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Hey Dallas Fans who was the better running back: Tony Dorsett or Emmit Smith?

T

tec699

Banned
So who was better? Emmitt has the rings and is the top leading rusher of all time, but is that because he had an incredible front line? Tony didn't have that luxury when he played for the Cowboys in the 70's and 80's. Tony does have 1 super bowl ring and has been inducted to the hall of fame.

I'm just asking because Emmitt's fate will be decided pretty soon: Link

🙂
 
Originally posted by: LikeLinus
As much as i hate the cowboys and all the jerks they've had over the years. Mr. Smith was one stud of a running back.
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Don't forget he (Smith) HATED getting pulled from a blow out and wanted carries in those final junk minutes to pad his stats. He was consumed with his stats. Personal stats meant more to him than playing as part of a team (evidenced in him playing long after he should have sat on the bench to preserve his health). While he was good, he not only had a great line in front of him, his numbers are bloated and should be looked at accordingly.
 
Originally posted by: tec699
So who was better? Emmitt has the rings and is the top leading rusher of all time, but is that because he had an incredible front line? Tony didn't have that luxury when he played for the Cowboys in the 70's and 80's. Tony does have 1 super bowl ring and has been inducted to the hall of fame.

I'm just asking because Emmitt's fate will be decided pretty soon: Link

🙂
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hehehe

how many of ATers do you think will even remember dorsett??

if you match up dorsett's career with Paytons, Year for Year, Dorsett was right there with payton except for their respective last 2 or 3 seasons. Dorsett is what # 6 all time rushing yards or something like that?? Dorsett was a GREAT back and deserves to be compared with Emmitt. having said that I think Emmitt has the slight edge, but it's a tough pick.
 
Originally posted by: jaeger66
I hate Dallas, but Dorsett. Smith is maybe the 9th or 10th best RB of all time.
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where do you get 9th or 10th?? based on what category? your own personal observations?? just a feel good type number??

emmitt has the most rushing yards of ANY running back in the HISTORY of the game. that merits him at least a top 5.
 
All these guys were better:

Jim Brown
Barry Sanders
OJ Simpson
Walter Payton
Eric Dickerson
Marcus Allen
Franco Harris
Tony Dorsett

So I guess I'd put Smith at 9.
 
Originally posted by: jaeger66
All these guys were better:

Jim Brown
Barry Sanders
OJ Simpson
Walter Payton
Eric Dickerson
Marcus Allen
Franco Harris
Tony Dorsett

So I guess I'd put Smith at 9.
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NO WAY, Allen (who i loved watching), Harriss or Dorsett was better than Emmitt smith.

Jim Brown Definitely.
Barry Sanders ?? still questionable. for one thing he QUIT. He OBVIOUSLY never had heart. His teams NEVER WON. They did better without him.
Walter Payton, Sentimental Favorite, had good numbers. Will give it to him
OJ Simpson, in my opinion 2nd best RB of all time after Jim Brown.
Eric Dickerson, he had talent but so did Bo, doesn't make him the better back.
 
Originally posted by: LeeTJ

where do you get 9th or 10th?? based on what category? your own personal observations?? just a feel good type number??

emmitt has the most rushing yards of ANY running back in the HISTORY of the game. that merits him at least a top 5.
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No, it doesn't. Ability to avoid injury != quality. Have Sanders and Smith swap teams at the start of their careers, and I guarantee you that Sanders would be #1 by far and Smith would have retired in 1997. And I think Smith's numbers are tarnished by the fact that he's hung on too long just going for the yards.
 
I heard the Panthers might pick up Emmit since he's likely to be released during the Cowboys press conference today!!!
 
Originally posted by: LeeTJ


NO WAY, Allen (who i loved watching), Harriss or Dorsett was better than Emmitt smith.

Jim Brown Definitely.
Barry Sanders ?? still questionable. for one thing he QUIT. He OBVIOUSLY never had heart. His teams NEVER WON. They did better without him.
Walter Payton, Sentimental Favorite, had good numbers. Will give it to him
OJ Simpson, in my opinion 2nd best RB of all time after Jim Brown.
Eric Dickerson, he had talent but so did Bo, doesn't make him the better back.
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The top 5 on my list played most of their careers on awful teams. IOW, they did it by themselves. It gets murky after that, but the other had that big play ability that Smith never had. Smith was steady and dependable, but I find his sponging for yards no less a black mark than Sanders "quitting".

