Lawrence Taylor top 3 NFL greatest RBs

[ColoradoCowboy]

The best pure RUNNER that I ever saw was Barry. He was so good that I've seen his own OL just stop and watch him run. Crazy stuff. The stop/start, change of direction, cutting ability. Just a thing of beauty. But he also had a LOT of negative plays.

The best all-round RB that I've ever seen play was Emmitt. This man could do anything that you needed and did it well. Not the fastest (CJ2K), not the strongest (Alstott), not the most elusive (Barry), not a bulldozer (Okoye), not the best receiver (Faulk), didn't strike fear into the hearts of defender (Bo, Earl); but he could do it all at a VERY high level. And his negative plays were minimal.

 

[gtb1943]

Barry Sanders was the ultimate highlight back; incredible flash

Emmitt Smith was the back that gave you championships.

 

[MarcusRock]

Barry Sanders was the ultimate highlight back; incredible flash

Emmitt Smith was the back that gave you championships.

While surrounded by Aikman, Irvin, an all-world OL and a collectively great defense. He did his part well, for sure, and is the greatest Dallas Cowboy ever for my tastes, but Barry would have threatened 2,300 yards in a season if he had that kind of lineup to take the field with.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

"Stats are for folks who don't really know football" - sounds oddly familiar.

Probably because it’s AI lol.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I believe that is AI and not LT

For sure sounds like ai…in 2026…I expect a video to accompany audio.

 

[TheMightyVanHalen]

Tim Duncan was rude to fans? Or did he just not want to sign everything they shoved in his face? He was not all that engaging of a personality when he played so I wouldn't expect him to be a "life of the party" type in public.

Outside of an NBA sponsored event, Timmy wasn't warm to fans at all. Like Emmitt Smith who owns a sports memorabilia shop, Timmy's autograph is rare because he doesn't do them. At least Emmitt has an excuse not to give autographs. David Robinson's autograph is worth nothing because he signed just about every autograph that came his way.

According to his teammates, Timmy IS the life of the party. Sean Elliott said he's the funniest teammate he ever had. I guess he's only friendly to his friends.

 

[MarcusRock]

Outside of an NBA sponsored event, Timmy wasn't warm to fans at all. Like Emmitt Smith who owns a sports memorabilia shop, Timmy's autograph is rare because he doesn't do them. At least Emmitt has an excuse not to give autographs. David Robinson's autograph is worth nothing because he signed just about every autograph that came his way.

According to his teammates, Timmy IS the life of the party. Sean Elliott said he's the funniest teammate he ever had. I guess he's only friendly to his friends.

Thanks for the info. I don't blame him, really. Just kept it about business and now that business is over in that area, he wants to move on and do his own thing. The public is freakin' crazy nowadays so I wouldn't want folks running up to me either.

 

[DarkVader33]

Don't know about the need to be great. Sanders put up the greatest single season of running I've ever seen (because I'm too young to have seen OJ's season). You can't discount the role hope played in his career. He played on mostly losing teams. Emmitt had team progress and championship success almost instantly. When you're Barry and will your team into the playoffs rushing for 2,000 yards and they follow that up with a 5-11 season, you can want to be great all you want. If it doesn't result in winning, are you okay with just the stat sheet looking great? In this light, you actually make it look like Emmitt was selfish, knowing he was past his useful prime but chased numbers and can sell Barry as frustrated with not having team success despite his individual success. Which do fans say they like more about players nowadays?

Emmitt chased numbers? It wasn’t his decision to run as much as they did. It was the coaches decision.

 

[jazzcat22]

What did I say about slander? At the point you need to do that before making an argument, your argument is the weaker one and needs help.

As I've said before, when you have the most yards of any running back ever yet still feel the need to go on the offensive about others who don't have as many, that is pretty telling that even those people know the yardage ain't enough.

Telling the truth is not slander. And you know I am right.
Otherwise your post makes zero sense. Who is on the offensive here. It is certainly not me.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

A lot of people omit Emmitt these days…..he’s getting the “he played with hall of famers” argument.

outside of allen in Emmitt's later years, none of those OL men were probowlers. in fact they were nobody's until emmitt showed up

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

1. Walter Payton
2. Barry Sanders
3. Emmitt Smith

Really going out on a limb. SMH.

hmm, well, I guess they go by what they saw, but to exclude Brown is not right.

I think barry was exciting to watch. he was home run hitter, who had a lot of crappy runs as well. not much between the tackles. 10% of his runs were for a loss, vs. 8% for emmitt.

Payton was special.

 

[kskboys]

Emmitt consistently got 4-8 yards and kept that team ahead of the chains.

Barry had more carries for lower gains but was more of a home run threat for sure. Yards per carry was useless in assessing his game.

So you're saying stats are useless in rating these RBs?

 

[kskboys]

I think it's a mistake IMO to not have Faulk/Dickerson/Peterson/Brown on any RB list. But 22 is always number one in our hearts!

Not to mention OJ. OJ had over 2,000 yds in a 14 game season.

 

[kskboys]

The top 3-5 backs are basically interchangeable in the argument for GOAT. You can make a legitimate argument for any one of them.

I would almost go to 9-10.

 

[kskboys]

The greatest RB after contact I ever saw play was Earl Campbell, everyone points to that one play where he ran over half the rams D as a high light; but he did the same thing a number of times.

Earl would've rushed for 2,500 yds behind the early Cowboys OLs.

 

[Havic]

1. Walter Payton
2. Barry Sanders
3. Emmitt Smith

Really going out on a limb. SMH.

Adrian Peterson could have broke the rushing record had he not had multiple ACL's and some off the field issues.

 

[DarkVader33]

Dont see Marcus Allen mentioned on tbis thread. Id go with Emmitt, but of the non-Cowboys, Allen is up there with the best.

I honestly didn’t see what some others saw in Marcus Allen. He was great but not one of the best.

 

[MarcusRock]

Emmitt chased numbers? It wasn’t his decision to run as much as they did. It was the coaches decision.

Not what I was saying there. I was talking about the framework of the other poster's argument.

 

[MarcusRock]

Telling the truth is not slander. And you know I am right.
Otherwise your post makes zero sense. Who is on the offensive here. It is certainly not me.

Opinion is not truth. Especially from someone who thinks the team and its players really are rose-colored.

 

[Chasing6]

A lot of people omit Emmitt these days…..he’s getting the “he played with hall of famers” argument.

If we are going to make excuses for players, I will take Bo Jackson.