Very interesting . Sports History 101.To be fair, I also took a sports history class in college in which we talked about Jackie a bit(because why the hell wouldn't we?) and that's why I remembered him being a 4 sport athlete. That helps lol. Best elective I took for sure(I was engineering so nice break from heavy math and science).
But yea, Jackie is a hell of an athlete.
And yea, I'm, uh, 33. We'll go with that....
The list gets much longer if you only take 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Earl and have had the chance to speak with him at length at least a couple dozen times, but think longevity and durability is part of the equation, at least for me.You should go watch some tapes of Earl Campbell his first 5 years!!!!!!
What was amazing with Earl is defenses stacked the box and still couldn’t stop him.The list gets much longer if you only take 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Earl and have had the chance to speak with him at length at least a couple dozen times, but think longevity and durability is part of the equation, at least for me.
If it's 4th and 2, I'm picking Earl every time and not hesitating. I'll even stand on Emmitt's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that!
What was amazing with Earl is defenses stacked the box and still couldn’t stop him.
I first saw him at Tyler High School in the playoffs. He was already a celebrity by then and the most awesome and dominating HS player I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a bunch here .
Eric Dickerson was 2nd most dominating I saw here and he was at 2A Sealy. Tyler was 4A which was largest class at that time.
I’ve never been a fan of Houston teams but it was difficult not to root for Earl. Even when he was at Texas I saw him live 3 times , twice at Baylor. He had like 44 inch thighs if I recall correctly. Talk about looking tough in shorts. Never seen anything like him in person that wasn’t a lineman.
Interesting . Earl last season at Texas was 1977 drafted in 1978 and Downs played for Rice 1978-1980.The greatest stiff arm I ever saw in football at any level was by Earl against Michael downs in the UT/Rice game. Downs was matched against Earl 1on1 and Earl bearing down with a full head of steam. I don't even know it would be considered a proper stiff arm, Earl reached out with his left arm, grabbed Downs by the throat, lifted him completely off the ground, carried him, one-handed, 5 yards and into the end zone and spiked Downs like a football when he crossed the goal line. It was nasty.
Very interesting . Sports History 101.
I minored in History and we never had a class offered on sports . But that was over 40 years ago.
Researching history, reading and watching are very informative and educational but nothing replaces real life experiences .
I wrote my paper on the Great Depression . The interviews I had and quoted from my parents and grandparents real life experiences is what garnered the recognition from our professor that he shared and had published in their journal not because it was well written because he marked off greatly for my poor writing skills but it was the passion and the experiences from that era which moved him.
The lesson here is there is no replacement for living the experience and the impact it has on you which can’t be depicted from researching or watching a video.
I attended that Super Bowl in Miami on January 21st 1979. Bob Lilly gave us his personal 35 yard line seats. He was a family friend. Play with my uncle at TCU and we did business with him for years .
It was my first Super Bowl and still my greatest sports experience of my life. I was so proud as defending champs and while it was a tough loss the experience still stands out more than the loss.
It was definitely Michael Downs, there have been articles and Downs has spoke about before. He was a freshman in '77Interesting . Earl last season at Texas was 1977 drafted in 1978 and Downs played for Rice 1978-1980.
You sure that wasn’t in NFL?
I knew when Earl played but had to look up Michael which he was a 3 year starter at Rice from 1978-1980. Drafted in 81.
Drew Brees will retire the all time passing leader, and he's not top 10 all time.These lists are fun to spark debate, but there's really no method to formulating an accurate "greatest of all time" list.
Having said that, leaving the all time leading rusher out of the top 10 seems odd.
I’m a huge fan of Ali. A few years ago was in Louisville and visited his museum.Yea, it was a great course. The prof. has written a number of books, including one on Muhammad Ali. Also taught a soccer&international politics course?
It was definitely Michael Downs, there have been articles and Downs has spoke about before. He was a freshman in '77
Emmitt was great and his longevity and OL and offensive philosophy are why he holds the record.
However, Jim Brown, Gayle Sayers, Barry Sanders, Walter Peyton, OJ Simpson were all far better running backs. Then Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, Earl Campbell and others are right there as well. Holding the all time yardage record is great, but that doesn’t mean you were the greatest RB.
I don't know why anybody cares about lists made by morons.
Emmitt had more heart than all of them....Which made him the greatest IMO. Look @ that list....
Jim Brown....quitter...didn't want to take the punishment anymore.
Gayle Sayers,....quit because of injury
Barry Sanders,..quitter because he just didn't see why he should put forth the effort for a so-so organization.
Walter Peyton,...won a ring...hung them up.
OJ Simpson...decided to hop on the crazy train.
After 3 rings...could have walked away...but Emmitt continued to play.
Emmitt had more heart than all of them....Which made him the greatest IMO. Look @ that list....
Jim Brown....quitter...didn't want to take the punishment anymore.
Gayle Sayers,....quit because of injury
Barry Sanders,..quitter because he just didn't see why he should put forth the effort for a so-so organization.
Walter Peyton,...won a ring...hung them up.
OJ Simpson...decided to hop on the crazy train.
After 3 rings...could have walked away...but Emmitt continued to play.
The moron that made this list probably has a lot to do with why you and everyone else here are Cowboy fans. He was a big part of building the Cowboys from the ground up and helping them become "America's Team".
I don't necessarily agree with his list, but the main is a key figure in the history of the Cowboys.
He can't have it both ways with Bo Jackson.
If he is ranking by pure athletic ability then Bo is should be #1.
If he is ranking by impact as an NFL RB, then Bo is not in the top 10.
Bo had 16 career rushing TDs. Emmitt had multiple seasons with more TDs than Bo had in his career.
Gil Brandt was great in his day; however, most Landry era guys are biased against Jerry era Cowboys.
Also, Gil is senile. He has put out some draft info that was way off in the past few years.
It's his list, so he gets to use whatever criteria he chooses. I doubt he is looking solely at either athletic ability or impact - probably some combination of factors. My bet is impact and ability are the key factors, with some degree of longevity being applicable, but only to the extent that the RB played long enough to prove he wasn't a fluke. Pretty clearly he is looking at more than longevity based stats.
I have disagreements with Brandt on the list, but the biggest probably is that he put Dorsett ahead of Emmitt. I have to wonder if there is some bias in that choice given that he played a part in the decision to draft Dorsett.