 
Originally posted by: jaeger66
Originally posted by: LeeTJ

where do you get 9th or 10th?? based on what category? your own personal observations?? just a feel good type number??

emmitt has the most rushing yards of ANY running back in the HISTORY of the game. that merits him at least a top 5.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. Ability to avoid injury != quality. Have Sanders and Smith swap teams at the start of their careers, and I guarantee you that Sanders would be #1 by far and Smith would have retired in 1997. And I think Smith's numbers are tarnished by the fact that he's hung on too long just going for the yards.
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You could say the same thing about Payton. he played about 2 or 3 seasons past his prime. Kareem in BBall CLEARLY played past his prime. You can say that about ANYONE that has set an all time record.

All this talk of emmitt padding his stats, Hogwash.

Emmitt also has the most Rushing TD's YES??

Emmitt also has 3 superbowl rings?? he didn't do it himself (no one does in a team sport) BUT he was a Vital part of it.

BTW, i don't buy that swap sanders smith argument. Sanders problem was YOU COULDN'T DESIGN AN OFFENSE AROUND HIM. The only thing in sanders favor is that Dallas has carpet and not grass, OH WAIT so does detroit.

Sanders was an above average back on grass. you never knew whether he was gonna lose 5 or gain 30. emmitt was more the 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 10, -1, 13, 2, 3, 5, 6 type back. the kind that you could design an Offense after.

Sanders, you never knew what he'd get. That KILLS DRIVES.

 
Originally posted by: jaeger66
Originally posted by: LeeTJ


NO WAY, Allen (who i loved watching), Harriss or Dorsett was better than Emmitt smith.

Jim Brown Definitely.
Barry Sanders ?? still questionable. for one thing he QUIT. He OBVIOUSLY never had heart. His teams NEVER WON. They did better without him.
Walter Payton, Sentimental Favorite, had good numbers. Will give it to him
OJ Simpson, in my opinion 2nd best RB of all time after Jim Brown.
Eric Dickerson, he had talent but so did Bo, doesn't make him the better back.
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The top 5 on my list played most of their careers on awful teams. IOW, they did it by themselves. It gets murky after that, but the other had that big play ability that Smith never had. Smith was steady and dependable, but I find his sponging for yards no less a black mark than Sanders "quitting".
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EXACTLY, i love when people make my point for me. Smith was STEADY and DEPENDABLE. you knew you were gonna get 3 or 4 from him every carry. you knew he was going to sustain drives. oh BTW, how was Harris better than Smith?? he was the same type of back that didn't do it for as long and couldn't break it for as long and didn't have as many TD's. so HOW was harris better??

Sanders wouldn't have won even on a good team because he would have killed the team.
 
Tony Dorsett was quicker and faster but E. Smith is stronger and has a great vision to find a hole.

They both are/were great RB, but I give edge to E. Smith because of his longevity and rushing record.

I would rank E. Smith as top 3 greatest RB of all time.

BTW, I saw T. Dorsett's 99-yard touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings on a Monday night Football game.

 
LeeTJ is right. Emmitt wasnt flashy and he didnt suprise you. What he did was win games.

If you measure a back by the runs they can do, Barry Sanders wins that one far and away. If you measure a back by what they do for their team in helping them win, nobody beats Emmitt. Emmitt shouldered the load for his team and won championships. Everyone knew 3rd and 2 was a handoff to Emmitt, but they couldnt stop it. They knew 1st and goal was a diet of Emmitt, but couldnt stop it. Yes, he had a great line to run behind. But he could take advantage of a great line more than any other back because of his vision and his initial burst to the hole. If you could throw any back behind that line and get the same performance, the Cowboys would have had a revolving door of RBs.

Emmitt may not be regarded as the finest "pure" RB, but he is certainly a "winner" RB.
 
Originally posted by: LeeTJ

EXACTLY, i love when people make my point for me. Smith was STEADY and DEPENDABLE. you knew you were gonna get 3 or 4 from him every carry. you knew he was going to sustain drives. oh BTW, how was Harris better than Smith?? he was the same type of back that didn't do it for as long and couldn't break it for as long and didn't have as many TD's. so HOW was harris better??

