Greatest Running Back (American Football)

[lochinvar]

Who do you think is the greatest running back of all time, either historically or potentially? Give reasons, please.

And yes, the poll is flawed--they only give you ten slots to choose from.

[chefencer]

Let me just get this one out of the way and put it out of it's misery: Aldo Nadi!

[lochinvar]

Aldo Nadi played football??
You learn something new every day...

[bigdawg2121]

Ummm I can't choose as of yet, I'm torn between Sweetness, Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett and Curtis Martin. (Although in fairness the only reason I support Curt is b/c he's an alum of my HS and never played football until his senior year. Ever. Let that one simmer.)

[chefencer]

Ok, I was last serious about football during the Landry era and Dorsett was one of my favorites (along with Roger, of course, and Drew Pearson, Charlie Waters, Randy White, Golden Richards, remember Clint Longley? - I haven't really watched since they cut Bill Bates...) BUT I would say Payton had more desire, heart and will to find a way downfield than anyone of that time. I must plead ignorance on the current state of the game...and so haven't voted.

[KD5MDK]

O.J. stands for "Oh Jesus, there he goes again", don't it?

Then there's this bit from Wikipedia:
"Campbell is one of only two players (QB Brett Favre is the other) to receive some form of the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in three consecutive regular seasons, and he is the only player to do so in his first three seasons as a professional (1978 – 1980)."

[TrainingDummy]

Refrigerator Perry! Or was he a halfback or fullback? Can't remember. Just cause he's freakin' awesome!

[chefencer]

O.J. stands for "Oh Jesus, there he goes again", don't it?

Then there's this bit from Wikipedia:
"Campbell is one of only two players (QB Brett Favre is the other) to receive some form of the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in three consecutive regular seasons, and he is the only player to do so in his first three seasons as a professional (1978 – 1980)."

Simpson? Naaah...

Campbell - I almost brought him up as he was another hero of mine - but his career was of the candle in the wind variety and while he burned most excellently, he went too soon into that dark night of retirement - even with countless stunned defensive backs lying in his wake. (Speaking of Burnt Orange...I remember listening to the ('77?) OU game on the radio in the front yard with my parents...good times.)

[keropie]

Refrigerator Perry! Or was he a halfback or fullback? Can't remember. Just cause he's freakin' awesome!

Are we supposed to gather that halfbacks and fullbacks should be discounted from the poll, and only allow votes on players who lined up ar running back on the field? That might make voting a bit more interesting. . .

[bigdawg2121]

Ummm....they're all running backs. Halfback, Fullback, Tailback just kind of refers to what position they're running in a given formation. Wing-T might have a halfback and a fullback, or a weird bunch formation with all three, whereas a Wishbone backfield is more likely to have two halves and a tail etc. I doubt we're voting for the greatest positional or specialty back b/c not only would the poll hae to be vastly different but there would be significantly fewer people knowledgeable enough to vote on it.

[keropie]

Really? Who knew? Oh wait, I did lol. (We really need a more uniformly agreed upon sarcasm smiley lol)

[bigdawg2121]

I knew you did, I was just generally going to throw it out there b/c frankly a lot of people just don't know much about football at all....

[keropie]

I'm giving the poster in question the benefit of the doubt that he/she knew Perry was a defensive player, too... wonder if that's a mistake?

Edit: Since I was curious, here are his career offensive stats:

Rushing:
Attempts: 8
Yards: 5
Average: .6
TD: 2
Longest run from scrimmage: 2 yds
Fumbles: 2 (When he was running, he forced 5 on the defensive side)

Receiving:
Rec: 1
Yards: 4
Average: 4 (Shocking, huh?)
TDs: 1

So at least he was efficient, but hardly an offensive juggernaut

[D.O.A.R.]

I voted for Barry Sanders based not only on his stats (which are considerable), but on how much fun he was to watch. I'd guess that he leads the list with the amount of times caught behind the line of scrimmage, however, for all those times you think you had him, well I'd pay money for a Barry Sanders highlight video. If anyone knows of any......

[prototoast]

How is Clinton Portis even on that list?

[lochinvar]

Clinton is listed because of his potential.
He's played 4 years and accumulated 5,930 total rushing yards.
If he continues to produce at that average rate, at the end of 10 years he will be somewhere around 15,500 total yards, placing him within the top 3-4 players for career rushing yards--and he could potentially do much better than that.

He also could end up like Gayle Sayers and have his career cut short by an injury. But he certainly has the potential to be the best--or one of the best--running backs of all time.

Same goes for Tomlinson and Alexander.

[lochinvar]

Just for informational purposes, some of the currently playing backs whom I didn't list but who also have incredible potential, if they live up to it:

Edgerrin James
Cadillac Williams
Julius Jones
Ricky Williams
Jamal Lewis

[Morion]

Franco Harris

[lochinvar]

Franco Harris

Reasons?

[davesaint]

I voted for Payton. He was truely awesome. However, given the limited playing time due to Injury, I really wonder how good Bo Jackson could have been if he hadn't blown out his hip. For players with shortened careers due to injury it's likely Bo Jackson and Gayle Sayers might have set records so high that no one could have touched them.


Dave