JD_KaPow
jimnabby
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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ranking-the-best-running-backs-in-nfl-history
Lots of good capsules here about great RBs through history. He puts Emmitt 3rd, just ahead of Barry but behind Sweetness and Jim Brown (I can't muster up any outrage about that, but I'm sure others can). Dorsett slots in at 7th, behind Dickerson and Adrian.
On Dorrsett:
Imagine if the Patriots traded up in the 2016 draft to select Ezekiel Elliott. Unless you keep a Tom Brady shrine in the corner of your man cave, you would likely react by thinking, "Sheesh, enough's enough already!"
That's how the NFC felt when the Cowboys traded up in the 1977 draft to select Tony Dorsett.
...
Dorsett's legacy has faded a bit. Emmitt Smith overshadowed him in Dallas and passed him on the leaderboards. His encyclopedia entry lacks the black type that signals an all-time superstar. But in his prime, Dorsett and the Cowboys were so good that it almost felt unfair.
On Emmitt:
Few remember the player who made the Cowboys great before they returned the favor for him.
The Smith of 1990 and 1991 was almost as elusive as Barry Sanders, but he could also lower his head and crash through the line when he needed to. This was the pre-Wowboys era. Troy Aikman still threw as many interceptions as touchdowns. Michael Irvin was just beginning to reach his potential. Smith—sometimes jazzy, sometimes thundering—made the Cowboys offense work and gave the team a fresh new identity.
...
If your image of Emmitt Smith is of the guy playing out the string for the Cowboys and Cardinals or of some product of an unstoppable system, then your perception is distorted. Smith was never as nifty as Sanders, as powerful as the toughest interior runners or as great a receiver as Marshall Faulk, and he enjoyed some of the best circumstances of any rusher in NFL history. But he did everything well and made the absolute most of his opportunity by winning Super Bowls, shattering records and playing so well for so long that his greatness was almost taken for granted.
Lots of good capsules here about great RBs through history. He puts Emmitt 3rd, just ahead of Barry but behind Sweetness and Jim Brown (I can't muster up any outrage about that, but I'm sure others can). Dorsett slots in at 7th, behind Dickerson and Adrian.
On Dorrsett:
Imagine if the Patriots traded up in the 2016 draft to select Ezekiel Elliott. Unless you keep a Tom Brady shrine in the corner of your man cave, you would likely react by thinking, "Sheesh, enough's enough already!"
That's how the NFC felt when the Cowboys traded up in the 1977 draft to select Tony Dorsett.
...
Dorsett's legacy has faded a bit. Emmitt Smith overshadowed him in Dallas and passed him on the leaderboards. His encyclopedia entry lacks the black type that signals an all-time superstar. But in his prime, Dorsett and the Cowboys were so good that it almost felt unfair.
On Emmitt:
Few remember the player who made the Cowboys great before they returned the favor for him.
The Smith of 1990 and 1991 was almost as elusive as Barry Sanders, but he could also lower his head and crash through the line when he needed to. This was the pre-Wowboys era. Troy Aikman still threw as many interceptions as touchdowns. Michael Irvin was just beginning to reach his potential. Smith—sometimes jazzy, sometimes thundering—made the Cowboys offense work and gave the team a fresh new identity.
...
If your image of Emmitt Smith is of the guy playing out the string for the Cowboys and Cardinals or of some product of an unstoppable system, then your perception is distorted. Smith was never as nifty as Sanders, as powerful as the toughest interior runners or as great a receiver as Marshall Faulk, and he enjoyed some of the best circumstances of any rusher in NFL history. But he did everything well and made the absolute most of his opportunity by winning Super Bowls, shattering records and playing so well for so long that his greatness was almost taken for granted.
