Barry Sanders

[Juno]

he was definitely a bada$$ but too had he got an awful offensive line which forced him to run on his own.

 

[Juno]

he was definitely a bada$$ but too had he got an awful offensive line which forced him to run on his own.

 

[Juno]

he was definitely a bada$$ but too had he got an awful offensive line which forced him to run on his own.

 

[meltdown75]

is there an echo in here? 😛

😉

 

[daddyphatsax]

barry didn't have the benefit of coke-fueled blockers, or any quarterback EVER that could thrown worth a damn

 

[Ktulu]

Originally posted by: jewno
he was definitely a bada$$ but too had he got an awful offensive line which forced him to run on his own.

wow, triple post

 

[Qwest]

just to throw another name out there...how about Terrell Davis? Granted, Denver has an amzing o-line and always produces great RBs.

6,413 yards he gained during his first four seasons, two superbowl rings, league AND superbowl MVP and of course the 2,000 yard season in 1998.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
define best skills....

I'd take emmitt smith any day over sanders. Rings for Smith: 3. Rings for Sanders: 0. heck barry was HORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIBLE in the post season, he was wretched. As far as I'm concerned that voids any regular season accomplishment he made

I guess you're one of the clowns that think Marino isn't a great quarterback beccause he never won the SB.

There's a reason they give out a ring to each member of the team and not just one.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: Qwest
just to throw another name out there...how about Terrell Davis? Granted, Denver has an amzing o-line and always produces great RBs.

6,413 yards he gained during his first four seasons, two superbowl rings, league AND superbowl MVP and of course the 2,000 yard season in 1998.

that guy was a horse, just like the Bronco 😛

seriously though, what a specimen. his quads were ridiculous.

 

[tyler811]

He was the best in his field.

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: oboeguy

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: Midnight Rambler
No way, Gayle Sayers was the best of all time. Jim Brown a close second because he did not have near as good "change of direction".

Sayers' stats aren't anywhere near any of the greats of all time. At best he's put up above average numbers in his career.

Stats aren't everything. Consdier Barry Sanders, in fact -- had he had a good team (e.g. some semblance of a QB), can you imagine what his stats would have been like? OMG!

Do you have any idea what you're talking about?

Sayers best season saw him rush for 1231 yards in 14 games. In his career he averaged 73 yards a game.

Barry has rushed for over 2000 yards in a season, and over his career averaged just a tad under 100 yards a game. His lowest mark was 1115 yards when he played just 11 games, and over his career he's averaged over 1500 yards a season.

Stats may not be everything, but there's no question that Sanders definitely pwns Sayers in the statistics ilne. I don't see how you can consider someone to be the greatest when they've played the equivalent of just over 4 seasons in the NFL, and whose numbers are just slightly better than average.

 

[Baked]

One of the top 5. Brother got skills! He was just sick.

 

[shilala]

Barry was awesome. Speed, agility and power.

Pound for pound Tony Dorsett was the most talented back in football, evar.
He could bust a move that'd make your jaw drop, then back it up with another move that'd bring tears to your eyes.

 

[NeoV]

wow...I like the enthusiasm here, but wow to some of you.

It really is completely subjective as far as the best of all time discussion goes.

My thoughts:

Jim Brown - speed and power, best ever - retired after he won a rushing title, still very much in his prime and his rushing records stood for some time.
Walter - speed and power - not quite the power guy Brown was, but he had the best balance I've ever seen in an RB - he could take a shot and not go down, and the best stiff arm ever
Dorsett? Not in this conversation - pretty much a speed back, cut very well - a great player, but I don't think he's in the best ever discussion for NFL RB's.
Sayers - I've watched a lot of film on him - I really do see a lot of similarities to Reggie Bush in terms of speed and cutting, but I'd say he was more elusive than Dorsett..shame he was injured.

Earl Campbell was the best power back I've ever seen, nearly impossible to bring down

Bo Jackson was the most physically talented human being I've ever seen - catastrophic hip injury robbed us all of seeing things we've never seen people do before.

LT? He may well end up on that top 5 list, but I'm concerned he's taking a beating. I don't think he has the same elusiveness that Barry had - I'd say Barry was the best ever in that category.

Emmitt wasn't spectacular, but he was durable, strong, great footwork, great teams to play on for most of his career.

Barry was perhaps the most exciting RB - his moves were simply amazing, and his teams for the most part were relatively average - other teams were out to stop Barry, but he still did his thing.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Ktulu

Originally posted by: Accipiter22
define best skills....

I'd take emmitt smith any day over sanders. Rings for Smith: 3. Rings for Sanders: 0. heck barry was HORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIBLE in the post season, he was wretched. As far as I'm concerned that voids any regular season accomplishment he made

are you kidding me, Emmitt didn't win those super bowls alone, it took an entire team to do it. Barry was essentially a one man team, he couldn't do it all on his own.

If you can watch films of the Cowboy's touchdowns when Emmitt was playing, watch them and consider if it was Emmitt's skill that caused a touchdown, or if (which is quite obvious) all his touchdowns were a result of holes big enough to drive a truck through. It wasn't incredible moves and presence on the field; any decent running back would have put up similar numbers. I'd guess that better than half the time, he didn't even get touched by the defense until he was in the end zone. Barry Sanders, on the other hand, broke tackle after tackle to get there.

Too bad we can't travel in time and conduct experiments... if we switched Barry and Emmitt, Emmitt would never have lasted as long as he did, and Barry would have had an incredible career, far surpassing the accomplishments of Emmitt.

 

[geecee]

Sanders never had even a halfway decent QB at the helm while he was playing (maybe the best he played with was Scott Mitchell). His O-line was poor most of the years he played as well. For a very rough comparison, look at what Kevin Jones is doing with a similar situation now.

I remember playing Madden back in the 90's and using the Lions all the time. I would just run Sanders over and over and over again. 🙂

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: oboeguy

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: Midnight Rambler
No way, Gayle Sayers was the best of all time. Jim Brown a close second because he did not have near as good "change of direction".

Sayers' stats aren't anywhere near any of the greats of all time. At best he's put up above average numbers in his career.

Stats aren't everything. Consdier Barry Sanders, in fact -- had he had a good team (e.g. some semblance of a QB), can you imagine what his stats would have been like? OMG!

Do you have any idea what you're talking about?

Sayers best season saw him rush for 1231 yards in 14 games. In his career he averaged 73 yards a game.

Barry has rushed for over 2000 yards in a season, and over his career averaged just a tad under 100 yards a game. His lowest mark was 1115 yards when he played just 11 games, and over his career he's averaged over 1500 yards a season.

Stats may not be everything, but there's no question that Sanders definitely pwns Sayers in the statistics ilne. I don't see how you can consider someone to be the greatest when they've played the equivalent of just over 4 seasons in the NFL, and whose numbers are just slightly better than average.

Eh? Barry's my man, don't make it look otherwise. All I'm saying is that stats don't say it all. Suppose Sanders played a on a very good team like Smith did with the Cowboys. He'd be "the best" AND have all the records. I never saw Sayers play, so I can't say anything about him other than to point out that stats aren't everything.