Greatest RB Game

[jackrussell]

Jim Brown 41+
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 17-
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
Gale Sayers 10
LaDainian Tomlinson 10

Loved to watcha Barry...but no one on this list compromised their team more.

 

[Dave the Sicilian]

Jim Brown 41Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 18 +
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 10
Gale Sayers 9 -

 

[Wolfpack]

Jim Brown 42 +
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 17 -
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 10
Gale Sayers 9

 

[DallasEast]

Jim Brown 43+
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 17
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 9-
Gale Sayers 9

 

[Cowboy Bill Watts]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 41+
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 17
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 9
Gale Sayers 8-

 

[Chuck 54]

Jim Brown 40
Emmitt Smith 39
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 24-
Barry Sanders 19+
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
Gale Sayers 11
LaDainian Tomlinson 10

I respect you keeping Barry on the list and supporting him. While I don't think he was better than some of the guys on there, I did always think it was strictly homerism by guys who claimed Emmitt was far superior...if Barry had run behind our line, he would have destroyed the rushing record before an early retirement, imo.

 

[Chuck 54]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 17
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 8-
Gale Sayers 10+

Okay, I've been supporting OJ throughout, but there's no way I can sit by and see freakin' Tomlinson stay on the list longer than Gale Sayers, no way.

 

[burmafrd]

You could not go wrong with those top 3. In the open field no one was ever as good as Gale Sayers= literally everyone else looked like they were going slo motion and he was normal speed. For pure power its a tie between Earl and Brown. Ability to break the long one was TD and Simpson and Sanders.
Ability to do it all equally well belongs to Payton, with Emmitt just behind.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 34
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 18+
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 7-
Gale Sayers 10

 

[Hostile]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 35+
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 17-
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 7
Gale Sayers 10

 

[coach316]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 36+
Earl Campbell 25
Barry Sanders 17
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 6-
Gale Sayers 10

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 36+
Earl Campbell 26+
Barry Sanders 17
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 16
LaDainian Tomlinson 5-
Gale Sayers 10

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

In a RB I look for production, durability, consistency, and success. Lots of people look at how exciting a guy was but ignore their real production and success. That's why I will always favor Emmitt over Barry Sanders or Gale Sayers.

My top-3 are Emmitt, Payton, & Jim Brown. You could shuffle those three however you like depending on what particular feature you were focusing on and I would be fine. Brown was the best runner, Emmitt the best blocker, and Walter the best all-around. IMO Emmitt's blocking, goalline ability, and longevity are what set him slightly ahead of the other two but I rank him and Walter 1a & 1b.

In my view, as awesome as Earl Campbell was, he was not durable nor did he have a great deal of success. If you asked me to pick one RB for one season, he would be my pick hands down, but not if I were looking for a guy to spend his career with my team. In that case I would take Emmitt or Walter.

I will not argue about RBs for the most part (not like I do about QBs) because there are so many variables involved.

I have the advantage over many here in having seen all of these guys play. Sayers was the most amazing ball-carrier I have ever seen. The guy had such incredible moves it was just a jaw-dropping experience to see him run. Unfortunately, he didn't last very long and that drops him out of any consideration when talking about who the greatest RBs were.

Barry Sanders was similar in style but was so unproductive on many of his runs that he is also out of the competition IMO. He would lose yards on 3-4 runs then bust a long one. In the meantime though his team suffered because they could never sustain drives. Emmitt could be counted on to get positive yards and was absolutely deadly inside the 5, Barry was taken out in those situations.

O.J is an interesting case because he was as talented a runner as any I have ever seen. I grew up in L.A. and watched him live many times when he was at USC. He had size, speed, and moves. Like Jim Brown, he didn't like to block but he was a good receiver and was very productive for a few years on some less than stellar Buffalo teams. The problem with him is that he really only had 5 productive seasons, from 72-76. Payton played for some wretched Bears teams but was still highly productive. Even Emmitt had a good year with the Cards in 2004.

The same goes for Eric Dickerson, another guy who was an incredible runner but just didn't produce long enough or consistently enough to make the top-3. His first 7 seasons were amazing for a guy with his running style.

Guys I would take for one year:
1. Earl Campbell
2. Eric Dickerson
3. Jim Brown
4. Walter Payton
5. Gale Sayers

There isn't anyone on the list in this thread that I didn't like (except maybe Riggins) so personal feelings are not involved in it for me. I don't believe I am being a homer in selecting Emmitt as my #1 (I have Otto Graham as my all-time greatest QB). O.J. was a hero in L.A. and as a player there was never any negative feelings towards him. Actually, until he slashed his ex and her boy freidn I still liked him.

Marcus Allen is another guy from USC that I liked (even though I am a UCLA fan I do root for USC in football when they are playing other teams). Tony Dorsett is a guy I hated in college (I hate everything from the state of Pennsylvania except Johnny Unitas) but loved him when he was with the Boys. He played in a balanced offense and usually shared carries more than most feature backs did. He still played at a very high level for a long time and was one of the best I ever saw.

