In your opinion, who was the greatest RB of all time?

[EmeraldKnight88]

If we talkin all time, I'm goin with Dorsett, Faulk or Bettis. 

[shawn306]

17 hours ago, NYJ37/12 said:

Walter Payton. End.

This

[shawn306]

12 hours ago, HessStation said:

In my time (and interestingly also the greatest college RB's I've ever seen):

1. Barry Sanders

2. Adrian Peterson

3. Marshall Faulk

Before my time (but all the old bastards...and NFL Films)

1. Jim Brown

2. Walter Payton (remember the tail end though and still great)

3. Earl Campbell 

In his own special category all by himself

Bo Jackson

There is no telling what Bo Jackson could have done in the NFL if he concentrated simply on football. He was unreal.

[rangerous]

18 hours ago, JetFanWithNOPSL2017 said:

Jim Brown

Nobody else was or is in the same league

ditto.  the game has changed since brown played.  i believe when he started the seasons were only 12 games.  he simply dominated.

[Doggin94it]

There are only two types of football fans.

1) Those who know Jim Brown was the best running back of all time; and

2) Those who don't know a damn thing about football.

Way before my time, but it doesn't really matter.  This is one of those questions that isn't remotely debatable.

[Hael]

Jim Brown had an amazing hall of fame offensive line for a good portion of his career.  Sanders had absolutely nothing.  

If you watch the games, you will see that for large portions of it, Brown had huge gaping holes like Emmit Smith did in Dallas, and once he had a full head of steam he'd knock people over a few times a game and it would be awesome b/c he'd break a few huge runs b/c he could outrun most of the secondaries of the time.

Meanwhile, Sanders was running for his life basically from the second he touched the ball, to the second he scored.  He had a ton of negative plays, simply b/c there was no hole to run through and defenders all over him.  Despite this preponderance of negative plays, he still ended up with roughly the same yards per attempt.  I don't think there is a single rb in history that did more with less than Sanders. 

And then of course there is the level of competition problem.  I mean If you put a gun to a GMs head and told them he had to choose one rb in his prime for his modern team.  Be sure the answer wouldn't be Jim Brown, OJ Simpson or Earl Cambell.  It would be Sanders, Faulk, AP, or maybe Bo Jackson (but I think the majority would pick Sanders)

[HessStation]

1 hour ago, shawn306 said:

There is no telling what Bo Jackson could have done in the NFL if he concentrated simply on football. He was unreal.

Bo Jackson is the greatest RB and football player I've ever seen.

[joenamathwouldn'tcry]

Walter Payton played one against 11 for virtually his whole career.

[chirorob]

18 minutes ago, joenamathwouldn'tcry said:

Walter Payton played one against 11 for virtually his whole career.

That's my guy.

[chirorob]

5 hours ago, HessStation said:

Bo Jackson is the greatest RB and football player I've ever seen.

Best athlete I ever saw.  I guy who never ran for 1000 yards can't be the best RB in my opinion.

Super fun to watch.  Greatest Video Game Player ever! 

[chirorob]

10 hours ago, Jet Nut said:

By the time he retired he was out of the top 5 and at 81 per.  

Earl was already being run down by his 4th year.  Just so brutal a runner, on that old Astro Turf

To me, that adds to Walter Peyton, he was physical, and still great at age 31.  To be fair, Barry also retired without any real slow down, right in what seemed like his prime.

[Long Island Leprechaun]

6 hours ago, Hael said:

Jim Brown had an amazing hall of fame offensive line for a good portion of his career.  Sanders had absolutely nothing.  

If you watch the games, you will see that for large portions of it, Brown had huge gaping holes like Emmit Smith did in Dallas, and once he had a full head of steam he'd knock people over a few times a game and it would be awesome b/c he'd break a few huge runs b/c he could outrun most of the secondaries of the time.

Meanwhile, Sanders was running for his life basically from the second he touched the ball, to the second he scored.  He had a ton of negative plays, simply b/c there was no hole to run through and defenders all over him.  Despite this preponderance of negative plays, he still ended up with roughly the same yards per attempt.  I don't think there is a single rb in history that did more with less than Sanders. 

And then of course there is the level of competition problem.  I mean If you put a gun to a GMs head and told them he had to choose one rb in his prime for his modern team.  Be sure the answer wouldn't be Jim Brown, OJ Simpson or Earl Cambell.  It would be Sanders, Faulk, AP, or maybe Bo Jackson (but I think the majority would pick Sanders)

There's so much wrong with this, that I don't know where to start. Brown's offensive line was in the hall of fame largely due to Jim Brown. The myth of Barry Sanders and the awful Detroit Lions during his tenure is also baloney. The Lions were in the Championship in 91, had multiple WC showing and had a very respectable record overall during his time. They also had Moore and Perriman at receiver offering balance in their attack. Sanders was a phenomenal back and is the ONLY back in this discussion that could even be put in the same sentence as Brown. The notion that Brown had "gaping" holes is sheer nonsense. Most of his runs were end-sweeps. He was deadly in open space and usually created that by reversing direction, shaking off the first wave of tacklers, then showing off his speed, illusiveness, and sheer strength to gain swaths of yards. Brown also had outstanding hands and often caught the ball in the backfield then made hay out of nothing. How he was used was a reflection of the times, but not a reflection of what he might have done in a different era.

