TLH: Emmitt vs. Barry, a Favorite Debate

[CowboysPhan]

One thing I'd like to note is that whenever this subject comes up, the comparison is always made to how Barry made these magical runs, but Emmitt always got the tough yards. While that is definitely true, I always feel that this sells Emmitt short in one other area. I've seem Emmitt make literally dozens of runs that just take your breath away, too! The man had some serious moves, especially during his earlier years. Go check out a highlight vid of his runs, or watch the America's Game segments from his three Super Bowl years. He may not have done it quite as well as Sanders, but he was still out of this world in agility as well as heart and strength!

 

[visionary]

Emmitt hands down

Give me substance over flash any day

 

[DFWJC]

I'm a huge Emmitt fan; just flat out loved his game!

But 31 out of 32 fan bases would take not be bashing Sanders like some here do.
Whenever this topic comes up, I almost get embarrassed at how clueless some of the Cowboy fan comments can be. Bo way Sanders was flash. The guy hated the limelight , was never, ever a me-first player. He wanted to win, and after many years of dominating the league but still being mostly on teams that could never come close to winning a SB, he decided to hang it up.
Emmitt loves the guy and calls him a warrior. He also says he totally understood his frustration and thinks he would have asked for trade if he was in that situation.

Personally, if you are asking who the best "all-around" RB (blocking, receiving, running, redzone) was between the two, I'll take Emmitt.

No reason to dis Barry Sanders.
Just be thrilled that we had Emmitt and leave it at that.

 

[5Stars]

I'm a huge Emmitt fan; just flat out loved his game!

But 31 out of 32 fan bases would take not be bashing Sanders like some here do.
Whenever this topic comes up, I almost get embarrassed at how clueless some of the Cowboy fan comments can be. Bo way Sanders was flash. The guy hated the limelight , was never, ever a me-first player. He wanted to win, and after many years of dominating the league but still being mostly on teams that could never come close to winning a SB, he decided to hang it up.
Emmitt loves the guy and calls him a warrior. He also says he totally understood his frustration and thinks he would have asked for trade if he was in that situation.

No reason to dis Barry Sanders.
Just be thrilled that we had Emmitt and leave it at that.

A diamond among trash...

 

[LatinMind]

Yeah, that's often the case and I can't say I find a great deal of fault in that. Those that saw him play thought he was great and he's in the HOF where I think he belongs. I don't think he's the greatest but I could argue the point. I've always had Brown there but I probably need to rethink that issue.

I dont think you can say one is better than the other. They both destroyed teams. It just happened that Emmitt was on a better team. Now i dont think Barry wouldve had the same type of success in a traditional offense. But it wouldnt be a big drop off. I never got to see Jim Brown so i not going to get into a debate if he's better as alot of people bring him into best rbs debate. But in my time of watching football i have seen 5 rbs that were just on another level.

Bo Jackson
Emmitt Smith
Barry Sanders
Ladanian Tomlinson
Adrian Peterson

 

[BAT]

. Walter was better than either one.

Sweetness was a great one but he did not win like Emmitt did, and Emmitt surpassed him in yards. I still take Emmitt.

 

[jobberone]

I dont think you can say one is better than the other. They both destroyed teams. It just happened that Emmitt was on a better team. Now i dont think Barry wouldve had the same type of success in a traditional offense. But it wouldnt be a big drop off. I never got to see Jim Brown so i not going to get into a debate if he's better as alot of people bring him into best rbs debate. But in my time of watching football i have seen 5 rbs that were just on another level.

Bo Jackson
Emmitt Smith
Barry Sanders
Ladanian Tomlinson
Adrian Peterson

I'm probably confused but I was talking about Brown and Sayers. Emmitt and Barry belong in the same conversation. I'm probably older than you and I might list some others up there but I like your list, too.

 

[LatinMind]

I'm probably confused but I was talking about Brown and Sayers. Emmitt and Barry belong in the same conversation. I'm probably older than you and I might list some others up there but I like your list, too.

yeah i know i was just going into the topic in general with your view on Brown. I've seen clips of him and sayers. But viewing clips and seeing Emmitt run on tv and in person for his career are two different things.

IMO if it wasnt for his injury I think Bo Jackson wouldve been the greatest.

 

[TheFinisher]

I'm probably confused but I was talking about Brown and Sayers. Emmitt and Barry belong in the same conversation. I'm probably older than you and I might list some others up there but I like your list, too.

So many good runners throughout the league's history... OJ, Dickerson, Campbell, Payton, etc. just to name a few more.

Makes it really hard to say "this guy was the best", they were all fantastic.

 

[brucekr]

That was an interesting read. Emmitt was just a special player, and I'm so glad we had him. Comparing him to Barry is like apples and oranges to me. Completely different animals, both amazing to watch.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

Emmitt, hands down, easily.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

I just read the full article. Fantastic write-up. I agree 100% with every word, and I've actually had this debate many times over and brought up many of the same points. There is no doubt in my mind that Emmitt is better, and it's true-- it comes down to heart.

 

[Hostile]

I tried to make the point that saying who is the greatest is subjective and not completely objective and dealing with stats. I agree about it being subjective. I think Emmitt is better than Sanders. I don't think Emmitt was the greatest ever but he's at the top. I really don't know who the greatest is. Brown would be in the conversation. Sayers. OJ. Payton. Smith. Walker even IMO.

