Name the 5 best RB's you've seen. Highlights or actual games.
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LaDainian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Frank Gore, and Jamal Lewis. These are all players I have seen in games. I liked Lewis because of how fast he was for his size. 6-0 245 pounds that could run like a deer. I hated what he did to the Browns when he was in Baltimore, but loved it when he joined them. He was the prototypical Browns RB and wish he could have been here from the start.
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1. Walter Payton
2. Barry Sanders
3. Eric Dickerson
4. O.J. Simpson
5. LaDanian Tomlinson
If you are not old enough to remember Walter Payton from the 70's, when he was a phenomenal back with a bad Bears team, not the 80's when he was a good back on good Bears team, then you missed something special.
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Tough one. Only players I have seen in person
Jim Brown pro only
Bo Jackson both pro and college
Hercial Walker college only. He was the best college back I ever saw for sure
Emmett Smith both pro and college
Walter Payton pro only
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There are only three greatest athletes of all time that also played running back; Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown and Bo Jackson. I got to see the second two. You have to live long enough to see those every 40 years or so guys come along.
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Jim Brown
Barry Sanders
Sweetness
Bo Jackson
Adrian Peterson
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#1 Barry Sanders, and it's not even close IMHO
#2 Walter Payton
#3 Jim Brown
#4 Marshall Faulk
Then a flurry of guys who all were good at various times. Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson's 2,000 yard seasons, Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes, LT, TD, Bettis, etc...
I can't narrow down a 5th, b/c there have been so many good moments/seasons/careers it's hard to compare...
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There are only three greatest athletes of all time that also played running back; Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown and Bo Jackson. I got to see the second two. You have to live long enough to see those every 40 years or so guys come along.
There are only three greatest athletes of all time that also played running back; Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown and Bo Jackson. I got to see the second two. You have to live long enough to see those every 40 years or so guys come along.
Hmm never seen Barry Sanders play? In many circles, it can be argued he is the best back ever. Even ahead of our beloved Jim Brown. Not saying he is or isn't, but to leave him off your list is surprising. Nobody had the career he had with the terrible Olines he had, but was still ultra productive.
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Jim Brown.....had the moves of Sayers and the power of Campbell combined.
Walter Payton.
Gale Sayers...similar in style to Sanders....gave him edge as he was the original
Earl Campbell
OJ Simpson (people forget about him because of his trouble but he was then next best all time to JB)
Honorable Mentions:
Archie Griffin...for college years
tie for college years: Herschel Walker/Bo Jackson/Marcus Dupree
Barry Sanders
Eric Dickerson
Tony Dorsett (who I think was a better/smoother runner than Emmit Smith)
Robert Smith
John Henry Johnson (better than either fellow Steelers Franco Harris or Bettis)
John Riggins
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There are only three greatest athletes of all time that also played running back; Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown and Bo Jackson. I got to see the second two. You have to live long enough to see those every 40 years or so guys come along.
Hmm never seen Barry Sanders play? In many circles, it can be argued he is the best back ever. Even ahead of our beloved Jim Brown. Not saying he is or isn't, but to leave him off your list is surprising. Nobody had the career he had with the terrible Olines he had, but was still ultra productive.
cbbacker said:
Hmm never seen Barry Sanders play? In many circles, it can be argued he is the best back ever. Even ahead of our beloved Jim Brown.
Even Barry Sanders Dad would disagree with you.
Not saying he is or isn't, but to leave him off your list is surprising. Nobody had the career he had with the terrible Olines he had, but was still ultra productive.
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Jim Brown.....had the moves of Sayers and the power of Campbell combined.
Walter Payton.
Gale Sayers...similar in style to Sanders....gave him edge as he was the original
Earl Campbell
OJ Simpson (people forget about him because of his trouble but he was then next best all time to JB)
Honorable Mentions:
Archie Griffin...for college years
tie for college years: Herschel Walker/Bo Jackson/Marcus Dupree
Barry Sanders
Eric Dickerson
Tony Dorsett (who I think was a better/smoother runner than Emmit Smith)
Robert Smith
John Henry Johnson (better than either fellow Steelers Franco Harris or Bettis)
John Riggins
Jim Brown.....had the moves of Sayers and the power of Campbell combined.
