Emmitt Smith/Jerry Rice Double Standard (BTB)

[Nav22]

Ahh so Andre Iggy had a better season than Lebron the year he won finals MVP by default?

Didn't think so lol

That’s why I said “generally.” Iggy was an exception as Steph Curry was the Warriors best player that year.

Kareem wasn’t “robbed” like Steph was, and he wasn’t better than Magic Johnson when Magic was winning those Finals MVPs.

Kareem was the best player on a championship team twice. Jordan was the best player on a championship team 6 times. That’s the point. The award is just a byproduct of this.

 

[blueblood70]

I just finished reading a BTB article that talks about this, and I saw in the comments that even Cowboys fans sell Emmitt short in this discussion. Without trying to sound biased, here are my thoughts on it:

Jerry Rice is the equivalent of Emmitt Smith at the wide receiver position. Just like Emmitt does for running back, he holds the majority of the major NFL records for receivers.

They also have a couple of career parallels: They both slid in the draft because of concerns over their measurables at the NFL Combine. Neither was the first player selected at their position in their drafts. They both won 3 Super Bowls. They even retired the same year.

But......Jerry actually played on more stacked teams than Emmitt. His supporting cast had a combined 69 Pro Bowls and 18 All-Pro (1st Team) selections between them. If you include his offensive lines, that makes 126 Pro Bowls and 33 All-Pro selections. By comparison, Emmitt's supporting cast had 48 Pro Bowls and 14 All-Pro selections.

If Jerry Rice is widely considered the GOAT wide receiver and gets a pass for the teammates he played with, why does Emmitt Smith get penalized for his teammates when his name is mentioned as an all-time great?

Emmitt's supporting cast was top-notch, but HE was the most important and indispensable out of the group. Even with all the talent that Emmitt had surrounding him, teams still feared him the most when they played the Cowboys. He routinely faced defenses stacked with 8 and 9 men in the box. They wanted to take their chances with the passing game and not let Emmitt get going.

I have a little bit more to add, but for right now I'll leave off here and give you a link to the article below:

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...itt-smith-is-also-the-greatest-rb-of-all-time

OH No ES was a volume back and can easily be replaced, he needed what 16 years and Barry suddenly retiring to get the record.. thats the narrative with Zeke why not ES..anyone could have ran behind that line, with those players around him, that coach, and that defense.. he didnt break many 40lus yard to the house scores, his yearly AVG were that of Zeke, yards around that of zeke, career avg turned out below AV around 4.3 etc etc


if you mean those narratives?

I dont agree as i dont agree with that same argument against zeke, ES was not Barry and Zeke is Not McCaffery or one the the speed backs...

Jerry needed those 19 years to set records as ES did but that shouldnt take away from there greatness because they were durable and motivated..

I love ES and other then those Narratives not sure who questions ES greatness, maybe CZ the same fans who say Zeke isnt special and hes the same style of back ES was..

jerry was one of the greatest of all time even though hes not faster then many, bigger then others, or wasn't special at the combine.. thats not what makes a champion..flash in the pan combine heroes dont always work out, many dont players like ES and Jerry rice create their opportunity's..

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Durability, longevity and toughness are vastly underrated.

 

[OmerV]

I just finished reading a BTB article that talks about this, and I saw in the comments that even Cowboys fans sell Emmitt short in this discussion. Without trying to sound biased, here are my thoughts on it:

Jerry Rice is the equivalent of Emmitt Smith at the wide receiver position. Just like Emmitt does for running back, he holds the majority of the major NFL records for receivers.

They also have a couple of career parallels: They both slid in the draft because of concerns over their measurables at the NFL Combine. Neither was the first player selected at their position in their drafts. They both won 3 Super Bowls. They even retired the same year.

But......Jerry actually played on more stacked teams than Emmitt. His supporting cast had a combined 69 Pro Bowls and 18 All-Pro (1st Team) selections between them. If you include his offensive lines, that makes 126 Pro Bowls and 33 All-Pro selections. By comparison, Emmitt's supporting cast had 48 Pro Bowls and 14 All-Pro selections.

If Jerry Rice is widely considered the GOAT wide receiver and gets a pass for the teammates he played with, why does Emmitt Smith get penalized for his teammates when his name is mentioned as an all-time great?

Emmitt's supporting cast was top-notch, but HE was the most important and indispensable out of the group. Even with all the talent that Emmitt had surrounding him, teams still feared him the most when they played the Cowboys. He routinely faced defenses stacked with 8 and 9 men in the box. They wanted to take their chances with the passing game and not let Emmitt get going.

I have a little bit more to add, but for right now I'll leave off here and give you a link to the article below:

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...itt-smith-is-also-the-greatest-rb-of-all-time

It's a perception thing, and I think the biggest thing that hurts Emmitt's perception is the belief that the career yardage record was essentially gifted to him by Barry Sanders - that had Sanders not retired early he would have put away the rushing record in the same way Rice did with receiving.

And, honestly, I believe its true - Barry could have put the record out of Emmitt's reach. He was still playing very well when he retired, and had strong years left. In most cases where a player gets the record by playing longer, the next guy didn't hold up - his production and skills faded, and that's why he wasn't able to play as long. It's easy to crown the king in that situation. But it's harder in this situation because almost everyone believes Emmitt wasn't pushed to hold up longer - that Barry just handed the record to Emmitt.

The question is whether it is fair to perceive Emmitt's record as less meaningful because of that. After all, longevity is a big part of that kind of record, and Emmitt kept plugging away, and Barry wasn't willing to do that. So, should it matter whether Barry didn't put up the yards he could have because his skills faded or because he just chose to retire while still having a lot of gas left in the tank.

 

[baltcowboy]

Emmitt Smith is the most underrated player in the NFL. Some fools(Cowboys fans) believe the offensive line made him. I remember the years without Emmitt for Troy. The offensive line almost got Aikman killed. I can’t even remember the running backs before Emmitt. It is laughable that some people actually think Barry Sanders is a better back then Emmitt. Barry was faster/quicker but Emmitt was the better all around running back. I don’t think we win a Super Bowl with Barry instead of Emmitt.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

So Kareem is the GOAT NBA player and not Jordan then?

You mean Bill Russell who had 11 championships. That being said he isn't the goat at basketball and neither is Kareem. Just like Brady isn't the goat QB and Rice isn't the goat WR

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

That’s why I said “generally.” Iggy was an exception as Steph Curry was the Warriors best player that year.

Kareem wasn’t “robbed” like Steph was, and he wasn’t better than Magic Johnson when Magic was winning those Finals MVPs.

Kareem was the best player on a championship team twice. Jordan was the best player on a championship team 6 times. That’s the point. The award is just a byproduct of this.

Yeah, your argument just doesn't make sense.

There is a case for Westbrook who shattered the triple-double record having a better season than Durant, while also holding advantages in every measurable statistical category, while there is no case for Iggy having a better season than 30+(3 on his own team) other players that year. You already know this, but have your heels dug in.

Fact is, if it was entirely based off of accolades, Kareem would be the GOAT, that's all I was pointing out.

Btw Steph didn't get robbed, Iggy was better for the very small sample size of the finals. This only further proves the point.

Kareem was the best player in the entire league 6 times, Jordan only 5. That's the point.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

You mean Bill Russell who had 11 championships. That being said he isn't the goat at basketball and neither is Kareem. Just like Brady isn't the goat QB and Rice isn't the goat WR

Wait... who is the GOAT WR?

 

[65fastback2plus2]

To me the answer to this is easy. And it's because you're comparing two different positions.

When asked who is the best WR most people say Rice because he is the clear winner. How many WRs could you bring up in comparison? 2, maybe 3? Most would still say Rice. It's not a hard choice.

On the other hand how many great running backs have we seen? Emmitt has a lot more competition at his position, and that's why supporting cast comes into play. But I still think Emmitt is the best.

competing on emmitts level for 2-3 years is NOT doing it for 10+ years.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

competing on emmitts level for 2-3 years is NOT doing it for 10+ years.

Years with 1300+ yards:

Emmitt- 9
Sanders- 10

Years with 1500+ yards:
Emmitt- 7
Sanders- 9

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I just finished reading a BTB article that talks about this, and I saw in the comments that even Cowboys fans sell Emmitt short in this discussion. Without trying to sound biased, here are my thoughts on it:

Jerry Rice is the equivalent of Emmitt Smith at the wide receiver position. Just like Emmitt does for running back, he holds the majority of the major NFL records for receivers.

They also have a couple of career parallels: They both slid in the draft because of concerns over their measurables at the NFL Combine. Neither was the first player selected at their position in their drafts. They both won 3 Super Bowls. They even retired the same year.

But......Jerry actually played on more stacked teams than Emmitt. His supporting cast had a combined 69 Pro Bowls and 18 All-Pro (1st Team) selections between them. If you include his offensive lines, that makes 126 Pro Bowls and 33 All-Pro selections. By comparison, Emmitt's supporting cast had 48 Pro Bowls and 14 All-Pro selections.

If Jerry Rice is widely considered the GOAT wide receiver and gets a pass for the teammates he played with, why does Emmitt Smith get penalized for his teammates when his name is mentioned as an all-time great?

Emmitt's supporting cast was top-notch, but HE was the most important and indispensable out of the group. Even with all the talent that Emmitt had surrounding him, teams still feared him the most when they played the Cowboys. He routinely faced defenses stacked with 8 and 9 men in the box. They wanted to take their chances with the passing game and not let Emmitt get going.