I hope I answered your question.

All answers are good ones Thumper. By now, I imagine you know that I have a great deal of respect for you and your opinions. I can not really go against any of your reasoning.

Only to say that I agree with you about Sayers. He was amazing. Not many know just how amazing he really was. Same with Jim Brown and many before them.

I look at all of these backs and ask myself, if you had to start a team from scratch, which of these backs could carry a team? Which of these backs could do it if there was nothing else?

That's why I pick Campbell. I mean, I'm a Texas Homer to begin with but even outside of that, I think you look at him and you have to be impressed with him. Campbell could not survive the long haul simply because of the situation. It takes a lot to know that your sacraficing health to win. Some might call it stupidity. I don't know. I just know that nobody has run like him (that I have ever seen) before or since. I think Payton is about as close as anybody has come and he wasn't succesful until he got more pieces around him.

There are a couple of other backs that I think should have been on this list but were not. I think Curtis Martin should have probably been on the list. I think Marshall Faulk, I think George Rodgers and maybe Jerome Bettis. Maybe a few others but be that as it may. All opinions are good ones in this case.

 

[DallasFanSince86]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 37+
Earl Campbell 26
Barry Sanders 17
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 15-
LaDainian Tomlinson 5
Gale Sayers 10

 

[BehindEnemyLinez]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 37
Earl Campbell 26
Barry Sanders 17
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 17+
OJ Simpson 15
LaDainian Tomlinson 4-
Gale Sayers 10



LT's limited body of work caused my to deduct one and Tony D was just the greatest RB I'd seen growing up! Even though I grew up in DC almost all of my friends wanted to be #33 on the football field...even the Deadskin fans!

 

[THUMPER]

All answers are good ones Thumper. By now, I imagine you know that I have a great deal of respect for you and your opinions. I can not really go against any of your reasoning.

Only to say that I agree with you about Sayers. He was amazing. Not many know just how amazing he really was. Same with Jim Brown and many before them.

I look at all of these backs and ask myself, if you had to start a team from scratch, which of these backs could carry a team? Which of these backs could do it if there was nothing else?

That's why I pick Campbell. I mean, I'm a Texas Homer to begin with but even outside of that, I think you look at him and you have to be impressed with him. Campbell could not survive the long haul simply because of the situation. It takes a lot to know that your sacraficing health to win. Some might call it stupidity. I don't know. I just know that nobody has run like him (that I have ever seen) before or since. I think Payton is about as close as anybody has come and he wasn't succesful until he got more pieces around him.

There are a couple of other backs that I think should have been on this list but were not. I think Curtis Martin should have probably been on the list. I think Marshall Faulk, I think George Rodgers and maybe Jerome Bettis. Maybe a few others but be that as it may. All opinions are good ones in this case.

Earl Campbell was probably my favorite non-Cowboys RB to watch play. Like I said in my earlier post, if I had to have one guy for a single season he is first on my list. The guy was amazing. He is also a participant in one of my all-time favorite plays:

The Oilers were playing the Rams and LA had a LB who I really hated, Isiah Robertson. He had knocked Staubach out cold at some point earlier in his career and I had hated him ever since. Anyway, Campbell was running to his left and suddenly stops and cuts upfield. He sees Robertson standing in front of him, lowers his head, and plows right into his chest, totally crushing Robertson!

You can see it in this clip at the 1:05 mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGUYLbsf514

I never get tired of watching that clip!

The guy was just fun to watch play. Not in the razzle-dazzle way of Sayers or Sanders but he just refused to go down and was a lot faster than you thought. I loved how he broke tackles and just kept churning ahead.

It is sad to see how bad his body is now after all that pounding and it is a shame that the NFL isn't taking better care of guys like him, but he still has a great attitude about life.

The only knock I have on him is that he wasn't a Dallas Cowboy.

 

[Romo2Dez4six]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 37
Earl Campbell 26
Barry Sanders 18+
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 17
OJ Simpson 14-
LaDainian Tomlinson 4
Gale Sayers 10

Barry in my oppinion is the best back I've seen. He made miracles when he had the ball

 

[Skinsmaniac]

Jim Brown 43
Emmitt Smith 40
Walter Payton 38+
Earl Campbell 26
Barry Sanders 18
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16-
OJ Simpson 14
LaDainian Tomlinson 4
Gale Sayers 10

 

[zrinkill]

Jim Brown 42 -
Emmitt Smith 41 +
Walter Payton 38
Earl Campbell 26
Barry Sanders 18
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett16
OJ Simpson 14
LaDainian Tomlinson 4
Gale Sayers 10

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Jim Brown 43+
Emmitt Smith 41
Walter Payton 38
Earl Campbell 26
Barry Sanders 18
Eric Dickerson 19
Tony Dorsett 16
OJ Simpson 14
LaDainian Tomlinson 3-
Gale Sayers 10