Barry Sanders is the best runningback in NFL history
 

Gotta agree, though if he had just stayed around for a few more years nobody would be able to argue this.

Not going to argue there. A little biased though as his is my Favorite Player in NFL History.

Hi, my name is Walter Payton aka DA SWEETNESS.

That is all.

Payton was something to see.

Emmit Smith was the go to guy for so long. He was dominant.

Oh and both those guys won.

No one has ever claimed Marino was the best QB in the NFL ;)


we all know that Gus Ferrotte takes the cake for that one :roll:

Barry was amazing to watch in his day, but I have always had the feeling that he left with more to prove.

I think Barry was the best running back in NFL history, but his legacy will always be tainted by the Bobby Ross situation. If he had stuck around for a couple more years, we wouldn't even be having this debate, like The Sink said.

There wasn't anything he couldn't do. He had amazing "downhill" speed, great lateral moves, and was as hard to tackle as anyone I've ever seen play. Once he got into the open field, he wasn't going down.

He was what some people would call a "beast".

I agree.

I was always in awe of him when he played. His hands were amazing; it was almost unheard of for him fumble the ball. And I always took the Lions in every football game I ever played, just to be able to use him.

He is a class act. Too bad he'll never have a Superbowl ring.

Class guy.

No doubt Barry was the best. Emmitt and Payton were good, don't get me wrong, but look at the teams each player played for. Emmitt played for a team that had a DOMINANT offensive line, and Payton played for extremely good Bears team that was at the top of there division for a while. Barry was the Lions, they would have done so much worse if they didn't have him (not that they were that great anyway). P.S. Keep in mind, Thurman Thomas ranks up there also. He was probably the best Multi-Purpose back in NFL history.

Tough call... Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmit Smith, Gale Sayers, all great backs.

me, I'm going w/ Jim Brown.

Not just is he the best all-time back, if you want to compare apples to oranges the guy might be the best all-time NFL player.

Bronko Nagursky or Moe Williams. :love:

you could make a case that he was the best athlete period

Brown averaged 14 TD's a year and plus when comparing him to Walter, Barry, and Emmit you have to look at the fact that he never played 16 games in a season

His physical size/speed he could have been an all-pro LB if he wanted.

Yeah I was considering Jim Brown too, but he was before my time and never really followed football enough to look up stats on him. I do know though that a lot of people consider him the best.

Question (not to take away from Sanders) where would you rank OJ in this?

I thought about him.

If I'm going Brown #1.

Peyton #2.

Sanders #3

OJ #4

Emmit Smith #5

Mawelde :rant:

Jim Brown is the player people call "the greatest" to make them sound like experts.

Because you see, if you never got to see him play, and don't know the context of the game in the time he played, then you really can't be a judge... but it sure makes you seem smart.

Kind of like only listening to music made before 1980.

Mewelde is the next big thing in running backs, but Moe Williams is an established legend.

I made the statement that I didn't see him play and was only going on other people's opinions that he was great. But that I personally do not know.
(in case you're dissing on me)

nope thats wrong

sorry

Talent wise its Sanders, but since he retired early i think its gotta be Sweetness.
But if you asked me if i could have any running back in their prime on my team, i would pick Sanders.

Ok, hold your ankles tight... meanwhile we'll pull on your neck and hopefully be able to get your head out of your ass. :D

I agree with AlphaBean. Most people posting in here, NOT ALL OF YOU, but most are old enough only to see Barry Sanders play, and even then most of us were pretty young. Nobody here is an expert, so guys my age saying Jim Brown and Walter Payton etc are just saying what sounds right to try and look smart. I doubt anybody here has seen enough of the three main guys in question to be an accurate judge.

seriously how hard is it to turn on ESPN Classic?

I think he's talking to other people

yeah I'm agreeing with you McNobb.

Pinball clemons

Yeah it's not hard to watch, ya know, past tapes and whatnot.

Ok, I'm sure random guys on TPWW are studying archived tapes of Jim Brown.

Hold on, when we get Beans head disloged from his arse, we'll work on yours.

I just went through this thread, I was the first person to say Jim Brown, and no, I never saw him play live, I've seen tapes, Clips, Highlights, Stats, Reports, Interviews, etc...

The question was not "BEST RUNNING BACK YOU HAVE SEEN PLAY"

The question was
If that was the question, I couldn't and wouldn't have gone w/ Jim Brown, since I never saw him play live.

After me was Stima, who while is young (I think around your age) follows sports pretty well, and has probably seen and read things about him.

The 3rd mention was Hero, who probably was alive then, but just lies about his age to hit on Cheeba and not feel dirty...

As for Payton.

Wadding said him first, and again another younging, who didn't seem him play live, but follows football (even if he forgets anything before or after the Rams last Superbowl win)

Hero who was alive and probably watched him play.

E of E (I have no idea his age)

Me Who only caught the tail end of his career.

So, the only ones around your age would be wadding and stima... and saying they're just trying to say what "sounds right to try and look smart" is crap.

No, you don't need to watch a players entire career to make a judgement. You don't need to study film to have an opinion.

Back to the original topic... was disucssing this w/ a friend and he brought up one.

Terrell Davis... Look at his stats when he was healthy and Denver won those two Superbowls... You could argue he was one of the best and more productive then Barry Sanders.

So, if we go with "Best player at thier peek" you have to put TD in there.

Let's also remember, weather by lack of ability or lack of use, Sanders was not known for his pass catching ability...

VEL, your point on Terell Davis is the same reasoning I used for mentioning Emmitt Smith. He was running through people, strong offensive line or not. Of all the runningbacks I ever seen dominate a game, no one did it like Smith.

:eek: You mean there's been football since 1999? :eek: