Who are your 5 favorite running backs?

[mix]

In no particular order, Emmitt Smith, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen, and Bo Jackson.

I admire Smith's toughness and elusiveness, Dickerson's grace and gait, Campbell's blunt force, Allen's slyness and speed, and Jackson's power and electricity.

Emmitt Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvEXqWcouBg
Eric Dickerson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i10sc5tpPo
Earl Campbell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV4hQJelXBQ
Marcus Allen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsfXIBEJxBs
Bo Jackson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjO_QfFYV78&feature=related

[madinmaryland]

1. No OJ Simpson??

[mix]

2. Check out Bo Jackson

demolishing Brian Bosworth at the 50 second mark...never liked the juice.

Emmitt's highlights are insane: acceleration, changing direction, balance, blocking, he had it all.

[Twillig]

11. That Bo Jackson "demolishing" of Bosworth is the most overrated thing in all of sports!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=215&topic_id=121438

I repeat myself.

Bo Jackson scores a touchdown. Bosworth doesn't stop him short. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz :boring:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLmpjg4UhdE&feature=rela...

Adrian Peterson (you've seen it, now see it again) runs a guy over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D65TCM3QhrQ&feature=related
I love the primal scream at the end of it. Then, as his reward, they put in freakin' Chester Taylor..

(edit, replaced it. Nevermind!) (note: the Adrian Peterson trucking of the P. Steeler db Gay is gone from UTube)

I'll never understand it. He goes 1v1 with a linebacker and wins. Too easy.

[mix]

16. steamrolled and mowed down! nt

[JonLP24]

3. No Barry Sanders?

Terrell Davis
Barry Sanders
Walter Payton(even though I never seen him play)
LaDanian Tomlinson
Chris "Beanie" Wells (I know wtf right? He plays for my team and he is explosive)

[TZ]

4. Barry Sanders is my second favorite behind

John Riggins..Yeah,I know I'm a homer, but he was really great fun to watch. I have that fourth down play in SBXVII as a favorite memory.
So 2 is Barry Sanders, 3 Walter Payton, 4 Terrell Davis (I have Denver relatives and I was happy to see them finally win a SB) and 5) Icky Woods...just cause he was fun...

[mix]

17. Yeah, Sanders is a great one, no doubt. nt

[caraher]

19. Sanders had some of the most exciting 3-yard gains of all time

Imagine if he'd played on a team that had a clue about how to use him. The Lions too often took the ball out of Barry's hands when they were behind in the second half, as if they couldn't figure out that he was their big-play threat.

[mix]

20. Why did he walk away from the game?

Frustration with the organization?

[caraher]

22. He never talked much...

but that was my own feeling. If they were winning I think he would have kept on playing.

on edit: Wikipedia says,

Several years after retirement, and repeated refusals to discuss the abruptness of it, Sanders finally admitted that the culture of losing in the Lions' organization was too much to deal with even though he said that he could still play. He explained that it robbed him of his competitive spirit, and he saw no reason to believe things were going to improve. He also stated that there were tears in his eyes as the Lions lost the final game of his career the season before he left, because he knew in his heart he was never going to play another NFL game - "I sobbed for 3 months."

Yep, that's the Lions tradition I grew up with... never quite awful, never quite good. More recently, of course, they seem to have turned the corner in the direction of consistent awfulness.

[caraher]

32. Barry Sanders: home run hitter

Highlights including many spectacular negative-yardage plays

He really carried that team on his shoulders so many times...

[Forkboy]

5. Payton x5.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Good choices. nt

[mix]

15. True,

Payton was a great one, definitely in the same league as Emmitt.

:P

[Captain Hilts]

6. Jim Brown. Gale Sayers, Larry Brown, John Riggins, Bo Jackson. nt

[Forkboy]

8. Sayers was amazing

When I was a kid my friend's father had all these 8mm tapes of NFL games, almost all the Bears and Packers from the late 60's, so that was sadly all I got to really see of him. I read a book by Butkus and he goes into how amazing Sayers was. Wish I had been around then to see him more.

[Captain Hilts]

10. Sweetness is the only one who compares. nt

[Poiuyt]

24. Sayers is my choice for the greatest ever.

Damn, he was good! Fast and smooth. I remember watching those Bear/Packer games and Sayers just seemed to glide past everyone.

BTW, I would love to see those films!

[Forkboy]

25. I would kill to get my hands on those tapes again.

As a kid I never asked where the father even got them, but I know he was from the Chicago area. I'd love to know the story behind them.

[madinmaryland]

26. Call Belicheck. He probably has them..

[Forkboy]

28. I didn't know the '68 Bears were on their schedule.

:)

[H2O Man]

36. Great choices.

There are a number of interesting responses on this thread. I like this one the best.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. A Better Football Player, Though

Smith and Payton are comparable as runners, but Walter was the best overall football player i've ever seen.

Remember the "rollerdome" game? On McMahon 2nd long TD pass in two plays, Payton ANNIHILATED a blitzing linebacker with what might be the best block ever thrown by a skill player. While it was a great route by Gault, and a perfect throw by Jimmy Mac, Walter was the difference between touchdown and dead quarterback.