Sanders wouldn't have won even on a good team because he would have killed the team.
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And you knew that was all you were going to get. He never had to carry a team on his back. Jerome Bettis was steady and dependable, but is he anywhere near as good a back as his yardage total indicates?

Harris...the ability to leave 11 defenders standing around saying "WTF just happened"? Think of Priest Holmes today, backs who you could fit into your 2 minute offense. Smith was never part of the equation when Dallas needed a quick score. People who judge solely by numbers are usually the ones with the least understanding of what's actually happening on the field.

 
Originally posted by: jaeger66
Originally posted by: LeeTJ

EXACTLY, i love when people make my point for me. Smith was STEADY and DEPENDABLE. you knew you were gonna get 3 or 4 from him every carry. you knew he was going to sustain drives. oh BTW, how was Harris better than Smith?? he was the same type of back that didn't do it for as long and couldn't break it for as long and didn't have as many TD's. so HOW was harris better??

Sanders wouldn't have won even on a good team because he would have killed the team.
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And you knew that was all you were going to get. He never had to carry a team on his back. Jerome Bettis was steady and dependable, but is he anywhere near as good a back as his yardage total indicates?

Harris...the ability to leave 11 defenders standing around saying "WTF just happened"? Think of Priest Holmes today, backs who you could fit into your 2 minute offense. Smith was never part of the equation when Dallas needed a quick score. People who judge solely by numbers are usually the ones with the least understanding of what's actually happening on the field.
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and where did i say i judged solely by numbers. Read what i'm saying. I'd take emmitt over sanders (precisely an argument against JUST looking at numbers) BECAUSE i know with emmitt he's gonna get me crucial yards in crucial situations. EMMITT made drives happen and kept DRIVES alive more than any back in the history of the game. Different backs had different strengths, OJ could break them with the best but could still grind it out. Harris broke through lines with his strength but i don't remember him being as fast as say brown, oj or dorsett. OJ was probably the closest to Brown in being a complete back. Emmitt was almost complete but he didn't have the same top speed of these other backs. I'll bet emmitt was faster than O Harris tho.

Sanders had great moves but those great moves also cost him a lot of yards. Sanders, to me, was a drive kill waiting to happen.


Sure a healthy BO jackson his whole career would be better than emmitt. a Healthy bo jackson mb woulda been the best back in the history of the game, but you can't do that now can you?? you can't ask what if.

 
Originally posted by: jaeger66
Originally posted by: LeeTJ

EXACTLY, i love when people make my point for me. Smith was STEADY and DEPENDABLE. you knew you were gonna get 3 or 4 from him every carry. you knew he was going to sustain drives. oh BTW, how was Harris better than Smith?? he was the same type of back that didn't do it for as long and couldn't break it for as long and didn't have as many TD's. so HOW was harris better??

Sanders wouldn't have won even on a good team because he would have killed the team.
Click to expand...

And you knew that was all you were going to get. He never had to carry a team on his back. Jerome Bettis was steady and dependable, but is he anywhere near as good a back as his yardage total indicates?

Harris...the ability to leave 11 defenders standing around saying "WTF just happened"? Think of Priest Holmes today, backs who you could fit into your 2 minute offense. Smith was never part of the equation when Dallas needed a quick score. People who judge solely by numbers are usually the ones with the least understanding of what's actually happening on the field.
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i completely forgot about the bettis comment. bettis was never the back that Smith is. he wasn't as steady and consistent. he was plagued by injuries. he only had like 3 really good seasons. you can't even begin to compare bettis to smith.

oh and btw, longevity is part of the "greatness" of athletes. eg. Jimmy connors over bjorn borg.
 
All this talk of emmitt padding his stats, Hogwash.
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Not so. Look at the stats. Look at the games. They are facts. he played long after games were decided.

Plus talk to players and coaches from his era. They will tell you that when got pulled he'd be steaming.
(have personally talked with Campo...went to school with his kids. He agrees with this sentiment so I'll take that to the bank)

 
Daryl Johnson, AKA The Moose was Dallas's best running back. He didn't have near as many yards as smith but HE is the reason smith had so many yards.
 
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