[bestbyV]

I was talking about why he quit, because somebody said he was a quitter, lion fans dont get so defensive...lol

Well, I am not a lions fan. They won alot of games in spite of having a terrible coach. Your statement about playing for a "losing team" his entire career is incorrect. If you mean they didnt win the SuperBowl while he was there, then there are alot of quitters on the list.

[PharmaDrMan]

1) Barry Sanders
2) Walter Payton
3) Jim Brown
4) Emmitt Smith
5) O.J. Simpson
6) Eric Dickerson
7) Earl Campbell
8) Marcus Allen
9) Marshall Faulk
10) Bo Jackson

[Triiooman]

I should say that I hate lists like this.

It's almost impossible to compare these players. It's like apples to oranges to tomatos to grapes...and so on. All of these running backs were great (even Emmit "I can't get one yard on the Eagles on third, fourth, fourth down" Smith). Each player on each list is probably better than any other player in some aspect of the game.

Whole lot of self-righteousness on these here boards.





I just can't wait for football season to start.

*ceases bitching and moaning*

i actually am not qualified to make a list. i never saw brown play and i was pretty young when payton played.

[Suvaxal]

First we can all agree that this is all opinion and greater is just a point of view.

Was Barry a better rusher than Thurman? Yes
Receiver? No
Blocker? thats up for debate

Being a winner helps. I know Barry played on some bad teams but so did Dickerson and he managed to get them to the NFC championship game with a CFl reject at QB.

SM

You realize Barry accomplished the same as well...

You're statement of:

I just chose to put players who wanted to play on my list.

is probably the worst statement I've seen on this board.

So...Michael Jordan would not be the greatest basketball player of all time?

Brett Favre considering retirement (ie. not wanting to play) makes him not one of the greatest quarterbacks?

You're just pulling up propaganda garbage....Don't hide behind some cockamamie blocking excuse...much less not even know that Barry helped Detroit to the NFC Championship game...

Sportsmensa...You ain't so mensa.

[Z3s9vQZj]

You can never win a debate through arguement.

SM

au contraire, unless you want to "debate" this with Merriam-Webster.

Main Entry: 1de·bate
Pronunciation: di-'bAt, dE-
Function: noun
: a contention by words or arguments: as a : the formal discussion of a motion before a deliberative body according to the rules of parliamentary procedure

verb
1 obsolete : FIGHT, CONTEND
2 a : to contend in words b : to discuss a question by considering opposed arguments
3 : to participate in a debate
transitive senses
1 a : to argue about b : to engage (an opponent) in debate
2 : to turn over in one's mind

mensa?

[OrefZorremn]

and that's a bad thing????? to never give up on a play! that has to be the dumest remark i've ever heard! you knock him because he refused to quit on a play no matter how bottle up he was, i'd say that was admirable! not like these sissy's today that see a guy coming and 3 yards before they get there run out of bounds instead of lowering the shoulder and getting another two or three. The qb slide rule, i hate that rule you're not playing baseballor vollyball, if you run with the ball you get tackeled that's the game!

I don't know that after I re-read my post I said it was a "bad" thing, but what I WAS saying was that sometimes Barry's own abilitites turned a no-gainer into a horrible loss. Sure it's an admirable quality to not give up, but you also have to realize when you've reached a point where nothing good is going to come of staying on your feet.

Best example of this is when you see a recieiver catch a ball downfield, instantly get wrapped up by 2-3 defenders, and push with all his might to stay on his feet and maybe get 2 more yards. The end result is quite often that while the defenders have the guy stood up, their chances of stripping the ball is pretty high. The risk/reward of getting 2 extra yards vs. being stripped of the ball is not equal, IMO.

That's just one example. You can't just be a hardnosed ball player, you have to be a smart one. I'm not saying Barry was not a "smart" ball player, but he was *sometimes* too stubborn to let a play die when the chances of making something more happen were close to nil.

I don't know that that's a *knock* on Barry's ability as it is a commentary on his stubbornness.

