It's A Shame That Emmitt Doesn't Get The Respect He Deserves

[lukin2006]

For me, the best 2 running backs of all time were Emmitt and Payton...

I live across from Detroit, I hear it all the time if Barry ran behind the line Smith had he'd have well over 20 000 yards, but Detroit had a decent line then...Jim Brown was before my time, all great in their own right. Personally, I'm glad we had Smith, he was the ultimate professional, Sanders not so much, he held out a lot and then abruptly retired leaving the lions in a bind...

 

[Chuck 54]

Emmitt has the all-time NFL rushing title because he played for the Cowboys who had a tremendous line, because he was a great RB, and because he had longevity. However, there's no way I would ever say he's the greatest RB of all time. If I was building a team and could take any RB in his prime, Emmitt would be a ways down my list, behind Jim Brown, behind OJ Simpson, behind Gayle Sayers, behind Barry Sanders.
Depending on the type of offense I was running, he'd be even with Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Walter Peyton.

Emmitt was a stud with great moves in the hole and in the secondary; he could smell the endzone, seldom took big hits, had great vision, and played a long time. But there have been so many GREAT RB's; it's hard for me to say he's the greatest. On pure talent for a given season, I wouldn't put him in my top 3.

Most give Jim Brown the nod for his power and dominance, a man among boys; some give OJ the nod because he did some things and set some records that no one had ever done without the benefit of a great QB or top team. But....if you never saw Gayle Sayers, look up what that man did in the NFL as a rookie; watch some video, and tell me he wasn't maybe the greatest RB ever, certainly among them. I can tell you no one else with such a short career due to injury would ever be considered for the HOF.

 

[THEHEREAFTER]

One of the best Cowboys of all time... HOF'er.. who says he gets no respect?

 

[drawandstrike]

I think I get what the OP is hinting at.

Same idiots that say 'anybody' could've run for all those yards behind The Great Wall will say the same stupid crap about Elliott.

It's the same old 'Is it the Line or Is It The RB?' argument that's been going on since Marcus Allen was at USC.

 

[rynochop]

Ezekiel Elliot could have 10 straight seasons of 1,400 yards and he would still need over 4,000 yards to pass Emmitt.

Nobody is touching that record without a lot of luck.

You gotta be healthy and have elite production for over a decade.

And not to mention he played almost another season in playoff and Superbowl games

 

[sean10mm]

What a lot of people miss is that, yeah, Emmitt put up great numbers behind the great Super Bowl lines. But he also put up big numbers in his later years when the lines were MUCH weaker and were getting Aikman killed every week.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/index2df4.html?p=8

We don't need to speculate on what Emmitt would have done if he had played for a mediocre team. He did play for a mediocre team from 1998-2000, and what he did was amass more rushing yards from age 29-31 than any player in NFL history aside from Walter Payton and Curtis Martin (yes, I know, Sanders and Brown retired before their age 31 seasons). Most good-but-not-great running backs are struggling to hold a job at age 30. Emmitt was a top five rusher on a bad team.

Those of you who would now accuse me of selecting that particular three-year stretch in an effort to make Emmitt look good would be walking right into a trap. The fact is that you can pick any three-year stretch out of Emmitt's career and he will be among the leading rushers in NFL history in that age group. And the point is that his supporting cast wasn't great in all of those stretches and was downright bad in others.

 

[big dog cowboy]

It's A Shame That Emmitt Doesn't Get The Respect He Deserves

That guy was a warrior and I don't think anyone has ever said a bad word about him

Where did this come from? Everything I've seen he gets all the respect in the world. By any measure he was great.

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

Where did this come from? Everything I've seen he gets all the respect in the world. By any measure he was great.

It was explained in my original thread title. He became a punchline Bc he talks like porky pig as an analyst whereas Barry sanders does not Bc he never attempted it

 

[Hardline]

Emmitt Smith gets tons of respect. If he got more we would have to build a shrine and worship him.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

I think this thread was just a way to associate Emmitt with Porky Pig, which I have to say is a reference I really don't understand...

 

[perrykemp]

What I find weird is how people judge players at other positions vs how they judge Emmitt.

Jerry Rice always comes to mind.. He's the Emmitt Smith of WR's.

I think there has been a lot of WR's that were more gifted than Jerry Rice but Rice always gets the mainstream nod as the best WR ever because of all of his accolades but Emmitt doesn't get the same nod even though he is just as accomplished.

Emmitt's OL always gets credit but for some reason we dismiss Jerry playing with 2 HOF QB's in a offense that was ahead of it's time.

Jerry Rice was the great player, at any position, I've ever watched. I've been watching football since roughly 1981.

I love Emmitt Smith but I don't think he quite falls into that category.

My father would say Jim Brown, followed by Jerry Rice.

 

[cej757]

I think Emmitt gets his respect, but one running back who I think totally gets overlooked is Roger Craig. I still can't believe he hasn't got in the Hall of Fame yet. Roger Craig was a great back.

 

[perrykemp]

But he also put up big numbers in his later years when the lines were MUCH weaker and were getting Aikman killed every week.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/index2df4.html?p=8

Debatable.

What we can say about Smith in his later years is that he stayed relatively healthy and got LOTS of carries.

What is more difficult to say is that over much of his later career (1997 and beyond) that Emmitt was anything close to an elite runner.

Emmitt Smith averaged 3.91 yards per carry over the last 8 years of his career. Anything under 4 is considered below average.

Sanders averaged over 5 ypc over his last 3 years so it's not a surprise some people compare they end of Sanders career and view him as the better RB over Smith. What that doesn't take account of is the Emmitt Smith of 1992-1996 was better than peak Barry Sanders IMHO.

 

[Joe Realist]

I always wondered if he was taking stuff to last 15 years. Even if he did, it was an amazing feat. I thank Barry for retiring early and allowing Emmitt to pass Payton and then some. I was even impressed in that final year in Arizona at age 35, he had 937 yards rushing (same total as his rookie year). I don't know if anyone is ever going to pass 18,355 yards. I think even the best backs now are finished at 13,000 yards. Love Emmitt!!

 

[KJJ]

There's a lot of fans that think an RB is the product of their OL. It's that line of thinking that had some fans not wanting the Cowboys to draft Zeke. We saw that line of thinking with Murray in 2014 with how little respect he got from many here after that season. Even Jerry had that line of thinking by signing McFadden who averaged under 4 yards a carry the previous three seasons.

 

[cowboyfan4life2]

Dissrespected by who exactly?

 

[DenCWBY]

In my eyes he was the best all around RB to play the game. There are a lot of yeah but if's when it comes to other RB but there is no if with Emmitt Smith 4 time season rushing title. MVP, Rookie of the year and 3 SB rings and all time leading rusher.

Thanks for this!! Could watch this all day!!

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

What was Emmitts 40 time in his prime? 4.5 4.6? He seemed to play a lot faster.

 

[Crown Royal]

I decided in the last year or two that GOAT discussions in a sport like American Football that is so dependent on team, schedule, strategy, etc., is a tired and pointless argument. Worrying about who the greatest individual player in this sport just misses one of the great aspects of the sport.

 

[mrmojo]

Never saw Jim Brown play, just the slow motion replays that really just showed him running over people, so I dont have an opinion on him.
OJ was amazing as was Gayle Sayers and Dorsett.
Campbell was in a league of his own. Payton was small but played big and could do it al, run, catch and block.
Emmitt was a winner and a big game back. If I had to win one game he would be my running back.