ADN

Barry Fucking Sanders


































The rest are walking backs in comparison to him

I agree with all of you that Barry was great....shit I live in Detroit, and saw him play every fucking game he played. My only problem with Barry was his will to win or lack thereof. Emmitt, Jim Brown, Walter Payton and even more recently, Curtis Martin and Terrell Davis all seemed to have something a little more......and they never had a -1 yard playoff outing.

He was fun to watch, but was more of a carnival act than anything.

Lets talk prototypes...

All of the traits that you want in a running back...Say, you were about to build one from scratch...My back would have these traits, all of which make for an incredible player...If you have never played football, you may need some help to understand these collectively, but if you have an imagination, and love the sport enough to know something about it...You need not be frank...

...Big ...
...Strong...
...Fast...
...Durable...
...Smart...
...Elusive...
...Versatile...
...Tough...

Jim Brown often played out of the fullback slot...Meaning, he often didn't have the luxury of a lead blocker...Considering the time period, c'mon guys...Even consider the fact that the equipment players used is undoubtedly inferior to the equipment used today...

Dude didn't miss a game...

WTF..? You mean to tell me, that you would ignore the fact that most teams in that day were run oriented, and he was THE DOMINANT player in his era...I played ball in high school, which isn't a comparison, but still...Do you have any idea how hard it is run against an 8 man front.....FROM THE FULL BACK position..? Do you know what kind of vision, speed burst, and strength you need to have 98% of your yards come AFTER contact..? Those same traits apply to his skill as a blocker...Oh yeah, and he caught passes...

Also...Lets talk sports politics, which can't be ignored either...He was voted MVP of the league no less than twice, during a time where black people couldn't even drink out of the same water fountain as white people, and he was LOVED in Ohio..? Shit, Ohio is almost as racist as Mississippi...Cleveland is in the news right now, about racist behavior...Then, quit in the prime of his career, and went to Hollywood to become the first actor to do an interracial scene..? Get an idea about what that says for his character and his precense...People thought about this guy on and off the field the way they felt about Michael Jordan on the court...

Like I said, if you want to talk numbers and numbers only, I won't argue...But the only thing bad you can say about Jim Brown, and this is only if you are looking for something, is that the Browns didn't win a Superbowl, but neither did Barry, Walter had 1, and Emmit had record setting players all around him...

Jim Brown never played on a loosing team, either...

Take this into consideration...Jim Brown's best season running the ball was in 1963...These are the numbers:

Year | Games | Rushes Yards Average Touchdowns | YPG
1963 | 14 | 291 1863 6.4 12 | 133


The person behind him, Jim Taylor (A 5 time pro-bowler himself)
|1963 | 14 | 248 1018 4.1 9 | 72

The other contestants:

Walter's best season:
| 1977 chi | 14 | 339 1852 5.5 14 | 132

Barry's best season:
| 1997 det | 16 | 335 2053 6.1 11 | 128

Emmitt's best season:
| 1995 dal | 16 | 377 1773 4.7 25 | 110

Next topic... /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

Wow....why to prove your point Big A. I think you might have convinced me...almost....I'm torn between Barry and him...

^^

LoL, I'm almost impossible to rupture in a good debate, which is why I don't do it often...Proving a point means covering alot of ground...But this is a GREAT topic, hats off to you for creating it...I've been in this thread all day, cDR..!!

When it came down to it, what put him over others was his overall versatility...He is as big as some linebackers, and beyond that, he was a fullback, and a rather nasty blocker and runner...Dude scared people, and that's just the gist of it...

As a pure runner, Barry is it hands down...But being the best means you cover all grounds...IMO, the only player to compare, even before I did the number research, was Sweetness...JB got the edge over him (Remember I am a Chicago Native, and a DIE HARD Bears fan) on the size, toughness, and durability tip...Sweetness had a nasty attitude, and ran hard, and the highstepping will never be seen in the league again...

Jim Brown dominated his era, and in the era, that was an exceptional feat...He left little to be desired as a FOOTBALL player, let alone a running back...



Again, great topic, keep 'em comin'...