NFL’s Best: Running Backs
6 Comments Published by Ryan January 30th, 2007 in Great Men, Sports. Share This
Over the next few days we’ll be taking a look at some of the best NFL players ever, in an attempt to give you a passing familiarity with some big names that are likely to be thrown around at the water cooler or Super Bowl party.
Today’s position: Running Back. You know, the guy who starts off several yards behind the rest of the offense, gets the ball, and runs full speed into the writhing, bone crushing mass of 350-pound beefers, then miraculously manages to get up and walk away—most of the time? That’s the Running Back, or more specifically, the Halfback. Some teams also have a Fullback that runs the ball, but this is relatively rare in the NFL. The majority of them time, when you see someone go rumbling forward into a wall of fatties, it’s a Halfback.
So, who’s the best ever? There is of course a lot of debate.
LaDanian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers led the NFL with 1815 yards this past season, breaking records and outperforming every RB in history by scoring 31 touchdowns (28 rushing) for 186 points. Impressive to be sure, but Tomlinson has several more seasons ahead of him. It’s a bit early to crown him anything more than one of the best.
The one name that you’ll definitely want to drop this week is Walter Payton. Payton (also known as “Sweetness”) was the Bears star running back from 1975 through 1987, of course including the 1985 season which ended in their victory at Super Bowl XX. Payton is consistently mentioned by analysts during discussion of the greatest RBs ever. He rushed for over 1000 yards in 10 of his 13 seasons with the Bears, and held the NFL record for career rushing yards from 1984 to 2002 despite retiring after the 1987 season. It’s impossible to mention Walter Payton without bringing up his untimely death in 1999 due to a rare liver cancer; they say he declined an opportunity to be moved up on the organ waiting list, thinking it unfair for someone less famous to have to get bumped out of their spot on the list, and die instead of him.
Another great RB, widely (though not unanimously) acknowledged to be the best, is Jim Brown, who played for Cleveland from 1957 to 1965, with over 1000 yards in seven of his nine seasons, and over 900 yards in the other two, despite the fact that NFL seasons were only 12 games until 1961, and 14 games after that (until 1978, when the current 16-game schedule was introduced). Brown held the NFL Career Rushing title starting in 1963, and didn’t lose it until Walter Payton took the crown in 1984—after playing in seven 16-game seasons. Despite retiring after the 1965 season—to finish work on The Dirty Dozen—Brown still holds several NFL records, including career average yards per carry (5.2), and total years as the NFL’s leading rusher (5).
It’s a shame that Barry Sanders retired as early as he did, otherwise he’d be mentioned in the same breath as Payton and Brown. He had a ton of great years left in him, but he decided to step away from the game while in his prime (or perhaps just reaching the peak of his prime (sadly)). And is it me, or does Emmett Smith not get the respect he deserves as one of the great RBs of all time? He broke Payton’s all-time rushing record and was a crucial component of the dominant, Superbowl-champion Dallas teams of the 90s.
Emmitt Smith was great, as was Barry Sanders. There are perhaps a dozen other RBs I would have liked to mention, especially the lesser known greats of the early NFL, but I figured these two were good choices for people who don’t know anything about the game to name-drop. ;)
I think many people overlook Emmitt because “he was given huge gaps by the Dallas line”. Personally, I never was a huge fan. Sweetness was my childhood hero, and then I latched onto Sanders. i was always a big fan of the more agile RBs instead of the tanks (think Bettis).
I think one guy that doesn’t get enough respect is BO. Had he not shattered that hip, he would’ve had a stellar career. Granted, he only played in a handful of games, but still he was amazing to watch.
Bo trucking Bosworth? CLASSIC.
I grew up in Detroit, which automatically makes me a Sanders fan.
But, my comment is about Payton. I met the guy. While in college I worked at a bike store in Westland MI during summer and winter vacations. I was working there one summer day and these two guys walk in. One is wearing a sweat shirt and sweat pants with a hat pulled low over his face, totally built. The other guy is tall. Pro basketball tall, and they were in a huge rush. The really built guy told me he was on his way to a picnic and needed to get his kids’ bikes fixed right away. He told me he would give me a big tip. I thought he was sketchy as hell being in such a rush and offering a tip, but he was a customer and I did what I could.
On the spot he also bought a rack for his car to hold the bikes and when I loaded them he gave me a 20. He was super polite the whole time and really nice, never asking me to hurry up or anything.
After he left he store my coworker said, “Hey, I think that was Walter Payton!” and the moment he said that I realized that massive ring on his finger was as superbowl ring.
I like your list. LT is definitely the best now. I do believe that Brown is the best ever. Payton has to be # 2. After that it is debatable. I do disagree with anyone who says that Barry Sanders is top 5. He couldn’t put it in the end zone and he certainly couldn’t take over and win a game like an Emmitt Smith, one of his contemporaries. O.J., speaking strictly football, has to be on a top 10 list along with Eric Dickerson and Earl Campbell. You have to give a shout out to Jim Thorpe for the old timers. No one mentioned Tony Dorsett, Franco Harris, or Larry Csonka. They may not have been sexy, but man, they could dominate a game.
LT is the best. He will eventually be #1.