Barry Talks About Similarities/Differences To Emmitt

[dfense]

Emmitt's record stats will stand for a long time. He was a three down back, blocker and receiver. 175 TDs won't be touched by a RB in the foreseeable future.

Barry came out of the game on goal line so....

 

[Thomas82]

First of all you are getting carried away. 4.5 is VERY fast .. If you don't believe me watch the combine every year and watch how few players come in under that. And these are guys who train for months to run fast at the combine. Emmitt never did train for speed he just showed up and performed because he was never concerned about his 40 time. He was a football player first and foremost. You are also wrong about acceleration. I guarantee you that if both guys were timed at 20 yards it would be a virtual dead heat. Maybe what you're referring to was change of direction. I would certainly give Barry the edge there.. but he needed it.. He had to make guys whiff to make them miss. Emmitt could accomplish the same thing with far less torque and movement. He didn't need to make a guy whiff completely. He could let a defender ALMOST have a hand on him and then be gone or slap the hand down. That efficiency of movement and of course his durability are what allowed him to play 15 years and the most physically demanding position in the game. Also his leg power enabled him to run through tackles better than Barry. It's what made him the best goal line runner the game has ever seen.. that and his vision and anticipation made him a TD scoring machine down close. And yes his ridiculous acceleration to the edge when it was all jammed up inside led to a lot of high stepping into the end zone untouched around the end.

Lastly.. if you think Bo and Deion are the only players who ever had the speed and acceleration of Barry you need to YouTube guys like Bob Hayes, Cliff Branch, Willie Gault, Ron Brown, Lance Alworth, Wes Chandler, Johnny (Lam) Jones, Dante Hall, Joey Galloway, Darrel Green ... there is a long list of guys who played in the NFL who could run alongside Barry while talking to him about his running form.. Hell have you not been paying attention to Tyreke Hill the last few years? Do you think Barry was anywhere NEAR as fast and quick as that dude?

All facts!!

Emmitt's vision and athleticism were a major reason those Cowboys lines looked so good. He could see where the holes were, and accelerated through them with a burst almost unparalleled in NFL history. Emmitt wasn't as "nifty" as Barry. No one ever has been. But make no mistake, he was a supreme athlete with unbelievable agility, vision, instincts, acceleration, balance and power in the thighs and hips that Barry never possessed. That's not to take anything away from what Barry could do. But because it's not as flashy, as eye-popping, people often overlook the tremendous runner Emmitt was and how extraordinarily difficult it was to tackle. He could run over you, around you, juke you, spin away from you, stiff-arm you, flatten you and/or accelerate right by you. And not only you, but often 2, 3 or 4 of your biggest, strongest teammates at the same time.

 

[Typhus]

Barry could have kept it short and sweet.
Emmitt had better vision.
I had better moves.

 

[RonnieT24]

All facts!!

Emmitt's vision and athleticism were a major reason those Cowboys lines looked so good. He could see where the holes were, and accelerated through them with a burst almost unparalleled in NFL history. Emmitt wasn't as "nifty" as Barry. No one ever has been. But make no mistake, he was a supreme athlete with unbelievable agility, vision, instincts, acceleration, balance and power in the thighs and hips that Barry never possessed. That's not to take anything away from what Barry could do. But because it's not as flashy, as eye-popping, people often overlook the tremendous runner Emmitt was and how extraordinarily difficult it was to tackle. He could run over you, around you, juke you, spin away from you, stiff-arm you, flatten you and/or accelerate right by you. And not only you, but often 2, 3 or 4 of your biggest, strongest teammates at the same time.

I always said that if I could have gotten ahold of Emmitt for one offseason I could have trained him to tap into his speed better. Emmitt was not slow but he invariably would run out of gas on longer runs and that was what led to his not hitting as many home runs as he could have. I thought it was because he simply ran too tight once he got into the open field. You could see him start to chop his steps out in the open field whereas you would see guys with elite top end speed elongate their strides in that situation. It's a mistake most people make when trying to run faster.. They bear down and "try harder" which is the exact opposite of what you should do. "Trying harder" causes your muscles to tighten up and go into oxygen debt which causes you to slow down earlier. What you need to do is relax and allow the body to continue to process the oxygen as efficiently as possible so that you can maintain your top speed longer. You don't really run any faster you simply slow down slower if that makes sense. It's more a mental adjustment than physical.

Mind you the only reason I know all this is because I was a super quick short area sprinter in high school in college. I could beat damn near anybody for 35-40 yards.. but I would always tighten up and get passed by the really fast guys by about 60-70 yards. I was in my late 20's before I FINALLY learned the secret to running faster. But of course it was not a secret at all. My coaches and teammates had been telling me since I was 12-13 years old that if I would just learn to relax once I hit top speed I would stop getting passed at the 60 meter mark all the time. Once I learned how to execute it I started running faster times in my late 20's and 30s than I ever did in high school and college. The fun part was what happened in races.. It would feel like I was "slowing down" when I relaxed at that 60 meter mark but my opponents would literally drop back 2-3 meters at that point in the race. It was like somebody hit the turbo button on me. I think I could have taught that to Emmitt and he could have done the same and the results would have been spectacular. But I think he did okay without my help! LOL!!

 

[Blackrain]

Watched them both play and Barry could change direction better but thats it Emmitt was a better running back because he was a complete football player . He may be unpopular now because of what he did off the field but in his playing days OJ Simpson was more feared and a better back than Barry or Emmitt.
Its not Popular or politicly correct but OJs talent has never been duplicated , Dickerson did come close

 

[RonnieT24]

Watched them both play and Barry could change direction better but thats it Emmitt was a better running back because he was a complete football player . He may be unpopular now because of what he did off the field but in his playing days OJ Simpson was more feared and a better back than Barry or Emmitt.
Its not Popular or politicly correct but OJs talent has never been duplicated , Dickerson did come close

OJ was the first running back I truly idolized as a lad. Dude was amazing.. He was one of those "fast as he needed to be" guys. He had a number of long runs where the defender would close to within arm's reach of OJ,.. and then never gain another inch for 40 yards. OJ once hung 227 yards yards on the Steel Curtain in 1975, the year they beat the Cowboys in Super bowl X.. .. That game was one of two losses the Steelers suffered that year the other was a rest your starters last game of the season after they'd clinched everything. I was already a big OJ fan before that but that game solidified his status as an immortal for me. He was a better receiver than he was given credit for but teams threw so infrequently back then you never know. Same goes for his blocking. He was not asked to block much in the Bills offense so we don't know if he was any good at it. I do agree he was more feared than either Emmitt or Barry back in his day. The Bills never had anybody of consequence throwing the ball so every defense came into every game with one thought in mind.. Stop OJ.. Very few were successful at it. The best thing to hope for was get a big lead and make Ferguson throw it.. But a lot of times even down multiple scores OJ was still the best chance the Bills had to win.

 

[Thomas82]

I always said that if I could have gotten ahold of Emmitt for one offseason I could have trained him to tap into his speed better. Emmitt was not slow but he invariably would run out of gas on longer runs and that was what led to his not hitting as many home runs as he could have. I thought it was because he simply ran too tight once he got into the open field. You could see him start to chop his steps out in the open field whereas you would see guys with elite top end speed elongate their strides in that situation. It's a mistake most people make when trying to run faster.. They bear down and "try harder" which is the exact opposite of what you should do. "Trying harder" causes your muscles to tighten up and go into oxygen debt which causes you to slow down earlier. What you need to do is relax and allow the body to continue to process the oxygen as efficiently as possible so that you can maintain your top speed longer. You don't really run any faster you simply slow down slower if that makes sense. It's more a mental adjustment than physical.

Mind you the only reason I know all this is because I was a super quick short area sprinter in high school in college. I could beat damn near anybody for 35-40 yards.. but I would always tighten up and get passed by the really fast guys by about 60-70 yards. I was in my late 20's before I FINALLY learned the secret to running faster. But of course it was not a secret at all. My coaches and teammates had been telling me since I was 12-13 years old that if I would just learn to relax once I hit top speed I would stop getting passed at the 60 meter mark all the time. Once I learned how to execute it I started running faster times in my late 20's and 30s than I ever did in high school and college. The fun part was what happened in races.. It would feel like I was "slowing down" when I relaxed at that 60 meter mark but my opponents would literally drop back 2-3 meters at that point in the race. It was like somebody hit the turbo button on me. I think I could have taught that to Emmitt and he could have done the same and the results would have been spectacular. But I think he did okay without my help! LOL!!