I wasn't arguing with you, so I am not sure why you started out so defensive. I have often said if Bo had not got hurt and if he had focused on football he might have been the best there ever was. I never saw another athlete quite like him. Just throwing his name out there, still not arguing.

 

[Hostile]

I'm a huge Emmitt fan; just flat out loved his game!

But 31 out of 32 fan bases would take not be bashing Sanders like some here do.
Whenever this topic comes up, I almost get embarrassed at how clueless some of the Cowboy fan comments can be. Bo way Sanders was flash. The guy hated the limelight , was never, ever a me-first player. He wanted to win, and after many years of dominating the league but still being mostly on teams that could never come close to winning a SB, he decided to hang it up.
Emmitt loves the guy and calls him a warrior. He also says he totally understood his frustration and thinks he would have asked for trade if he was in that situation.

Personally, if you are asking who the best "all-around" RB (blocking, receiving, running, redzone) was between the two, I'll take Emmitt.

No reason to dis Barry Sanders.
Just be thrilled that we had Emmitt and leave it at that.

I would feel exactly the same about Barry Sanders if Emmitt had never even existed.

 

[jobberone]

I wasn't arguing with you, so I am not sure why you started out so defensive. I have often said if Bo had not got hurt and if he had focused on football he might have been the best there ever was. I never saw another athlete quite like him. Just throwing his name out there, still not arguing.

Text is hard to interpret. I was only clarifying not being defensive. And I agree Bo would be in the discussion if he hadn't been hurt.

 

[DFWJC]

Emmitt was awesome.

But this nonsense about Barry Sanders being all fluff and no substance is preposterous.
There's even some that seem to think he only did damage between the 20s and didn't score that much.
Well, he was 15th ALL TIME in TDs scored for all players, while playing on mostly mediocre teams.

That is not scoring at a clip like an Emmitt or Rice, but it is still scoring at an extemely high rate....higher than even legendary tough guy backs like Franco Harris.

 

[jobberone]

Agreed. Barry Sanders deserves all the accolades he gets. He was perhaps the most entertaining and exciting back I ever saw.

 

[TwoDeep3]

I don't think it matters at all.

Dallas created an offense around Emmitt. The entire game plan, and I am not talking week to week but in toto, was to get ahead, then use Emmitt to eat the clock.

Aikman to a greater degree and Irvin to a lesser degree sacrificed their numbers so Emmitt could carry the ball.

Not taking anything away from Emmitt. Because he was such a consistent player that could grind out yards or get them in big chunks.

The line sprung him, but when he got to the linebacker level he was flat better than almost every back going, because he broke tackles.

People suggest Barry had the wiggle and speed Emmitt didn't. That is true. But while folks claim Emmitt always had a truck sized hole to run through, that was not always the case.

But when the chips were down and you needed four yards to seal a game, get a first down, win a championship, they did not take Emmitt out of the game.

The separated shoulder game Emmitt carried the ball or caught a pass on every play when they needed it to win.

The 1993 championship came on a drive where Emmitt touched the ball every play and wore out the Bills.

The argument doesn't matter for several reasons.

Some are jealous of the Cowboys, because that was the best team I ever saw play this game, and I have been around since day one with this franchise. Up until then I thought it was the Stealers.

But I would put that Dallas team against any team, one game, winner take all and know that they would dominate.

That is what others know, and they cannot stand it that a team considered soft in the 70's, a finesse team ended up being the end-all be-all toughest team that ran simple plays and said, stop this biatches.

The second aspect is - - I know.

I KNOW. I saw, I watched,and I know who the best was. I don't need a 49er fan telling me, because I know. Or Giants fan, Eagles fan, Commander fan, or any other fan of any other team.

Because I KNOW.

They hated Dallas because they could not stop Dallas.

And the most sincere form of flattery in this game is being disrepected by the other guys after you beat their rears.

They talk about Barry, OJ, Peyton, Sayers, Dickerson and others.

But they know.

And so do I. I don't have to say shiznizzle. Because EVERYONE in their hearts KNOWS who was the best.

 

[perrykemp]

http://thelandryhat.com/2013/07/13/dallas-cowboys-fans-have-a-favorite-debate/?utm_source=FanSided Daily&utm_medium=email

I was a Fullback, and there is no greater feeling for a FB than having your lead block open a hole for the RB to hit. TheDetroit Lions rarely used a FB. The main reason for this was Barry did not hit holes. He danced around, making people miss until he could break free. Not going to lie, that drove me crazy. It was exciting, no doubt, but it drove me nuts. Give me a RB who is going to try to move forward over a ballerina any day of the week.

From 1994 - 1998 (Sander's last 5 seasons before he retired) in the post Run-and-Shoot era when the Lions starting using TEs and Fullbacks, Sanders averaged 1696 yards rushing per season.

My study of exactly one Lions - Cowboys game (1994) shows Barry Sanders grinding out a paltry 194 yards on 40 carries. He runs behind a fullback much of the game. I also see him hitting the hole almost immediately on most plays.

Sanders numbers from the Run-and-Shoot era weren't as good. So you are correct Hostile in that a FB sure helps!

Another interesting metric -- Emitt Smith averaged less than 4 yards per carry 6 time in his career. Sanders averaged less than 4 yards per career 0 times.

 

[Hook'em#11]

There shouldn't be any debate.

While both were great running backs.. Emmitt was just the better of the two.