Emmitt, you can relax, LT is on the downside

[jobberone]

LT has officially been Norved. His career is sure to crash and burn.

And it has this year. Norv has lost that team. Perhaps he just needs to be just an OC. I think the guy ought to think about college.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

It will come down to how bad does LT want it. He can do it if he stays healthy, stays in shape, and has the desire to play for the next 6 years.

He may get frustrated playing for a bad team or doesn't want to take the physical pounding anymore.

He has enough money and enough opportunity for endorsments/business opp/announcer.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I always thought LT would end Emmitt's all time rushing mark before his career was over. That is not going to happen now. He needs almost 7000 yds.

I never bought that either AD or LT would break the record.

While they are both GREAT RB's. I didnt see the longevity.

For many reasons:

1. Today's player is different than even Emmitt's era.
2. Emmitt as good as he was benefited from a GREAT Line for MANY years.
3. The NFL was different back then. Defenders are bigger, stronger, faster.

I wanted Emmitt to get to 20,000k = E-20K

but it didnt happen... I really wanted it out of reach.... but I dont think any sniff's it.

1. Dolphins Undefeated Season - Untouchable
2. Joe DiMaggio - 56 game hitting streak - Untouchable (tidbit: he actually went on another 20 something game hitting streak after the 56 streak ended... he would have hot in 70 something games)
3. Cal Ripken/Brett Favre - Iron Men - consecutive games played - Untouchable.
4. Emmitt Smith - Rushing Record - Untouchable
5. AROD's soon to be 1,000 career homeruns - Untouchable LOL

 

[Velvet Jones]

Dolphins Undefeated Season - Untouchable

How is this untouchable when it was touched just last year? 3 points away from a perfect season is defintely touching.

Records are meant to be broken. All will be passed in time.. even if it is because of an extended season.

 

[AdamJT13]

Records are meant to be broken. All will be passed in time.

Cy Young says hello.


/From the grave, of course.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

How is this untouchable when it was touched just last year? 3 points away from a perfect season is defintely touching.

Records are meant to be broken. All will be passed in time.. even if it is because of an extended season.

It wasnt touched.
Caught cheating. Tainted wins.

Oh yeah... They lost one game.

 

[jterrell]

Peterson has zero shot as he isn't durable or elusive enough.

He has about the same chance as Marion Barber, i.e. none.

LT had a shot but not now. He isn't going to make it through 7 more seasons as a feature back. He probably won't get more than a couple. Age is very unkind at RB.

Emmitt was a perfect storm. He was elusive, tough, younger than most to start getting yards, played behind great OLs early, had earned his stripes to get plenty of extra carries at the end of his career and played for teams who used him as the marketing tool late in his career to sell tickets.

 

[Smith22]

I heard Jim Brown about a month ago doing a radio interview, and when he was asked about the greatest running backs ever, he mentioned at least 10 guys and didn't bother to mention Emmitt. It still amazes me the lack of respect Emmitt gets from some people, especially someone like Brown.

 

[TD-33]

Think Minnesota would trade AD for Barber & Felix? :

 

[big dog cowboy]

E-20K

Isn't there a doctor for that now?

 

[Chief]

Emmitt was a perfect storm. He was elusive, tough, younger than most to start getting yards, played behind great OLs early, had earned his stripes to get plenty of extra carries at the end of his career and played for teams who used him as the marketing tool late in his career to sell tickets.

Agree.

And Emmitt's main skills weren't something that would erode. His instincts and subtle hip and shoulder movement to ward off would-be tacklers helped make him great and those skills were still with him when he retired.

Also, those subtle movements and skills helped keep his body out of harm's way. Guys rarely got a good shot on him.

Players who depend solely on power and speed aren't going to make it for the long haul.

 

[rynochop]

Cy Young says hello.


/From the grave, of course.

Ted WIlliams hitting .400 also.

 

[joseephuss]

Ted WIlliams hitting .400 also.

That is not a record. Williams is just the last man to do it. The record is 0.4397% by Hugh Duffy.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/BA_season.shtml


The amazing part about Emmitt is that he also played in just over a season's worth of playoff games(17) during his career. That is a lot of extra carries that many running backs don't have to deal with over their respective careers.

Regular season rushing leaders:

1. Emmitt Smith
18,355 yards

2. Walter Payton
16,726 yards
91% of Emmitt's total

3. Barry Sanders
15,269 yards
83% of Emmitt's total

4. Curtis Martin
14,101
77% of Emmitt's total

5. Jerome Bettis
13,622
74% of Emmitt's total

6. Eric Dickerson
13,259
72% of Emmitt's total

7. Tony Dorsett
12,739 yards
69% of Emmitt's total

14. LaDainian Tomlinson
11,444 yards
62% of Emmitt's total

Including rushing yards gained in playoff games:

1. Emmitt Smith
19,941 yards

2. Walter Payton
17,358 yards
87% of Emmitt's total

3. Barry Sanders
15,655 yards
79% of Emmitt's total

4. Curtis Martin
14,894
75% of Emmitt's total

5. Jerome Bettis
14,366
72% of Emmitt's total

6. Tony Dorsett
14, 122 yards
71% of Emmitt's total

7. Eric Dickerson
13,983 yards
70% of Emmitt's total

17. LaDainian Tomlinson
11,722 yards
59% of Emmitt's total

 

[EMMITTnROY]

another amazing thing about Emmitt: when he graduated from high school, he was the #2 all-time leading rusher in history.. think about how many hundreds of thousands of RBs there have been that have played high school football over the years and Emmitt was the second greatest ever.. you guys realize how prolific he has been his whole life? if you add up high school, college, NFL regular season and playoff games (basically every single game that anyone has ever played), Emmitt would be by far and away the most successful RB of all-time, and it wouldn't even be close..

