Greatest Running Back Of All Time

[DemocratSinceBirth]

[Boosterman]

1. I picked Barry but Jim Brown

is a good pick to. Its so hard to judge. My personal favorite was Thurman Thomas. Bills fan though ;). Btw Thurman holds the Bills rushing records so he should be in place of OJ.

[Devil Dog Dem]

17. Sweetness! He was the best football player, period!

That guy could do everything. He was even thrown in as an extra defensive back in a game and -- you guessed it -- he made an interception and ran it back for a touchdown.

He is sorely missed.

[Boosterman]

20. The only argument I can throw out

against Jim Brown is the level of competition thing. He was a prototypical NFL player by todays standards. The rest for the most part...werent. Kinda the man among boys thing. Watching Barry Sanders was like watching some sort of Super Hero in the way he moved. The time period that I started watching football (late 80's) prob influences my decision a bit. But I have seen TONS of Jim Browns play.


Dont get me wrong he was close to perfection. I honestly think one of the reasons he quit was it was simply too easy for him.

[gpandas]

2. jimmy brown-not even close...

did it all in fewer games.

[Darknyte7]

24. In fact!

Jim Brown probably has to be regarded as the best football player of the 20th century. And no, that is not hyperbole...

[gpandas]

27. a man among boys n/t

[rkc3]

3. Either Barry or Walter.

In both cases, they were great backs playing behind lousy lines. Put either behind Franco's line and they might have had 30,000 yards rushing.

Then again, their runs might not have been so fun to watch.

And they were good guys to boot.

[XNASA]

4. Sweetness...he could run, block, catch, pass & kick........

He was the complete package.

[Cary]

10. Only thing Walter lacked was that fifth gear,

but he did everything else. When it was time for him to be born, God said "I'm going to make a football player."

Blasphemous, I know.

I remember seeing him at Bears camp at Lake Forest College before his first season. He had a broken arm and couldn't practice. One of the fans shouted out to him to get better soon because we needed him--I'd never of him before. He replied very shyly in a high-pitched voice: "Thank you".

I had been watching our quarterback, Bobby Douglas, all day and after further witnessing our number 1 draft choice I thought we were in big, big trouble.

Little did I know.

Of course Walter got over his shyness. He was quite accessible, actually, considering who he was. I was pushing the down button on an elevator about 15 years ago and heard someone giggling. There was none other than Walter Payton, with my watch on his wrist.

[XNASA]

11. He was quite the prankster.....

I saw a clip of him answering the phones at the front desk up in Lake Forest. For you non-Bears fans, that's where Halas Hall is...the Bears practice facility.

I loved his appearance on 'Soul Train' too.

[underpants]

12. Great story Matt Suhe told about hunting with Walter

No not Mattsui who plays for the Yankees now. :bounce:

Actually I think this is just an old joke but it was funny when Suhe told it.

They are bow hunting in Alaska. In the middle of the night Payton wakes Suhe up and says, "Hey wake up there is a bear outside the tent". Suhe notices that Walter is putting on his shoes. Suhe says, "You aren't going to try to outrun the bear are you?"

Walter says, "I don't have to....I just have to outrun you"

:bounce:

[Devil Dog Dem]

18. "There was none other than Walter Payton, with my watch on his wrist."

That is a great story!

He noticed that you were wearing a Walter Payton watch? What did you say to him?

Too bad he couldn't autograph it for you.

[leeman67]

5. Jim Brown.

But hey, shouldn't Tony Dorsett be on this list too? :)

[underpants]

6. Though Payton didn't have an All-Pro in front of him until '85 ........

I picked Brown.

[XNASA]

7. And that's why you suck.

LOL!!!!! :evilgrin:

[underpants]

9. BUT he DID have Bob Avellini

except for that week they fired him......and then hired him back off the street :eyes:


It is amazing that Walter was the ONLY thing anyone had to worry about in Chicago and he still got all those yards.

Jacksonville State alum BTW-no one wanted him coming out of high school.

[tx_dem41]

14. FWIW, he is a Jackson State alum (that's in Jackson, MS).

Not Jacksonville State.

[underpants]

15. You're right I'm wrong

http://www.payton34.org/bio.cfm

[saltpoint]

8. Mr. Sanders got my vote.

I didn't even care what the score was, I often watched the Lions just to see Barry Sanders carry the ball.

[bmbmd]

13. I guess you have to pick the guy

with the most yards, victories, touchdowns, and SuperBowl Rings...

[sportndandy]

16. Earl Campbell

Only thing to ever stop him was injury

http://www.earlcampbell.com/

[HuckleB]

21. I wouldn't vote him as the greatest, but he should've been on the list.

That's for sure!

[MrSlayer]

19. Barry Sanders is the best I've ever seen.

I wasn't around for Jim Brown and Sweetness was excellent but Barry was ridiculously amazing. If he had the benefit of Emmitt Smith's offensive line he seriously might have had 3,000 yards in a season. He did things I haven't seen anyone do before or since, incredible body control, instant acceleration even from backstepping and the ability to make All-Pro defenders look foolish with his moves. Best pure running back I've ever had the privilege of seeing play.

[B Calm]

22. I pick my son. Seeger HS and Manchester College..

[Darknyte7]

23. I understand the support for Walter Payton, but...

It has to be Jim Brown.
That cat use to get the ball on damn near every play.
He averaged 104 yards a game, a record 5.2 yards per touch.
He ran for at least 100 yards in 58 of his 118 regular-season games. HE NEVER MISSED A GAME.

So what are we talking about here?

[DelawareValleyDem]

25. Sanders and Brown

Interesting how different they were physically. Even by today's standards, Jim Brown would be considered big for a feature back - 6'2" 232 lbs. Sanders was half a foot shorter, but with incredible move and balance. Who knows what he would have done statistically with better support?

[GOPBasher]

26. So tough to compare.

Barry Sanders and Jim Brown are the best pure runners ever. Walter Payton and Emitt Smith are the two best all-around running backs ever, because they can do it all -- run, catch, block. Also, as great as Barry was as a runner, you really don't want someone who's going to get stopped behind the line 4 times in a row, and then break one for 50 yards. You'll end up punting a lot. It's better to have someone who gives you 5 or 6 yards at a time and never gets caught behind the line of scrimmage. Sanders had a bad line, but he also had a style of running that made that more likely.

You can make a case for OJ or Dickerson, too. But they were mainly incredibly great for just a few years, and then just very good for other years.

[Darknyte7]

28. Jim Brown was GREAT for 9 YEARS!

He lead the league in rushing in eight of those nine years!

We haven't even mentioned his collegiate career!!

So again, what are we talking about here?

[Boosterman]

29. You cannot make a case for OJ

Thurman Thomas beat his records and was much more of a complete back.

[GOPBasher]

30. That's true. nt

[Bluzmann57]

31. Walter Payton

and this is coming from a Packers fan. Sweetness was on some pretty lousy teams for quite a while and yet still always gained 1000 yards or more every year. And by all accounts he was a damn nice guy too.