Man, keep on dropping these dimes!!

 

[Thomas82]

OJ was the first running back I truly idolized as a lad. Dude was amazing.. He was one of those "fast as he needed to be" guys. He had a number of long runs where the defender would close to within arm's reach of OJ,.. and then never gain another inch for 40 yards. OJ once hung 227 yards yards on the Steel Curtain in 1975, the year they beat the Cowboys in Super bowl X.. .. That game was one of two losses the Steelers suffered that year the other was a rest your starters last game of the season after they'd clinched everything. I was already a big OJ fan before that but that game solidified his status as an immortal for me. He was a better receiver than he was given credit for but teams threw so infrequently back then you never know. Same goes for his blocking. He was not asked to block much in the Bills offense so we don't know if he was any good at it. I do agree he was more feared than either Emmitt or Barry back in his day. The Bills never had anybody of consequence throwing the ball so every defense came into every game with one thought in mind.. Stop OJ.. Very few were successful at it. The best thing to hope for was get a big lead and make Ferguson throw it.. But a lot of times even down multiple scores OJ was still the best chance the Bills had to win.

I wish I could have seem OJ play, but unfortunately, his last year in the NFL was the year I was born.

 

[erod]

Emmitt Smith is my favorite player of all time. Love him.

But Barry was a better runner, no question. He just didn't have the situation Emmitt had.

Emmitt was more complete, but he couldn't do what Barry could athletically.

 

[erod]

What's absurd is that Emmitt could play an entire game and not miss a down.

Zeke can't play an entire series without missing three or four downs.

 

[eromeopolk]

Similarities end at the ring finger.

 

[RonnieT24]

I wish I could have seem OJ play, but unfortunately, his last year in the NFL was the year I was born.

Those last two years in San Francisco were not worth watching anyway. Once he tore his ACL and they put that 8 inch scar on his knee he was done. Back in the old days once they operated on you your career was over for all intents and purposes.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

anyone naming a RB goat and its not Emmitt Smith, is full of poo

 

[mldardy]

facts are hard for you eh?

You mean your opinions. If they facts then find me the data where he got caught from behind a lot. Those were your words. I'll wait.

 

[Thomas82]

Those last two years in San Francisco were not worth watching anyway. Once he tore his ACL and they put that 8 inch scar on his knee he was done. Back in the old days once they operated on you your career was over for all intents and purposes.

Yeah, I looked up that 1979 49ers roster not too long ago and saw that they went 2-14. I'm sure I might have recognized a few more names on that roster if I gave it a more thorough look. But the only names that really stood out to me were OJ, Steve DeBerg, Joe Montana (rookie), and Tony Dungy.

 

[RonnieT24]

anyone naming a RB goat and its not Emmitt Smith, is full of poo

My comeback to anyone who argues that Emmitt does not belong in the GOAT conversation is that I will concede that all the running backs who had more yards and more TDs than Emmitt were better than Emmitt..

 

[RonnieT24]

Yeah, I looked up that 1979 49ers roster not too long ago and saw that they went 2-14. I'm sure I might have recognized a few more names on that roster if I gave it a more thorough look. But the only names that really stood out to me were OJ, Steve DeBerg, Joe Montana (rookie), and Tony Dungy.

For me it was a couple of guys with Florida ties that I remembered. Mike Shuman (WR) played college ball at Florida State and Freddie Solomon was a college QB at the University of Tampa who converted to WR in the pros.. It goes by the name University of South Florida (even though its not actually IN south Florida) these days. You should also recognize the name Dwight Clark from that roster. He was the one who went up and brought down "The Catch" which basically launched the 49er dynasty in 1981 and effectively ended the Cowboys run as the cream of the NFC.

 

[ghst187]

You mean your opinions. If they facts then find me the data where he got caught from behind a lot. Those were your words. I'll wait.

https://www.quora.com/Even-though-h...-best-running-back-in-NFL-history-Why-is-that

Emmitt was never the most physically gifted runner. Nor was he the fastest guy you've ever seen. By NFL standards, he was extremely "slow." Especially for a RB.

Although Smith had rushed for 12,732 yards and scored 142 touchdowns the previous seven seasons, NFL scouts 8weren't sold. ... He was too slow, having run 40 yards in 4.55 seconds during his Pro Day at Florida.

He was slow, every scout in the NFL that draft knew it and said it. Proof enough or do you know better than every NFL scout that year? He was productive which is why he was great and he even had some big runs. But he was slowwwwww which is why he dropped in the draft. Add two tenths of a second to his acceleration and top end speed and he has another 20-30 TDs. If you saw any games in the 90s instead of just highlights, you’d know that. Done with this, it’s obvious to the entire world but you. Go argue that the sky isn’t blue, you’d have better chances.

 

[Thomas82]

For me it was a couple of guys with Florida ties that I remembered. Mike Shuman (WR) played college ball at Florida State and Freddie Solomon was a college QB at the University of Tampa who converted to WR in the pros.. It goes by the name University of South Florida (even though its not actually IN south Florida) these days. You should also recognize the name Dwight Clark from that roster. He was the one who went up and brought down "The Catch" which basically launched the 49er dynasty in 1981 and effectively ended the Cowboys run as the cream of the NFC.

I definitely know who Dwight Clark is. And after going back and looking at that roster some more, other names I recognized were Freddie Solomon and Randy Cross, who I remember being on that '88 team that beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII.

 

[RonnieT24]

https://www.quora.com/Even-though-h...-best-running-back-in-NFL-history-Why-is-that

Emmitt was never the most physically gifted runner. Nor was he the fastest guy you've ever seen. By NFL standards, he was extremely "slow." Especially for a RB.

Although Smith had rushed for 12,732 yards and scored 142 touchdowns the previous seven seasons, NFL scouts 8weren't sold. ... He was too slow, having run 40 yards in 4.55 seconds during his Pro Day at Florida.

He was slow, every scout in the NFL that draft knew it and said it. Proof enough or do you know better than every NFL scout that year? He was productive which is why he was great and he even had some big runs. But he was slowwwwww which is why he dropped in the draft. Add two tenths of a second to his acceleration and top end speed and he has another 20-30 TDs. If you saw any games in the 90s instead of just highlights, you’d know that. Done with this, it’s obvious to the entire world but you. Go argue that the sky isn’t blue, you’d have better chances.

The article you linked is basically a fan giving his opinion. And from reading his prose clearly a Cowboy-hater. I will respectfully disagree with the bolded point for the simple reason that getting tackled at the 5 yard line after a 40 yard run just meant Emmitt might need another carry or two to get it into the end zone. However Emmitt was still getting the ball in those situations. He might have had another 20-30 LONG TDs.. but I doubt he has many more actual TDs. The characterization of Emmitt as "slow" is simply inaccurate. I'd bet my mortgage you couldn't catch him from behind.. There is a difference between ultra fast and being "slow." Emmitt was not ultra fast.. but slow? Nah.. Emmitt was as fast as anybody for a short distance (25-30 yards) but his poor running form robbed him of top end speed. That's why he had so many runs where he ran right by guys at the point of attack but that same guy might catch him 40 yards later. Dropped in the draft? All the way to 17? What a piker. Citing the "experts" who diminished him coming into the draft is foolhardy. How many of those so-called experts who said he was too slow spent the next 15 years eating crow? I remember Mel Kiper being adamant that Emmitt would be lucky to make an NFL roster at his size and perceived lack of speed. Kiper obviously never toted the rock or he would have known that Emmitt's vision, balance, leg drive and acceleration were more than sufficient to be successful at the NFL level. I'm no pro scout and I knew it.. But then I had been watching him since high school and had actually been hearing about him since Pop Warner.. So I had an unfair advantage.