Finally, I would put a pretty good bet down that if you asked a group of HOF coaches who they would pick to be their running back in his prime, you would hear Jim Brown's name about 80% of the time, and Barry Sanders the other 20%. They had stylistic differences but both were at the next level. OJ had the ability to be there but didn't have the sustained record that either Brown or Sanders did. Anybody who would take Marshall Faulk over Jim Brown would have to have his head examined. It's ridiculous. AP is not in their league either. He's a fair comparison to Walter Payton or Eric Dickerson, Gayle Sayers, who are the next tier down. Ask running backs who they think was best of all time. I don't think that would be all that different from the coaches' survey.

[Ex-Rex]

On 12/5/2016 at 1:01 PM, JetFanWithNOPSL2017 said:

Jim Brown

Nobody else was or is in the same league

Jim Brown is the guy. Quit while still in his prime and could have put his records out of reach if he stayed another two or three seasons. Barry Sanders is next, followed by Walter Payton, Curtis Martin, Emmitt Smith, Eric Dickerson and Tony Dorsett in no particular order.

[bobbyvjets]

Gayle Sayers greatest man to ever run with a football and it's not even close. 

[FlagmanL11]

Walter Payton, not even close.  Put him behind a all pro off line he would have gotten 2,000 yards multiple times.

[jack48]

Jim Brown.  The guy HAD to be gang tackled almost all the time

[Bombdirt]

I'll throw in my two cents: I never saw Jim Brown or Gayle Sayers; if I had, my answer might be different. Barry Sanders and Walter Payton were the best I ever saw. I remember Sanders singlehandedly keeping those horrible Lions teams in games and just bouncing off defenders like a pinball. 

That said, my all-time personal favorite is C-Mart, of course. 

[jetophile]

Of course this was against the Jets. How can anyone possibly forget that? 

 

[jetophile]

6 minutes ago, jetophile said:

Sorry, not sure why that was blocked. Google and youtube are the devil. GTFOH. 

 

 

[Kleckineau]

11 minutes ago, jetophile said:

Of course this was against the Jets. How can anyone possibly forget that? 

 

HA! Lets not forget that OJ went over the 2K mark against the Jets at Shea.

[jetophile]

1 minute ago, Kleckineau said:

HA! Lets not forget that OJ went over the 2K mark against the Jets at Shea.

What else is new? I was at that game and got frostbite on my feet for my trouble. Goddamn it. It was freezing, and Shea threw the lights on around 5:00 or so. Peanut shells and Rheingold caps were suspended and captured against the sky as planes from Laguardia were going nowhere fast. Snow was falling gently as the Jets were frolicking on the field like young does, tackling themselves in their merriment. Meaning, they weren't tackling anyone. "Daddy, my feet hurt."  "Bang your feet on the cement."  I was doing that for two hours. 

I went to the bathroom unattended - because that was in the age before hovering parental fagdom  - and I tried my valiant best to hum to the tune of the heaters blowing massive amounts of lint in my face. What were those things? Those vents were like the jaws of death during a lunar landing, but it did warm me up in the moment. But yeah, saw it in real time. I remember it very clearly. People were cheering for him to break the record, and of course, it was against the Jets.

Anyway, yeah, frostbite. Whenever I hike when it's super cold, my second and third toe on my right foot start to scream. So OJ murdered the Jets, my feet, and his ex-wife. The trifecta. 

[jetophile]

I cannot understand how anyone rags on Curtis Martin. He's a compiler, I get it;  but totally belongs in the HOF.  One of my favorite shots:

 \

I

[David Harris]

On 12/5/2016 at 1:17 PM, pdxgreen said:

Best I eve saw was Barry Sanders.  Jim Brown would be my father's choice.

Same.

[jetscrazey]

Wasn't alive to see Jim Brown, but from what I hear there hasn't been anyone like him since, so it's probably him.

Walter Payton also a little before my time, so can't say. 

In my lifetime, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, and Adrian Peterson could all be in the conversation.

[Kleckineau]

9 hours ago, jetophile said:

What else is new? I was at that game and got frostbite on my feet for my trouble. Goddamn it. It was freezing, and Shea threw the lights on around 5:00 or so. Peanut shells and Rheingold caps were suspended and captured against the sky as planes from Laguardia were going nowhere fast. Snow was falling gently as the Jets were frolicking on the field like young does, tackling themselves in their merriment. Meaning, they weren't tackling anyone. "Daddy, my feet hurt."  "Bang your feet on the cement."  I was doing that for two hours. 

I went to the bathroom unattended - because that was in the age before hovering parental fagdom  - and I tried my valiant best to hum to the tune of the heaters blowing massive amounts of lint in my face. What were those things? Those vents were like the jaws of death during a lunar landing, but it did warm me up in the moment. But yeah, saw it in real time. I remember it very clearly. People were cheering for him to break the record, and of course, it was against the Jets.

Anyway, yeah, frostbite. Whenever I hike when it's super cold, my second and third toe on my right foot start to scream. So OJ murdered the Jets, my feet, and his ex-wife. The trifecta. 

HA ! yeah we went also.

Best part of the day was the tailgate party beneath Northern Blvd.

Didnt help much but why pay to park out in the open when its  snowing right ☺?

I remember knucklheads throwing snowballs the Bills and OJ as he ripped off 10-20 yard runs.

My dad wouldnt go. He new better. I took my little sister.

It was her 1st........and last NFL game.

She hated it and thinks to this day anyone who goes to such a thing is demented.

PS;  Bring back the avatar