 

[Smith22]

another amazing thing about Emmitt: when he graduated from high school, he was the #2 all-time leading rusher in history.. think about how many hundreds of thousands of RBs there have been that have played high school football over the years and Emmitt was the second greatest ever.. you guys realize how prolific he has been his whole life? if you add up high school, college, NFL regular season and playoff games (basically every single game that anyone has ever played), Emmitt would be by far and away the most successful RB of all-time, and it wouldn't even be close..

 

[tyke1doe]

I'm not surprised about LT's decline.

Adam JT13 did a good analysis of the improbability of LT catching Emmitt some years ago.

Emmitt is a rare breed.

 

[landryscorner]

The way Peterson runs he will never get close.

/agree

Peterson runs wrecklessly, kinda reminds me of BO, look what happened to him, Emmit had it right when he said what made him last the longest was avoiding the big hits

 

[jterrell]

Think Minnesota would trade AD for Barber & Felix? :

Interesting question actually even if tongue in cheek.

I suspect they probably should even if they wouldn't.

AP is the NFL's leading rusher right now and is a young guy. He is going to be held in high regard and with good reason. But Barber is a Pro Bowler himself and under contract long term. Felix Jones is a first rounder who averaged 9 yards per touch basically and is very young and cheap himself. AP is going to want to be the highest paid back in football when his contract expires and he will have a lot of mile son those tires by then.

It is very hard to bet on any one back in the NFL. See Larry Johnson, Terrell Davis and many others. That position sees as much rise to elite than fade amazingly fast as any in the league.

Add in the fact Barber is a Minnesota kid and I'd say that trade would be a good deal for them. They'd lose AP's explosion but gain Barber's better knack for getting first downs, the only guy in the top 20 rushers with a higher 1st down % is Brandon Jacobs. And of course they'd get explosion galore with Felix Jones.


On the year AP has 1311 yards rushing, 94 yards receiving and 9 TDs.

Barber has 870 yards rushing, 366 yards receiving and 9 TDs.
Felix has 266 yards rushing, 10 yards receiving and 3 TDs in 32 touches.

Thats 1405 total yards and 9 TDs for AP in 288 touches.

Barber, Felix are at 1512 yards and 12 TDs in 304 touches.

So as good as AP is the production has been very similar and as we saw with Felix or AP last year, the ability to have a second quality body leaves you without a Romo situation where the starter goes down and you just suck.

 

[THUMPER]

In order to break Emmitt's record a RB would have to average 1225 yards per year for 15 seasons!

Emmitt had a unique set of skills and body type that enabled him to play at a high level for a long time. He was very flexible which kept him from suffering any serious knee or ankle injuries. He had a chiropractor and masseuse who worked on him daily to keep him flexible. He also kept himself in great condition.

Emmitt was also in a unique position coming to a team just as it was about to become a dynasty. The Cowboys were good for a lot of Emmitt's career. They had an excellent passing game to go along with his running, meaning he wasn't called on to carry the team all the time.

When your team is leading you get more carries, particularly late in games when the defense is worn down. I don't have the splits for his career bu I would like to see what the percentage was for yards gained in each quarter.

The combination of excellent health and conditioning, playing for a consistently good team, playing with a lead, and being the starter for so many years enabled Emmitt to get the carries he needed to beak Walter's record and put it out of reach. I don't see another player being in the right situation and having the same combination of factors all working together for him.

Emmitt's record is safe for as far into the future as I can imagine.

 

[joseephuss]

Interesting question actually even if tongue in cheek.

I suspect they probably should even if they wouldn't.

AP is the NFL's leading rusher right now and is a young guy. He is going to be held in high regard and with good reason. But Barber is a Pro Bowler himself and under contract long term. Felix Jones is a first rounder who averaged 9 yards per touch basically and is very young and cheap himself. AP is going to want to be the highest paid back in football when his contract expires and he will have a lot of mile son those tires by then.

It is very hard to bet on any one back in the NFL. See Larry Johnson, Terrell Davis and many others. That position sees as much rise to elite than fade amazingly fast as any in the league.

Add in the fact Barber is a Minnesota kid and I'd say that trade would be a good deal for them. They'd lose AP's explosion but gain Barber's better knack for getting first downs, the only guy in the top 20 rushers with a higher 1st down % is Brandon Jacobs. And of course they'd get explosion galore with Felix Jones.


On the year AP has 1311 yards rushing, 94 yards receiving and 9 TDs.

Barber has 870 yards rushing, 366 yards receiving and 9 TDs.
Felix has 266 yards rushing, 10 yards receiving and 3 TDs in 32 touches.

Thats 1405 total yards and 9 TDs for AP in 288 touches.

Barber, Felix are at 1512 yards and 12 TDs in 304 touches.

So as good as AP is the production has been very similar and as we saw with Felix or AP last year, the ability to have a second quality body leaves you without a Romo situation where the starter goes down and you just suck.

The Vikings have a good second string running back in Chester Taylor. He was a 1200 yard rusher just two years ago and rushed for over 800 yards last season.