Overall, IMO, he was the best all around player ever.
GAC

[madinmaryland]

9. Marion Barber III, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice.

:popcorn:

[mix]

14. I'll take Choice from that list. nt

[hughee99]

12. Rashan Saalam, Ki-Jana Carter, Curtis Enis, Lawrence Phillips, and Maurice Clarett.

Not really my favorites, but just to be an A-hole, I thought I'd bring back a bunch of bad memories for everyone.

Mine are
Barry Sanders
Earl Campbell
Walter Payton
Bo Jackson
Herschel Walker

[madinmaryland]

13. Herschel Walker is at the top of my list, also! He brought us THREE

Super Bowl Wins!

:D

[KamaAina]

43. In the same millennium Sayers and Jim Brown played in

:boring:

[BulletproofLandshark]

18. My five

Barry Sanders
Marshall Faulk
Eric Dickerson
John Riggins
Terrell Davis

[Elwood P Dowd]

21. How about the best 5 you saw play in person?

After over 50 years of watching football, mine would be.......

Bo Jackson
Herschel Walker
Emmitt Smith
Earl Campbell
Ronnie Brown

I saw all of these guys play in college. Paul Horning once said Bo had the talent to be the best there ever was. Baseball and the hip injury ruined that. Ronnie is also injury plagued in the NFL.

[JonLP24]

23. At the stadium?

If so my list changes.

It would have to be...
J.R. Redmond (Arizona State '96)
Reggie Bush (twice-USC vs ASU '05 and New Orleans vs Seattle '07) I also saw Lendale White in that game playing for USC. He was good too, ASU blew a 21-3 lead x()
Emmitt Smith (Dallas vs Arizona '97)
Jerome Bettis (Pittsburgh vs Arizona '97)
Jamal Anderson (Atlanta vs Arizona '97-season tickets that year)

I totally forgot when they moved the Dolphins and Chargers game to Sun Devil Stadium(Tempe,AZ) some years ago due to wildfires in the San Diego area and admission was free which I attended. Which means I can keep LaDanian Tomlinson on my list. :)

I just checked, Ricky Williams played in that game for the Dolphins so I'll likely have to go with this

Ricky Williams
LaDanian Tomlinson
Emmitt Smith
Jerome Bettis
Jamal Anderson are the 5 best I seen in person.

[El Supremo]

27. Here are the best:

1. Earl Campbell
2. Ricky Williams
3. Cedric Benson
4. Roosevelt Leaks
5. Steve Worster

But Jim Brown says he's the best.

[SydneyBristow]

29. Right now my fave is J-Stew!!

Go Ducks! Go Panths! 100+ yards and 2 tds against "the wall" and Jared Allen. Heehee!

Syd

[JonLP24]

31. First time this season I seen the Panthers passing game click like this

21/33 299 yards 9.1 YPA 3 touchdowns for Matt Moore. This could spell the end for Delhomme at Carolina.

Also I credit Stewart, first 100 yard rusher against Minnesota in 36 games.

[Bluzmann57]

30. My five.

Walter Payton. Quite simply the best ever. Even when the Bears stunk, it was Payton left, Payton right, Payton up the middle, Payton every play and they still couldn't stop him.
Barry Sanders. Would run ten yards backwards to gain five and was nearly impossible to tackle.
Earl Campbell. Big, strong, powerful and fast.
Jim Brown. The gold standard by which all others have been measured.
Eric Dickerson. Just a hell of a running back who doesn't get enough credit, imo.

[Onceuponalife]

33. Mine are...

Barry Sanders
Marshall Faulk
Jim Brown
Walter Payton
Emmitt Smith

in no particualr order

[wilt the stilt]

34. Jim Brown and Gale Sayers should be on everyone's list

these two redefined running and both would be great today. Brown was a giant in his time. He weighed 230lbs when linemen weighed 250. He ran a 9.9 hundred yard dash. Name a big man that fast(riggins was that fast). Sayers had moves that even in today's world would be eye opening(on youtube. He also could really throw the ball and was a great pass catcher.

One more piece- look at highlights of Butkus on youtube- unbeleievable

[Captain Hilts]

35. Absolutely. They set the standards for the two kinds of backs. nt

[trumad]

37. Barry Sanders

[PRETZEL]

38. Since it's no particular order,

Larry Czonka. Made the fullback more than a smaller version of a lineman.

Jim Brown. Could out run you or just run you over.

Gale Sayers. Best vision ever.

Barry Sanders. Nobody had better feet.

Adrian Peterson. Even though he's only been in the league a couple of years. Barring injuries he will remind alot of people of how Jim Brown played the game.

[jmc]

40. Favorite, but not necessarily the best...

No order...

Terrell Davis - As a Denver fan still holding on to past glory, I can't look past TD. He finally got Elway his rings. His career was short, but it was indeed impressive.

Mike Anderson - I just loved his story. Didn't play football in high-school, was in the marching band (drumline) instead. Started to play some pick-up games in the Marines, and next thing he knew he was a lead back for Utah, then Denver.

LaDainian Tomlinson - He has kicked the life out of Denver so many times that I just have to respect him.

Walter Payton - ummm... he was Walter Payton. That is enough.

Barry Sanders - ummm... He was Barry Sanders. That is enough.

[JonLP24]

41. You list is similar to mine

Minus Mike Anderson we're 4/4.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[jmc]

42. 4/4 is pretty good

I did not and do not expect anyone to go with Mike Anderson, but the story keeps him on my list. From marching band to the NFL. Talk about seeing it all!
Thanks for the welcome - I think I'll like it here!