Walter Payton.
Gale Sayers...similar in style to Sanders....gave him edge as he was the original
Earl Campbell
OJ Simpson (people forget about him because of his trouble but he was then next best all time to JB)
Honorable Mentions:
Archie Griffin...for college years
tie for college years: Herschel Walker/Bo Jackson/Marcus Dupree
Barry Sanders
Eric Dickerson
Tony Dorsett (who I think was a better/smoother runner than Emmit Smith)
Robert Smith
John Henry Johnson (better than either fellow Steelers Franco Harris or Bettis)
John Riggins
Got to agree with you on OJ. Total scumbag, but great great college runner. Maybe an even better pro. Have never forgotten a 67 yarder thru the entire UCLA defense in his junior year. Do-it Pruitt was another big college/pro fave of mine. Jersey with Hello on the front, Goodbye on the back.
But the reason I've been rooting for the Browns since I was eleven years old are #1), Jim Brown, the greatest running back I've ever seen -- first game I ever saw was Browns/Giants, and from that second I was hooked, and #2, Leroy Kelly... maybe the second best running back in the history of the franchise... I used to practice his 360 spin day and night.
Never saw enough on Sanders to really appreciate his gift, except for one Thanksgiving against the Brownies when he had us eating crow all day.
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There are only three greatest athletes of all time that also played running back; Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown and Bo Jackson. I got to see the second two. You have to live long enough to see those every 40 years or so guys come along.
Hmm never seen Barry Sanders play? In many circles, it can be argued he is the best back ever. Even ahead of our beloved Jim Brown. Not saying he is or isn't, but to leave him off your list is surprising. Nobody had the career he had with the terrible Olines he had, but was still ultra productive.
cbbacker said:
Hmm never seen Barry Sanders play? In many circles, it can be argued he is the best back ever. Even ahead of our beloved Jim Brown. Not saying he is or isn't, but to leave him off your list is surprising. Nobody had the career he had with the terrible Olines he had, but was still ultra productive.
I was actually referring to RB's who had other sports skills like JT (Decathelon and other track & field), JB (Lacrosse) and of course Bo.
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cbbacker said:
Hmm never seen Barry Sanders play? In many circles, it can be argued he is the best back ever. Even ahead of our beloved Jim Brown.
Even Barry Sanders Dad would disagree with you.
Not saying he is or isn't, but to leave him off your list is surprising. Nobody had the career he had with the terrible Olines he had, but was still ultra productive.
cbbacker said:
Hmm never seen Barry Sanders play? In many circles, it can be argued he is the best back ever. Even ahead of our beloved Jim Brown.
Even Barry Sanders Dad would disagree with you.
Not saying he is or isn't, but to leave him off your list is surprising. Nobody had the career he had with the terrible Olines he had, but was still ultra productive.
That's ok Gipper; I did say arguably, not definitively..
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Jim Brown...#1 What can I say? Cheered when they drafted him & never stopped. THE GREATEST!
Barry Sanders.. IMHO, the closest to Jim Brown. Accomplished what he did on a TERRIBLE Team! Underrated by most.
Gale Sayers..Most EXCITING open field runner I ever saw. Poetry in motion.
Walter Payton..Amazing work ethic & determination.
Marshawn Lynch..Provides some of the most amazing "after contact" runs I've seen since Jimmy Brown.
Mike
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More underated and exciting backs of the 60s and 70s: Greg Pruitt, Terry Metcalf, Otis Armstrong, Wilbert Montgomery, Joe Cribbs. I always liked the shifty guys.
Not shifty but underrated: Larry Brown, Chuck Foreman, Lawrence McCutheon, Freeman McNeil.
And Mark Van Eeghan
Zombo
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Leroy Kelly and Walter Payton for pros in person. Archie Griffin and Keith Byers college in person. Payton didn't have a particularly good game when I saw him, but Kelly sure did.
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Highlights or TV while I've been alive and aware of football.
1. Barry Sanders
2. Adrian Peterson
3. Thurman Thomas
4. Ladanian Tomlinson
5. Marshall Faulk
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