NFL’s Best: Running Backs

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).