NFL: Gil Brandt's 25 greatest NFL running backs of all time (Emmitt 11th)

[Alexander]

Didnt we put the theory that anyone could run behind that line to the test back in 93?

After just 2 weeks Emmitt got payed

Or paid. How ever you want to look at it.

 

[Alexander]

Yeah, I think this is about to be a ten page **** measuring contest between Diefree666, his walker, and myself

Like I said, I am only here for the outrage.

 

[Trouty]

A substantial amount of would-be NFL players went to Korea just prior to Brown entering the league. They didn't come back to play in the NFL. They would have been in their prime during the first years of Jim Brown's career... so, DieFree666, even you saying I am right, well, you chose the wrong part of Brown's career to concede such.

All of sports across the 40s, 50s and 60s saw watered down competition.

 

[fairviewfarmer]

Gil Brandt never worked for another NFL after he left the Cowboys.....If he was so great, another team should have snapped him up with an offer he couldn't refuse....

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

I'm not talking stats in the post you replied to, Eagles fan, I am talking the way they played. Yes, being a leader of men, whilst also being elite, is a very enviable trait that few of the elite of the elites have. Barry was a wanker when it came to leading. Go get horny to profootballrefernce while missing the forrest for the trees. And still, since you are so hung up on stats, who had more rushing yards? TDs? Super Bowl MVPs? Rings?

I very much like that you brought up PFR. It shows that you know if I started diving into it, I'll find stuff you're trying to dodge. Let's look at FACTS. Not truths, not rules, not bias, just FACTS.

Superbowl Rings. If this is a real argument, and you are actually insisting that your football acumen come down to who's backup rbs have more rings, then only use this argument. No one can beat it. But Eli had better be top 10 on that QB list you got, because you and I both know these matter a lot more to the credit of a qb than a rb. So if they matter so much to Emmitt that it must be used to reference him with Barry, then Eli is your dream guy. Troy, Eli, Jim Plunkett... Marino who?

Every RB with 12,000 career rushing yards:

1 Emmitt Smith 18,355
2 Walter Payton 16,726
3 Barry Sanders 15,269
4 Curtis Martin 14,101
5 FRANK GORE 14,026
6 LaDainian Tomlinson 13,684
7 Jerome Bettis 13,662
8 Eric Dickerson 13,259
9 Tony Dorsett 12,739
10 Jim Brown 12,312
11 Marshall Faulk 12,279
12 ADRIAN PETERSON 12,276
13 Edgerrin James 12,246
14 Marcus Allen 12,243
15 Franco Harris 12,120
16 Thurman Thomas 12,074

Go through that list. Name the defensive stars who played with those RBs. Chuck Haley, Mike Singletary, Junior Seau. The QBs, Bradshaw, Kelly, Staubach, Warner. The Coaches, Parcells, Levy, Dungy. The Olineman, Orlando Pace, Joe Staley, Will Shields. Note the famous playoff wins. The Epic Championship games. Adrian in 09 against the Saints. Frank Gore in 11 and 12, back to back. And then there's one name that doesn't quite fit. Barry's coaching was bad, his Oline was bad, his defenses were stereotypically bad, his qb play was substandard, and they never went anywhere. Regardless of what Barry did. Regardless of how vocal he may have been. Let's switch the narrative. Instead of Barry on the Cowboys, what if Emmitt was on the Lions. Would he have 18,000 yards? Would he have 3 rings? Of course, his leadership was great, right? How much are those rings worth to his legacy specifically as a rb if he needed the cowboys to get them?

How do you really value a player? In my opinion, there are three ways to structure your argument. 1: Baseball argument. Career totals, regardless of the minutia in which he got there. This many total yard, this many tds, this many games played. 2: My subjectively preferred: Prime. Who was he when he was actually good. Not when he was learning after college or breaking apart at the end, but in his prime years, (RB 25-29), what was he? Was he consistent through his prime? 3: Individual seasons/moments. The Kurt Warner argument. "Yeah, most of his career was bipolar, but 99, 01, and 08 sure were great, weren't they?" Which one of these is Emmitt actually superior to Barry?

Individual season shouldn't be much debate, Barry went for 2000 yards in 1997 on only 335 carries, for a crazy 6.1 ypc. Emmitt's closest... maybe 1995 when his 1773 took him a whopping 377 carries to achieve?

How about prime, what did each one look like from 25 to 29?
Emmitt: In those 5 years, Emmitt had 1652 Attempts, 6867 yards, 4.2 yards per attempt, 75 tds, (we'll get to that in a minute).
Barry: fewer carries at 1503, way more yards at 8104, way better ypc at 5.3, and a solid 43 tds.

and then finally, there's....

Total Yards. Saying Emmitt put in 5 more years, FIVE just so he could get only 3000 more yards than Barry doesn't exactly invoke amazement. Barry could still play when he retired, that doesn't make him worse of a running back because he didn't drag his feet until he was 35. Each individual run, Barry was worth more. If you averaged their careers over 200 total carries, Barry would have 1000 yards. Emmitt would have 840. That is a substantial difference. "Yards per attempt? Pff, half of it was lost in Arizona, that's cherry picking." Actually, that's not correct. He had so many carries in Dallas, the ones he had in Arizona had minimal effect on his career average. 4.2 yards per carry in dallas, 4.2 yards per carry for his career. Emmitt was only top dog in the NFL 4 times in rushing yards. In 15 seasons. Barry was top dog 4 times. In 10 seasons. He ran less, got more yards from it, made more pro bowls in 2/3 the seasons, was first team all-pro more often (no, really), and also, his team's defense.

When you're routinely behind by 2 touchdowns in the third quarter, what do you start doing? Pass. Like the Lions. When you're routinely up by 2 touchdowns in the third quarter, what do you do? Run Emmitt. Like the Cowboys. Did you know Barry Sanders never rushed 350 times in a season? Not even the year he hit TWO THOUSAND YARDS? Did you know that in a 5 year span early in Emmitt's career, there was only 1 season that he didn't run 350 times? Yet only 3000 more yards in 5 more seasons. And Jerome Bettis has more yards than Jim Brown, just because he played for longer. How many lists even care about that? Durable? Heck yeah. Actually better at running? Well...

What about that durability? Maybe the total numbers would have been greater for Emmitt if not for his various minor injuries? Emmit averaged 19.5 carriers per game for 81 yards every game, Barry averaged 20 carries for 99.8 yards every game. Nevermind.

Oh yeah, one last thing:

Nose for the endzone. I actually build in a disclaimer previously for this one, because this is the Dallas Cowboy's version of Godwin's Law. If you're ever backed in a corner with Emmitt Smith, just say he's the best ever at finding the endzone, and you're safe. But was he really?

In Emmitt's 10 best consecutive years in the nfl, he had 136 rushing tds. We went with 10 years, because Barry only played 10. In Barry's 10, he had 99. However, in those 10 years, the Lions ran for 153 tds. What does that mean? We all know they pulled him in the redzone to preserve him, and had big fat leeching RBs take those tds. But what about all the drives that ended in field goals because Barry wasn't in the game? We'll never know. But we do know that they only took advantage of having Barry Sanders for a whopping 64% of their rushing tds. That's alarmingly low. What do you think Emmitt's # was? How often did you see him pulled inside the 10 yard line? Am I stating this to make the case that Barry is superior in the redzone? No, Emmitt and Marcus Allen are the GOATs. But am I stating this to portray it isn't nearly as wide a discrepancy as a generic career stats can make it look? Heck yeah.

Hey look, I credited Emmitt with something better than Barry. Again, I have him third, I'm not bagging on Emmitt at all. There's just some odd misinformation going around about Barry Sanders. You won't find any truths here, just facts.

 

[Trouty]

I was fortunate enough to be old enough to see Jim Brown
s final year and he was still devastating, A certain poster who is usually wrong talked about a watered down NFL when he played. He really only had his last three years that could be argued. When a tough old cob like Ray Nitske says Jim Brown was the greatest RB he ever played against or saw that pretty much takes anything that particular poster drivels and shoves it into the trash can where it belongs.

I personally find it hard to pick one RB as the best of all time. Bronco Nagurski was incredible in his time. Steve van Buren was something else. Marion Motley. Jim Taylor.

I watched Earl Campbell run over an ENTIRE DEFENSE on one play. Gale Sayers making everyone else on the field looking like they were in slo mo. One game OJ made the entire Steeler Defense at their best look incompetent.

I could go on but I think I made my point.

What point did you make? That you can recite players from a foregone era? Whoa, everyone step back, we got a bad *** here. The fact you echoed what most have already said proves no point for you other than you being good a regurgitating what you've read on sports forums.

punk move bro, you have something to say to me, address me

 

[Trouty]

I very much like that you brought up PFF. It shows that you know if I starting diving into it, I'll find stuff you're trying to dodge. Let's look at FACTS. Not truths, not rules, not bias, just FACTS.

Superbowl Rings. If this is a real argument, and you are actually insisting that your football acumen come down to who's backup rbs have more rings, then only use this argument. No one can beat it. But Eli had better be top 10 on that QB list you got, because you and I both know these matter a lot more to the credit of a qb than a rb. So if they matter so much to Emmitt that it must be used to reference him with Barry, then Eli is your dream guy. Troy, Eli, Jim Plunkett... Marino who?

Every RB with 12,000 career rushing yards:

1 Emmitt Smith 18,355
2 Walter Payton 16,726
3 Barry Sanders 15,269
4 Curtis Martin 14,101
5 FRANK GORE 14,026
6 LaDainian Tomlinson 13,684
7 Jerome Bettis 13,662
8 Eric Dickerson 13,259
9 Tony Dorsett 12,739
10 Jim Brown 12,312
11 Marshall Faulk 12,279
12 ADRIAN PETERSON 12,276
13 Edgerrin James 12,246
14 Marcus Allen 12,243
15 Franco Harris 12,120
16 Thurman Thomas 12,074

Go through that list. Name the defensive stars who played with those RBs. Chuck Haley, Mike Singletary, Junior Seau. The QBs, Bradshaw, Kelly, Staubach, Warner. The Coaches, Parcells, Levy, Dungy. The Olineman, Orlando Pace, Joe Staley, Will Shields. Note the famous playoff wins. The Epic Championship games. Adrian in 09 against the Saints. Frank Gore in 11 and 12, back to back. And then there's one name that doesn't quite fit. Barry's coaching was bad, his Oline was bad, his defenses were stereotypically bad, his qb play was substandard, and they never went anywhere. Regardless of what Barry did. Regardless of how vocal he may have been. Let's switch the narrative. Instead of Barry on the Cowboys, what if Emmitt was on the Lions. Would he have 18,000 yards? Would he have 3 rings? Of course, his leadership was great, right? How much are those rings worth to his legacy specifically as a rb if he needed the cowboys to get them?

How do you really value a player? In my opinion, there are three ways to structure your argument. 1: Baseball argument. Career totals, regardless of the minutia in which he got there. This many total yard, this many tds, this many games played. 2: My subjectively preferred: Prime. Who was he when he was actually good. Not when he was learning after college or breaking apart at the end, but in his prime years, (RB 25-29), what was he? Was he consistent through his prime? 3: Individual seasons/moments. The Kurt Warner argument. "Yeah, most of his career was bipolar, but 99, 01, and 08 sure were great, weren't they?" Which one of these is Emmitt actually superior to Barry?

Individual season shouldn't be much debate, Barry went for 2000 yards in 1997 on only 335 carries, for a crazy 6.1 ypc. Emmitt's closest... maybe 1995 when his 1773 took him a whopping 377 carries to achieve?

How about prime, what did each one look like from 25 to 29?
Emmitt: In those 5 years, Emmitt had 1652 Attempts, 6867 yards, 4.2 yards per attempt, 75 tds, (we'll get to that in a minute).
Barry: fewer carries at 1503, way more yards at 8104, way better ypc at 5.3, and a solid 43 tds.

and then finally, there's....

Total Yards. Saying Emmitt put in 5 more years, FIVE just so he could get only 3000 more yards than Barry doesn't exactly invoke amazement. Barry could still play when he retired, that doesn't make him worse of a running back because he didn't drag his feet until he was 35. Each individual run, Barry was worth more. If you averaged their careers over 200 total carries, Barry would have 1000 yards. Emmitt would have 840. That is a substantial difference. "Yards per attempt? Pff, half of it was lost in Arizona, that's cherry picking." Actually, that's not correct. He had so many carries in Dallas, the ones he had in Arizona had minimal effect on his career average. 4.2 yards per carry in dallas, 4.2 yards per carry for his career. Emmitt was only top dog in the NFL 4 times in rushing yards. In 15 seasons. Barry was top dog 4 times. In 10 seasons. He ran less, got more yards from it, made more pro bowls in 2/3 the seasons, was first team all-pro more often (no, really), and also, his team's defense.

When you're routinely behind by 2 touchdowns in the third quarter, what do you start doing? Pass. Like the Lions. When you're routinely up by 2 touchdowns in the third quarter, what do you do? Run Emmitt. Like the Cowboys. Did you know Barry Sanders never rushed 350 times in a season? Not even the year he hit TWO THOUSAND YARDS? Did you know that in a 5 year span early in Emmitt's career, there was only 1 season that he didn't run 350 times? Yet only 3000 more yards in 5 more seasons. And Jerome Bettis has more yards than Jim Brown, just because he played for longer. How many lists even care about that? Durable? Heck yeah. Actually better at running? Well...

What about that durability? Maybe the total numbers would have been greater for Emmitt if not for his various minor injuries? Emmit averaged 19.5 carriers per game for 81 yards every game, Barry averaged 20 carries for 99.8 yards every game. Nevermind.

Oh yeah, one last thing:

Nose for the endzone. I actually build in a disclaimer previously for this one, because this is the Dallas Cowboy's version of Godwin's Law. If you're ever backed in a corner with Emmitt Smith, just say he's the best ever at finding the endzone, and you're safe. But was he really?

In Emmitt's 10 best consecutive years in the nfl, he had 136 rushing tds. We went with 10 years, because Barry only played 10. In Barry's 10, he had 99. However, in those 10 years, the Lions ran for 153 tds. What does that mean? We all know they pulled him in the redzone to preserve him, and had big fat leeching RBs take those tds. But what about all the drives that ended in field goals because Barry wasn't in the game? We'll never know. But we do know that they only took advantage of having Barry Sanders for a whopping 64% of their rushing tds. That's alarmingly low. What do you think Emmitt's # was? How often did you see him pulled inside the 10 yard line? Am I stating this to make the case that Barry is superior in the redzone? No, Emmitt and Marcus Allen are the GOATs. But am I stating this to portray it isn't nearly as wide a discrepancy as a generic career stats can make it look? Heck yeah.

Hey look, I credited Emmitt with something better than Barry. Again, I have him third, I'm not bagging on Emmitt at all. There's just some odd misinformation going around about Barry Sanders. You won't find any truths here, just facts.

I brought up pro football reference, not PFF

 

[Trouty]

I very much like that you brought up PFF. It shows that you know if I starting diving into it, I'll find stuff you're trying to dodge. Let's look at FACTS. Not truths, not rules, not bias, just FACTS.

Superbowl Rings. If this is a real argument, and you are actually insisting that your football acumen come down to who's backup rbs have more rings, then only use this argument. No one can beat it. But Eli had better be top 10 on that QB list you got, because you and I both know these matter a lot more to the credit of a qb than a rb. So if they matter so much to Emmitt that it must be used to reference him with Barry, then Eli is your dream guy. Troy, Eli, Jim Plunkett... Marino who?

Every RB with 12,000 career rushing yards:

1 Emmitt Smith 18,355
2 Walter Payton 16,726
3 Barry Sanders 15,269
4 Curtis Martin 14,101
5 FRANK GORE 14,026
6 LaDainian Tomlinson 13,684
7 Jerome Bettis 13,662
8 Eric Dickerson 13,259
9 Tony Dorsett 12,739
10 Jim Brown 12,312
11 Marshall Faulk 12,279
12 ADRIAN PETERSON 12,276
13 Edgerrin James 12,246
14 Marcus Allen 12,243
15 Franco Harris 12,120
16 Thurman Thomas 12,074

Go through that list. Name the defensive stars who played with those RBs. Chuck Haley, Mike Singletary, Junior Seau. The QBs, Bradshaw, Kelly, Staubach, Warner. The Coaches, Parcells, Levy, Dungy. The Olineman, Orlando Pace, Joe Staley, Will Shields. Note the famous playoff wins. The Epic Championship games. Adrian in 09 against the Saints. Frank Gore in 11 and 12, back to back. And then there's one name that doesn't quite fit. Barry's coaching was bad, his Oline was bad, his defenses were stereotypically bad, his qb play was substandard, and they never went anywhere. Regardless of what Barry did. Regardless of how vocal he may have been. Let's switch the narrative. Instead of Barry on the Cowboys, what if Emmitt was on the Lions. Would he have 18,000 yards? Would he have 3 rings? Of course, his leadership was great, right? How much are those rings worth to his legacy specifically as a rb if he needed the cowboys to get them?

How do you really value a player? In my opinion, there are three ways to structure your argument. 1: Baseball argument. Career totals, regardless of the minutia in which he got there. This many total yard, this many tds, this many games played. 2: My subjectively preferred: Prime. Who was he when he was actually good. Not when he was learning after college or breaking apart at the end, but in his prime years, (RB 25-29), what was he? Was he consistent through his prime? 3: Individual seasons/moments. The Kurt Warner argument. "Yeah, most of his career was bipolar, but 99, 01, and 08 sure were great, weren't they?" Which one of these is Emmitt actually superior to Barry?

Individual season shouldn't be much debate, Barry went for 2000 yards in 1997 on only 335 carries, for a crazy 6.1 ypc. Emmitt's closest... maybe 1995 when his 1773 took him a whopping 377 carries to achieve?

How about prime, what did each one look like from 25 to 29?
Emmitt: In those 5 years, Emmitt had 1652 Attempts, 6867 yards, 4.2 yards per attempt, 75 tds, (we'll get to that in a minute).
Barry: fewer carries at 1503, way more yards at 8104, way better ypc at 5.3, and a solid 43 tds.

and then finally, there's....

Total Yards. Saying Emmitt put in 5 more years, FIVE just so he could get only 3000 more yards than Barry doesn't exactly invoke amazement. Barry could still play when he retired, that doesn't make him worse of a running back because he didn't drag his feet until he was 35. Each individual run, Barry was worth more. If you averaged their careers over 200 total carries, Barry would have 1000 yards. Emmitt would have 840. That is a substantial difference. "Yards per attempt? Pff, half of it was lost in Arizona, that's cherry picking." Actually, that's not correct. He had so many carries in Dallas, the ones he had in Arizona had minimal effect on his career average. 4.2 yards per carry in dallas, 4.2 yards per carry for his career. Emmitt was only top dog in the NFL 4 times in rushing yards. In 15 seasons. Barry was top dog 4 times. In 10 seasons. He ran less, got more yards from it, made more pro bowls in 2/3 the seasons, was first team all-pro more often (no, really), and also, his team's defense.

When you're routinely behind by 2 touchdowns in the third quarter, what do you start doing? Pass. Like the Lions. When you're routinely up by 2 touchdowns in the third quarter, what do you do? Run Emmitt. Like the Cowboys. Did you know Barry Sanders never rushed 350 times in a season? Not even the year he hit TWO THOUSAND YARDS? Did you know that in a 5 year span early in Emmitt's career, there was only 1 season that he didn't run 350 times? Yet only 3000 more yards in 5 more seasons. And Jerome Bettis has more yards than Jim Brown, just because he played for longer. How many lists even care about that? Durable? Heck yeah. Actually better at running? Well...

What about that durability? Maybe the total numbers would have been greater for Emmitt if not for his various minor injuries? Emmit averaged 19.5 carriers per game for 81 yards every game, Barry averaged 20 carries for 99.8 yards every game. Nevermind.

Oh yeah, one last thing:

Nose for the endzone. I actually build in a disclaimer previously for this one, because this is the Dallas Cowboy's version of Godwin's Law. If you're ever backed in a corner with Emmitt Smith, just say he's the best ever at finding the endzone, and you're safe. But was he really?

In Emmitt's 10 best consecutive years in the nfl, he had 136 rushing tds. We went with 10 years, because Barry only played 10. In Barry's 10, he had 99. However, in those 10 years, the Lions ran for 153 tds. What does that mean? We all know they pulled him in the redzone to preserve him, and had big fat leeching RBs take those tds. But what about all the drives that ended in field goals because Barry wasn't in the game? We'll never know. But we do know that they only took advantage of having Barry Sanders for a whopping 64% of their rushing tds. That's alarmingly low. What do you think Emmitt's # was? How often did you see him pulled inside the 10 yard line? Am I stating this to make the case that Barry is superior in the redzone? No, Emmitt and Marcus Allen are the GOATs. But am I stating this to portray it isn't nearly as wide a discrepancy as a generic career stats can make it look? Heck yeah.

Hey look, I credited Emmitt with something better than Barry. Again, I have him third, I'm not bagging on Emmitt at all. There's just some odd misinformation going around about Barry Sanders. You won't find any truths here, just facts.

dude, i have literally addressed every point of yours and yet you still cherry pick.

your posts are chump, now, eagles fan

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

I brought up pro football reference, not PFF

I'm alotted 10 minutes to edit it by the moderators, and I'm going to use every second of that.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

dude, i have literally addressed every point of yours and yet you still cherry pick.

your posts are chump, now, eagles fan

Great counter argument, I never thought about it that way. It really shows Emmitt's superior talents.

 

[Diehardblues]

All time leading rusher doesn’t mean greatest or most talented RB.

 

[Trouty]

Great counter argument, I never thought about it that way. It really shows Emmitt's superior talents.

I've literally counter argued every post of yours as you move the goal posts further and further

your long diatribe does nothing. address my replies to you, think in a cohesive pattern, and we can go on.

i will not read a post that talks about Emmitt's sb's as a way to dispel his greatness, as i only brought it up after you went the stat route, homeboy

 

[Trouty]

AND I JUST MOTHER ******* SPILLED MY MAKERS MARK BECAUSE OF THIS THREAD

**** YOU​

 

[Alexander]

What point did you make? That you can recite players from a foregone era? Whoa, everyone step back, we got a bad *** here. The fact you echoed what most have already said proves no point for you other than you being good a regurgitating what you've read on sports forums.

punk move bro, you have something to say to me, address me

You are addressing a Russian bot engineered to enrage you, you know that, right?

 

[CowboyStar88]

Yeah, I think this is about to be a ten page **** measuring contest between Diefree666, his walker, and myself

He’s got one of them there scooters Trout man

 

[Trouty]

I'm alotted 10 minutes to edit it by the moderators, and I'm going to use every second of that.

HA

Be this poster, not the other one

again, address my points as I have done you the courtesy to your posts

 

[Alexander]

AND I JUST MOTHER ******* SPILLED MY MAKERS MARK BECAUSE OF THIS THREAD

**** YOU​

Maker's Mark is swill. Yes. I said that.

 

[Trouty]

You are addressing a Russian bot engineered to enrage you, you know that, right?

I know i'm addressing a *****made that probably wont reply and if/when he does he'll use some obscure TB from the ******* 1940's Detroit Wolverines to make himself sound like he knows something

 

[Alexander]

I now i'm addressing a *****made that probably wont reply and when he does he'll use some obscure TB from the ******* 1940's Detroit Wolverines to make himself sound like he knows something

Apparently you have a problem with old people.

I am now offended. En garde.

 

[Trouty]

Maker's Mark is swill. Yes. I said that.

Swill that costs 20 dollah and at that price point, im game. swill/rock gut/whatever