[Eromereorybig]

1.)Walter Payton
2.)Barry Sanders
3.)Emmitt Smith
4.)Jim Brown
5.)Earl Campbell
6.)Gale Sayers
7.)Eric Dickerson
8.)Marcus Allen
9.)Tony Dorsett
10.)OJ Simpson

[tyclislavaify]

I don't think YPC is the best measurement of a runn9ing backs success though.

Why, you ask?

If a RB goes 19 carries for 14 yards, then busts his 20th carry for 75, it looks like he's had a good day (4.5 YPC) when in fact all day he's been bottled up, and he had ONE good run.

The Cowboys (who I hate) developed a stat called "succesful runs". In which any run that either

1.) gained 4 yards or more
2.) gained a first down
3.) scored a TD

was considered a succesful run.

They determined that if 55% or more of your runs fell under that category, your running game was a success.

OBviously the example I gave above (19 carries for 14 yards, then a bust out run) is extreme, but I would guess that a lot of mediocre RB's had a higher percentage of "succesful runs" than Sanders, because he was a guy who you COULD get for a big loss now and then because of his trying for a big run. Granted, the line Emmit ran behind was better than the line Barry ran behind, but that's not gonna change my argument.

While I agree with the basic premise of what you're saying, there is a huge difference between YPC for one game and an ENTIRE CAREER. For Barry's career his YPC is very high. It doesn't make that much difference to me how he got it there. Now if you look I don't have Barry number 1 myself, and I really don't want to argue who is better than someone else.

I can see a good argument for more than 5 guys and why they are number 1. I don't really care. It proves nothing, and there is no fool proof stat that everyone will agree with.

[Flieteewell]

Van Buren was one of the greats and is a huge reason for 66.6667% of the Eagles Championships, but I don't know enough about other players during that era not on the Eagles, so I didn't want to include him and possibly slight someone else from that time.

[Mifsnavassy]

That's right...You have nothing...Hang your head in shame.

Barry Sanders not in the top 10 all-time...

Summed up:

Sportsmensa | The entire human race other than Sportsmensa.

[Worseacar]

If he were to play on the Eagles, absolutely.

Urlacher would kill him.

[RastusuadegeFrimoum]

1. Reno Mahe.


It doesn't really matter after that.

[Barryrich]

lol, uber nerds.....

[Pataacculakp]

1. Walter Payton
2. Jim Brown
3. Barry Sanders
4. Earl Campbell
5. Gale Sayers
6. Eric Dickerson
7. The Juice
8. Jerome Bettis
9. Franco Harris
10. Thurman Thomas

[prkddfokic]

I was talking about why he quit, because somebody said he was a quitter, lion fans dont get so defensive...lol

Barry did not quit he walked away cuz Barry did not DID NOT want to break Sweetness Rec Barry hated to be in the lime light also did not like Bobby Ross and what the lions did to some of his pals.

[Feflyinvelf]

for all the guys who listed emmit ahead of barry? even emmit knows barry was better.

[Pmeidstc]

To not have a guy in the top ten because he didn't feel the orgainzation was committed to winning a team and wouldn't trade him is ridiculous. On the field, for a great number of seasons, he was the best. It's not like he was gale sayers who was one of the best but only did it for a four seasons. Barry had sustained greatness.

Not to mention having a statement like he did and then look at number 2 on his list, it makes one wonder.

[Boveosteors]

i actually am not qualified to make a list. i never saw brown play and i was pretty young when payton played.

I take back just about everything I said in that post. I blame being out in the sun all day...and Tice.

Except the last 2 lines. They still stand.

[Kissntell]

whats a mensa convention? and i hate the lions completely but I still idiolized sanders in school as the best rb, his footwork and awareness are unmatched period. he did things with a subpar team that noone else could. And there were times the lions line was terrible and he still was a 1000 + back, so yeh your right everyone is entitled to their own opinion but you cant deny greatness.

[lXwVlTgO]

agree with all you said Wiskey *btw* just threw out that over a 10 year career you had to have some "sucessful" runs yourself. Seeing that he had more years in 10 years on less carries.