I have a little bit more to add, but for right now I'll leave off here and give you a link to the article below:

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...itt-smith-is-also-the-greatest-rb-of-all-time

Jerry also played six more seasons than Emmitt, so if you’re simply looking at each player’s career, year-for-year and counting the number of teammates that played in a Pro Bowl or chosen as an All Pro your whole premise is flawed.

 

[Proof]

Rice played with more pro bowlers in 21 seasons than Emmitt did in 15 seasons?(i'd love to see the sources on this one)

Wow. Ground breaking stuff.

Also comparing a WRs supporting cast to a RBs supporting class to make the claim the RB is the better others at his position? ....uh what?

basically. There’s really no greater position group impact than o-line to rb. Emmit player behind the best ever. It’s not the total of pro bowlers played with

 

[Runwildboys]

Emmitt Smith is the most underrated player in the NFL. Some fools(Cowboys fans) believe the offensive line made him. I remember the years without Emmitt for Troy. The offensive line almost got Aikman killed. I can’t even remember the running backs before Emmitt. It is laughable that some people actually think Barry Sanders is a better back then Emmitt. Barry was faster/quicker but Emmitt was the better all around running back. I don’t think we win a Super Bowl with Barry instead of Emmitt.

I don't think Barry was better, but he was really fun to watch.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

basically. There’s really no greater position group impact than o-line to rb. Emmit player behind the best ever. It’s not the total of pro bowlers played with

Proof gets it.

A mediocre talent like Marlon Mack looked like a pro bowler last year, his QB was Brissett and the leaders in receptions last year were Hilton with 45, Jack Doyle, and Zach Pascal.
This stuff isn't rocket science.

 

[Runwildboys]

Years with 1300+ yards:

Emmitt- 9
Sanders- 10

Years with 1500+ yards:
Emmitt- 7
Sanders- 9

Is that including receiving yards?

 

[Established1971]

So Kareem is the GOAT NBA player and not Jordan then?

no, Bill Russell

 

[MarcusRock]

So even our 1st ballot Hall of Famer is a victim of anti-Cowboys CONSPIRACY! How did Emmitt ever achieve anything? Lol.

 

[OmerV]

Emmitt Smith is the most underrated player in the NFL. Some fools(Cowboys fans) believe the offensive line made him. I remember the years without Emmitt for Troy. The offensive line almost got Aikman killed. I can’t even remember the running backs before Emmitt. It is laughable that some people actually think Barry Sanders is a better back then Emmitt. Barry was faster/quicker but Emmitt was the better all around running back. I don’t think we win a Super Bowl with Barry instead of Emmitt.

Troy never played without Emmitt. He had already retired when Emmitt went to the Cardinals.

I don't think many Cowboy fans underrate Emmitt the way you suggest. Certainly those old enough to have watched and to have understood what they watched don't underestimate him.

 

[baltcowboy]

Troy never played without Emmitt. He had already retired when Emmitt went to the Cardinals.

I don't think many Cowboy fans underrate Emmitt the way you suggest. Certainly those old enough to have watched and to have understood what they watched don't underestimate him.

I have heard fans on this board say imagine if Barry Sanders ran behind our offensive line. He gets the least amount of the credit of the triplets. Emmitt was the true lynchpin of the 90s Cowboys.

 

[MarcusRock]

It's a perception thing, and I think the biggest thing that hurts Emmitt's perception is the belief that the career yardage record was essentially gifted to him by Barry Sanders - that had Sanders not retired early he would have put away the rushing record in the same way Rice did with receiving.

And, honestly, I believe its true - Barry could have put the record out of Emmitt's reach. He was still playing very well when he retired, and had strong years left. In most cases where a player gets the record by playing longer, the next guy didn't hold up - his production and skills faded, and that's why he wasn't able to play as long. It's easy to crown the king in that situation. But it's harder in this situation because almost everyone believes Emmitt wasn't pushed to hold up longer - that Barry just handed the record to Emmitt.

The question is whether it is fair to perceive Emmitt's record as less meaningful because of that. After all, longevity is a big part of that kind of record, and Emmitt kept plugging away, and Barry wasn't willing to do that. So, should it matter whether Barry didn't put up the yards he could have because his skills faded or because he just chose to retire while still having a lot of gas left in the tank.

Agree with this. Before retiring, Barry was 2 years removed from a 6.1(!) ypc season that year he rushed for 2,000 yards and put up 1,491 in his final year. He had 5 years where he had higher than 5.0 ypc and retired with 5.0 ypc for a career. Emmitt had 1 year of 5.0 ypc and finished at 4.2 ypc for a career.