Earl Campbell was the best I ever saw. He could run by you and over you. I know his style didn't provide for longevity, but he was unstoppable in his relatively short career. His style also left him suffering for life.

Thurman Thomas deserves mention as well. He may have been the most versatile back in the league during his tenure. Somehow he gets left out when talking about the greats. I think Bryan Cox is still chasing him somewhere.

Someone joked about Cecil, but I was there for that training camp and he showed so much potential it was scary. I just knew we had found our back of the future while we all chanted "Cecil Diesel". Too bad that guy's head wasn't on straight because he could have been great.

we are forgetting:
--mark higgs
--irving spikes
--lorenzo hampton
--sammie smith
--joe carter

seriously, no one thinks bo jackson was all that? he was huge and the fastest guy I've ever seen in the nfl--he made everyone else look like they were standing still. I know he doesn't have the numbers b/c of his injuries and career choices, but when he did play--wow. And did you see him in tecmo bowl??!!

I would say it is a toss up between Walter Payton, Barry Sanders or Bo Jackson, to say one of those guys was better to watch then another is just to hard of a call to make.

PS- I was not lucky enough to see Mecury Morris or Jim Brown run but I know alot of old timers would swear by those 2

.....BO Jackson in Nintendos Tecmo Bowl One was insane he could run laps up and down the entire football field and then score.....lol

I would have to say that the greatest running back I saw was Orenthal James Simpson.

My criteria, I saw OJ made moves that I have only seen dogs make. I saw one at Strawberry Canyon at Berkeley when he was playing for S.C. I saw it time and again as a Dolphin fan. You know how dogs can be running in one direction at top speed, slant and in one extra step regenerate top speed going in another direction. OJ did that.

Now, I recognized Jim Brown's and Larry Csconka's power, I recognized Walter Payton's grace, I remember Tony Dorsett's quickness to the line of scrimmage, and Gale Sayers and Ernie Davis's tenures were too brief.

But as much as we may hate the murderer, O.J. Simpson was the greatest running back in college/pro football history.

I didn't know we were talking about Techmo Bowl. Then how about Christian Okoye. I dominated with the Chiefs. Okoye on offense and Thomas on defense was tough to beat.

The Nigerian Nightmare... had his run in Tecmo for sure.....that is funny, but then again that All History 85 Bears team with Payton in the FIrst Madden was pretty sick. but no one touches BO in Tecmo one..... back on topic...
I agree as much as I despise the guy OJ should be considered.....but I never saw him at least that I remeber.. when was the last game OJ played against the dolphins at home in the Orange Bowl?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2009 03:28PM by Crowder52.

berkeley223 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> we are forgetting:
> --mark higgs
> --irving spikes
> --lorenzo hampton
> --sammie smith
> --joe carter
>
I always liked Troy Stratford and Terry Kirby.

JIM BROWN. It isn't even close. Imagine ZONK cloned w/MERCURY, or maybe T DORSETT. Then, you'd at least be close: not quite as great, but close.
It's really difficult to imagine, for those who never saw JIM BROWN play, because you have to imagine ZONK and MERCURY MORRIS occupying the same body at the same time.

I doubt that we'll EVER see anyone like JIM BROWN again.

TERRY KIRBY
JOHN AVERY


seriously though, that I have actually watched: Barry Sanders. E. Smith had the best line in the game, so that is a discount. Ricky Williams the year he had over 1800 was phenomenal as well. Lamar Smith's 200+ in the playoff game vs the Colts was the best individual performance I've seen for a dolphin.

LUDUPORCU, I was 9-12 and remember seeing Jim Brown play. He was my best friend's favorite player and we watched him on TV all the time. My best buddy was our fullback on the midget team (in the 50's, the fullback was, because of Jim Brown, the premier runner on the team when everybody played the strict "T" formation with the fullback in the middle and a half back on both sides). I was the center who blocked for my best friend.

Still, like you say, "it's not even close." Although I agree Jim Brown had the power of the Zonk combined the speed of Mercury Morris, I again ask, "Have you ever tried to tackle a dog?" That's why OJ not only broke, but literally destroyed all of Jim Brown's rushing records in a later era where defensive players were bigger and faster than Jim Brown. You have to remember that Jim Brown was as big and much faster than defensive linemen of his time, which accounted for much of his success. OJ was smaller than the defensive linemen of his day but again, his animal-like moves made him virtually untackleable.

I'm just trying to get people to remember the OJ before the murders and look at his skills dispassionately.

Barry Sanders, incredible numbers , terrible team.

I agree OJ was awesome. I used to love to watch him play and his effortless running style. Too bad he played for the Jills.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

I truly believe if Ricky Williams would have a normal brain he might would have went down as the greatest RB. He has every skill that all the other great RB's had.

In 2003 he had 1,853 yards rushing behind a putrid O-line. If he had those Cowboy lines he would have rushed for 2,500+. Anyways, sad we will never see the true greatness or RW in a longevity point. His 1 or 2 years of greatness are not nowhere enough to put him in the talk.

---------------------

"When you suck long enough, you get a Hickey"

Aqua&Orange Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I truly believe if Ricky Williams would have a
> normal brain he might would have went down as the
> greatest RB. He has every skill that all the other
> great RB's had.
>
> In 2003 he had 1,853 yards rushing behind a putrid
> O-line. If he had those Cowboy lines he would have
> rushed for 2,500+. Anyways, sad we will never see
> the true greatness or RW in a longevity point. His
> 1 or 2 years of greatness are not nowhere enough
> to put him in the talk.


True...but I don't know about the 2,500 yards.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

eesti Wrote:
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> I agree OJ was awesome. I used to love to watch
> him play and his effortless running style. Too
> bad he played for the Jills.

Not too bad in my book--the way his future turned out I'm glad he didn't play for us, even though he was a great runner.

As a kid I enjoyed watching us beat the crap out of OJ and the Jills on a regular basis. In '72 in the OB I saw our phins hold his murdering butt to less than 60 yards, while Csonka doubled his total.

Walter Payton #1, He never ran out of bounds! His line was crap most of his career.

Sanders #2, incredible big play potential with his ability to make guys miss.

After that its hard to say who is better.

eesti Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> OJ Simpson
> Eric Dickerson
> Jim Brown
> Marshall Faulk
> Earl Campbell

Okay, the old guy has an opinion on this too.

OJ, not. OJ was a great running back with a big problem. He did not block and was not a factor in the passing game. Enough said.

Eric was great but got tied up in himself.

Jim Brown. By far the greatest back ever. If he played today he would prove again that he was the best ever. He did it all. At 6'3" 230lbs he had both speed and power. He could block and catch. Today he would be the biggest threat of all.

Faulk, great but not quite where you have him.

Campbell, power plus speed. Tough as all hell. I hated him for what he did to our Phins, but must admit he was one hell of a back. Problem is, he had boards for hands.

Csonka. He is the only back that I know of that you could form an offense around. He was a football players football player. The toughest man ever to play in a backfield. Greatest back? No, but I still love him. Today he would be the blocking FB or TE. He could play.

Walter Payton. Second only to Jim Brown

Reppa...come on man. In 75 OJ had 426 yards receiving and 7 TD's receiving. He had 343 yards in his rookie year.

I just mentioned the players that were better than Smith. They were in no particular order.

I love Csonka. He is my favorite back of all time....but he never caught the ball.

Jim Brown was Awesome. He was a man among boys...literally. He was more physically gifted than anyone he played against. He was running a 4.5 when safeties were still running 4.8's. 1957? Look at the old films. Most of those guys looked like they were in their 40's when they were 21 years old. They were not the athletes as we have today. They were not groomed from 5 years old as they are today.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers