The Unofficial theHogs.net All-Time Team: Runningback

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:18 pm

Congratulations to last week's winner, Joe Montana!

The Unofficial theHogs.net All-Time Team thus far:

QB: Joe Montana

I wanted to distinguish between halfbacks and fullbacks, but that proved to be very difficult, so the top two vote getters will share the All-Time backfield.

I don't have the time to give you a bio on every player, so I'm just going to go out on a limb and assume everyone has heard of these guys. I might post something later on them.

Thanks for voting!

General Failure · Post by **General Failure** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:20 pm

I went with Barry. He may have lost a lot of yards on his way to getting all those positive yards, but he sure was fun to watch. Would have shattered the rushing record if he had swallowed his pride and played for the Lions, so I give him some credit for that too.

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:22 pm

Definately Barry Sanders. All of these backs are great, but had he not retired early, he would have crushed the all time yardage record.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:50 pm

It should be remembered that Jim Brown, who retired with the career rushing record, only played nine seasons before he left for Hollywood to do movies (including two of the greatest movies ever, "The Dirty Dozen" and "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka".

Due to the shorter seasons, his career numbers fall short of Sanders, but his 104 yards a game is slightly higher than Barry's 99 ypg...

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:52 pm

I think they go Sanders, Brown, Payton, Sayers, other. Funny how they all played in the frozen tundras of the upper midwest.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:59 pm

Except Barry, who played on the air conditioned astroturf of the Pontiac Dome...

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 3:28 pm

Well, yes, that is true. Thanks for pointing that out. But, I heard sometimes they turn the air conditioning way down, to give it that frozen tundra feel....

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 11:10 pm

Who voted for Emmitt?

Gambit...?

DEHog · Post by **DEHog** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 6:45 am

I never saw him play but the numbers he put up in 6 years were amazing. The moves he made were ahead of his time. Had he played 12 years he would be the all time leading rusher...Gale Sayers. Jim Brown and Barry were in the same league as well.

redskincity · Post by **redskincity** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:41 am

Jim was ahead of his time.

Bo jackson was the best ever and a guy like him shows up every 100 years.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:07 am

If it weren't for the injury, I have no doubt Bo would have been on this list. The very fact that he considered football his second sport shows how amazing he was...

Amberion · Post by **Amberion** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:49 am

I voted for sweetness, the man could do it all Run, Catch, throw, block, and always doing it with class and style

If i had a second vote I would have picked Barry

Deadskins · Post by **Deadskins** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:14 am

Jim Brown was in a class by himself. He would run over people, but also had the speed to run around them. Barry Sanders was probably the best at making would-be tacklers miss. O.J. was the best at running through airports, and later, from the law. :roll:

I think Earl Campbell should be included in your poll. He was just so damn fun to watch.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:12 pm

Earl Campbell was also great. There are so many great runningbacks that I couldn't list. Bo Jackson, Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson. I think Herschel Walker is one of the top 10 runningbacks of all time.

Just as a reminder, I used the NFL 75th anniversery team for the nominees:

http://www.nfl.com/history/legends/75th-anniversary

That took place in 1994, so I added Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith because of their accomplishments that took place afterwards.

To be honest, I'm really suprised Barry is doing so well in the poll. I believe Jim Brown is the best ever, but I though Walter Payton would win the poll...

REDEEMEDSKIN · Post by **REDEEMEDSKIN** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:29 pm

Too bad

isn't allowed in this competition, yet. But he's got great credentials in my book. http://www.christianitytoday.com/sports/features/athletes/articles/football-runningforhelp.html

So, I voted for OJ. I mean, his ability to shake off murder charges is a testament to his on-the-field ability to juke, shake, and shimmy away from defenders.

NC43Hog · Post by **NC43Hog** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:55 pm

Well after Larry Brown (who took a beating under G. Allen) and John Riggins, I would have to vote for Jim Brown. Most folks in this forum never saw the man run and let me tell you he was a beast. Next is Sanders - the complete opposite of JB, his goal was to make you miss, even if he had to run 10 yards backwards to do it. Gale Sayers never really looked like he was running - just gliding/skating his way down the field. Bo may have been the best of them all if he had stayed healthy - heck he may have been the best pure athlete of all time - baseball, football, track - a pure joy to watch.

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:34 pm

Why didn't we get 16 choices like last time?

I voted for Barry, though I almost didn't just because he didn't max out his career like he could have--whatever problems may have caused this. I don't believe in giving someone 'best ever' credentials for potential, yet in my book Sanders still did enough to earn the title of best ever.

Now, if we were talking Tecmo SuperBowl then Bo Jackson would definitely be my choice.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:36 pm

FanfromAnnapolis wrote:Why didn't we get 16 choices like last time?

Don't tempt me...

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 6:10 pm

So, I voted for OJ. I mean, his ability to shake off murder charges is a testament to his on-the-field ability to juke, shake, and shimmy away from defenders.

The man was a beast! All of that translates right off of the field into the real world. Shoot, whenever my Boss says "Allen, you're late!", I just stiff arm him in the face, spin off of the LOS server and hipstep to my desk!

I voted for Barry, I dont even know how to describe him. He was just a phenom and I don't think we'll see another one in our lifetimes.

General Failure · Post by **General Failure** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 6:23 pm

Looks like there's a visible generation gap here. I didn't expect this to be a two horse race at all, I figured Payton would get a few votes.

I hope I didn't confuse anyone who read the pre-edit version. :shock:

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 6:48 pm

This is actually working out very nicely. Jim Brown was a fullback, and Barry Sanders is definetly a tailback. Can you even imagine that backfield?

General Failure · Post by **General Failure** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:44 pm

I thought Barry played most of his career without a blocker.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:52 pm

He sure didn't need one, it would probably just get in his way...

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:47 am

General Failure wrote:I thought Barry played most of his career without a blocker.

Yeah, including his offensive line.

gambit187 · Post by **gambit187** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 9:53 am

No i voted for Walter Payton

Emmitt was good but he had supporting Cast members

Sanders was good , but he never showed up for big games and he was not a leader. He did not inspire others around him to achieve greatness.

Walter Payton was the man

R.I.P. Sweetness

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The Unofficial theHogs.net All-Time Team: Runningback

Who is the greatest runningback of all-time?

The Unofficial theHogs.net All-Time Team: Runningback