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Name the 5 best RB's you've seen. Highlights or actual games.

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  • The GipperT The Gipper

    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

    @the-gipper said:

    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.

  • B BitchTits

    @texasag1969 said:

    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.

  • The GipperT The Gipper

    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.

    @the-gipper said:

    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..

  • 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

    IN DORSEY I TRUST

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Does anyone every recall seeing Marcus Dupree in his sophomore year at Oklahoma? Phenomenal.

    Talk about a potential GREAt ONE ravaged by injury.

  • alporciniA alporcini

    Does anyone every recall seeing Marcus Dupree in his sophomore year at Oklahoma? Phenomenal.

    Talk about a potential GREAt ONE ravaged by injury.

    @alporcini said:

    Does anyone every recall seeing Marcus Dupree in his sophomore year at Oklahoma? Phenomenal.

    Talk about a potential GREAt ONE ravaged by injury.

    yes. there is a good 30for30 on him. Shame.

    another one who would have been an all timer was Billy Sims. a superstar shot down by a blown out knee after 2 years in detroit

  • Jim Brown

    Emmit Smith

    Adrian Peterson

    Barry Sanders

    Trent Richardson ~HA!

    The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. -Mark Twain- "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." -Mark Twain-
  • PoeticGP PoeticG

    Jim Brown

    Emmit Smith

    Adrian Peterson

    Barry Sanders

    Trent Richardson ~HA!

    @poeticg said:

    Jim Brown

    Emmit Smith

    Adrian Peterson

    Barry Sanders

    Trent Richardson ~HA!

    For one play....he was great.

    Whatever happened to that guy?

    👍
    1. JB (both)
    Bo Jackson (TV only)Earl Campbell (Both)Barry Sanders (TV only)Walter Peyton (TV Only)
    "When you have a shared vision it is a lot easier to make unpopular decisions." - Paul DePodesta "When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less." - Paul Brown Complete 2017 Browns Board Mock: http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46196

  • Jim Brown (both)

    Leroy Kelley (both)

    Ernie Davis (at Syracuse only)

    Earl Campbell (both TV and in the Dome)

    Emmett Smith (Both)

    Honorable mention to another Ohio boy,

    Larry Csonka

  • So if we are talking about greatest/most exciting backs that we have seen LIVE, my list would be:

    1. Fred Taylor

    2. Jamal Lewis

    3. Leroy Kelly

    4. Jerome Bettis

    5. Greg Pruitt

  • Csonka... Stow, Ohio. I had friends there growing up. Another Fin that was exciting, Mercury Morris. He broke my heart one Monday night in old Muni.

    My all live list:

    • JB
    • Earl Campbell
    • Leroy Kelly
    • Bobby Mitchell
    • Eddie George
    Honorable Mention: Eric Metcalf
    "When you have a shared vision it is a lot easier to make unpopular decisions." - Paul DePodesta "When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less." - Paul Brown Complete 2017 Browns Board Mock: http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46196

  • Sanders

    Brown

    Sayers

    Simpson

    Bettis

    Never saw J. Brown play except on old film but greatest combination of moves, power and speed ever.

    Simpson had other issues to say the least but on the field, wow!

    Sanders one of the few to average over 5 yards a carry.

    Sayers was the picture of grace, finished way too soon.

    Bettis was fun to watch because for several years at the end of his career he was as big as a house and could not have run a 5 second 40 to save his soul, but was an elderly human battering ram who could get that half yard even when everyone in the stadium knew he would get the ball.

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