payton.
Some of the old tough guys are telling stories that don't sound so good. Last time I saw Earl Campbell he was either using a walker or a cane. I can't remember which and at the time he was in his late 40's.Everyone likes a tough guyNo they don’t. Walter seldom ran out of bounds. Neither did Campbell.Everybody runs out of boundsThe difference between Walter and Barry is Walter never ran out of bounds or went to the ground before contact. Both were tremendous runners but I agree Barry was better, even though he played his entire career for a shitty team.So did I. I also watched Sanders run through my former high school football team years after I had graduated that had one of the best defenses in the state for 190 yards, then watched him run for damn near 3,000 yards in one college season in the Big 8 conference, and then run to within a few hundred yards of Payton in less time and choose to retire. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely a Walter Payton fan, but Sanders IMO was better. Two of a kind if you ask me.Walter Payton was great but I think Barry Sanders was better. They all work out and Sanders had great sportsmanship although I don't grade sportsmanship high when you play a violent sport. You expect some nastiness to come in such a physical game.Payton. Have his jersey and his memorabilia and, his and Cal Ripken Jrs. are the only people I've ever spent my money on.
Payton was the shit. Great in all facets, team player, sportsman and loved playing the game. Who can forget the smile on the guy's face as he shredded defenses, or got creamed, then popped up to give his tackler a hand up, or how he stretched the ball forward every single time to try to grind out another inch or two, or the goosestep into the endzone.
His workouts, preparation and performance, and, most importantly IMO, sportmanship are legendary. He played to win and did it with class.
We may never see another that comes close to hitting all the notes the way he did.
Sanders was great also, no doubt. Crazy explosive running back that coud make db's look foolish every Sunday.
I'm sticking with Payton, although I'm biased. Grew up watching the guy.
But my favorite was Earl Campbell. He was brutal.
Being a tough guy and taking unnecessary hits only risks injury and increases the likelihood of fumbling
However I do think Barry and others who did, were smart. Why risk injury?
I believe Barry holds the record for the most carriers for lost yardage. Of course for many years of his career he had a shitty offensive line.
The runner who refuses to go down.
If it means getting a first down or TD, by all means, fight for every inch. But not every carry is like that.
Especially today, I see defenses are more oriented toward getting the strip. Plus, players today are trying to minimize hits. Especially unnecessary ones.
O J Simpson was before......well you know.
OJ was a great running back, but no Walter Payton, Earl Campbell or Barry Sanders. And one back we forget in all this is Eric Dickerson.
Jim Brown (From what I saw--and you only really see highlights) was incredible. Frank Gifford said that Brown was the only opposing player that he would watch during a game.
No doubt Brown was great, but imo he was not better than Payton or Sanders. But if you make a Mt. Rushmore of running backs, he on the mountain.
Jim Brown was the most dominant RB of his time. Payton was great, but he played at the same time as OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell...Sanders played at the same time as Emmett Smith...who played when Jim Brown did that was a great RB? Brown was the leading rusher in 8 of his 9 years. When compared to his contemporaries, I don't think any RB since has been as good as Brown. Again, though, it's so hard to compare. Different eras of the game.
I agree, but there were other backs in the 60's such as Sayers, Horning, Taylor, Mitchell, etc. but Brown was the best one. Payton was the best of his era and if Sanders had the line Smith did, he would have run for 20,000 yards. Again I think we need to add Eric Dickerson and probably should not ignore Franco Harris.
OJ
OJ was great but he was no Earl or Payton.
Better than Earl, not as good as Walter Payton
OJ played at the same time as Campbell and was considered the better back.
