Greatest RBs ever...#8, #7, #6...

Greatest Rbs ever…#8, #7, #6...

So now we inch closer and closer to the proverbial “Greatest Running Back EVER”…

Before we continue, I wanted to revisit the reasoning I used to come up with this list. I realize there may be 100 or more different ways to do this, but it just seems to me that when you really sit down and think about it, there has to be some acceptable form of elements that truly make a great running back, and then there are factors that separate the greatest from the rest of that pack.

Consider how many running backs have played at least a year in the NFL. There is no way I could sit down and go over every single back, but then, I would not need to. Many people already have ideas of what makes a guy great, so from that list I can put together my ranking, based on four basic elements.

The first is team accomplishments. As I said before, if you are great, then your team must be great. This is a team sport, so team goals are critical to determine if a running back is good, very good, great or the greatest. I give points for three parts of this element. If a back has won a Superbowl (or NFC Championship prior to the Superbowl era) I give him 10 points PER Championship. If he got there, but lost, I give him 5 points. If he made it to the semi finals (or the AFC/NFC Championship in the Superbowl era) I give him 2 points for each game. So a back can score 0 points if he never got his team in these fields, or over 40, depending on what his team did.

The second is Individual stats. Team stuff is cool, but you still gotta separate yourself from the pack. It proves that you weren’t a by-product of the system, and establishes you as the best in your position. I award points in three categories of this element; total yards gained, touchdowns and average yards per carry. If any back is the best in any of those categories, I give him 10 points for each category. If he is in the top 5, I award 7 points. If in the top 10, I give him 5 points. If a running back is in the top 20 all time I give him 3 points, and if he is in the top 30 he gets 1 point.

This means that the max points a back can get in this element is 30, and of course the minimum being 0. You’ll find that many of the great ones are usually somewhere in the middle of this element.

The third element is Individual awards. This is kinda tricky because nowdays they come up with all kinds of ways to award players. I mean, McDonalds could have a “Happy Meal Player of the Year” and create some award that looks like a burger. So what I did was narrow the awards to the main ones. I awarded 10 points each time a player got the MVP award or Superbowl MVP award. This is the highest honor the NFL can bestow. I know there are others, but these are the best ones. I then award 7 points for Offensive MVP for each year a player wins it. I also awarded 5 points for the AFC and NFC Player of the Year, and 2 points for the Rookie of the Year. I know a couple of these awards have been changed, but in the bulk of the NFL history, these were important. I also award one point for every Pro-Bowl a player has been selected to. Whether he goes or not is up to him but he was selected.

This means that one can rack up a lot of great points. Many of the great ones will shine in this element.

And finally there is the Era Adjustment. Simply put, I deduct one point for every decade since the player has retired, starting with the 90’s. For example, if a running back retired in 1987, then I have to deduct 2 points from his total score. Why? Because the running theory (fact?) is that players today are better in nearly every way than those before them. I don’t think we’re gonna get an argument that guys playing today, 2008 are equal or lesser than guys that played back in 1948. Players today are bigger, faster, meaner and more skilled than those before them. So a player can lose as much as 7 or 8 points if he is on this list. If a player has retired in 2000 or is still playing, he loses no points. There is no penalty for anyone who has left the game from 2000 to now.

So, having shared that, let’s continue the countdown!

#8 Barry Sanders: 55 points

I have several football cards of Barry Sanders, and I am wishing that one day I can sell them and buy a yacht! This guy was THE face of the Detroit Lions and clearly one of the greatest running backs to ever suit up. It’s actually amazing that he and Thurman Thomas were actually in the same backfield in college. This quite machine was the fear of every defensive back, and even when the Lions were no good, everybody knew that Barry Sanders was going to be fed the ball…and yet, they STILL could not stop him. When he retired, the city of Detroit hung their collective heads in sorrow. Even the NFL had to pause at the premature retirement of this incredible player. What would have been if he played just another year or two…

Why not higher? This is a tough question for me because before I did this ranking, I would have sworn that Barry Sanders would have been EASILY in the top 5, maybe top 3. But a very key element stands out…team accomplishments. A great player MUST be able to give him team a chance to win championships, or at least get to them. Barry Sanders scores only 2 points in the team accomplishments, and loses one point in era adjustment. The Detroit Lions could never capitalize on this great talent, and wasn’t even going to let him go to another team. I guess misery loves company, but had they given Barry Sanders a chance to go to a WINNING team, he’s EASILY be one of the greatest ever.

Why on the list? This isn’t even a debate, Barry Sanders is one of the greatest ever. He may not have scored well in the team accomplishments element, but NOBODY scored better in the individual stats and he scores a ton of points in the team awards element. If I left out the team accomplishments element, he’d probably be the best on the list. Of all the backs without a Superbowl appearance or NFC Championship experience, he IS the best.

#7 Terrell Davis: 60 points

This one will get some arguments, and I can respect that. But to be considered the greatest, there has to be a some indication of greatness in the three elements. A player like Terrell Davis. If John Elway was reading this, I am pretty sure he would give an “amen” to the fact that Davis was one of the final pieces to the puzzle to not one, but TWO Superbowls. This sixth round draft pick of 1995 helped the Broncos to the Superbowl only a couple of years after he got into the league. In the mid 90’s this was THE best running back in the NFL and the individual awards proved it. Had he not had the injuries, we might have singing his praises even louder.

Why not higher? If there was anything that kept Terrell Davis from being higher, it was the individual stats. Two Superbowl wins gives him 20 points right off the bat, and he was highly decorated with a few MVP awards and other individual awards. In fact he scored 35 points here. If I ranked these guys based on that number, he would be tied for #4. But his shortened career seemed to be the main reason why he is not higher.

Why on the list? There are a lot of people that would be angry that Terrell Davis is above some of the others I have listed. I truly understand that, so I cannot argue, but the reason he is where he is was because when he played, he was great. If I compared him to Barry Sanders, he would be better by team accomplishments by a landslide, and slightly better in individual awards. Part of being great is also making your team great, and say what you want about Terrell Davis, he DID get the Denver Broncos to the Superbowl twice.

#6 Walter Payton: 61 points

“Sweetness” will forever be an icon of the Chicago Bears and easily one of the most beloved running backs of ALL TIME. On that team with a cast of characters, Walter Payton was the shining example of what a profession was about. He made me a fan before the Bears went to the Superbowl, and I personally think Mike Ditka did a grave injustice by not allowing Walter Payton to score a touchdown in the Superbowl. I remember hearing all the fans chanting for Walter Payton to score when the Bears were in the red zone; we ALL wanted Walter Payton to get a touchdown in his only Superbowl…but Ditka didn’t do it. Unless somebody tells me that Sweetness didn’t WANT to score a touchdown, I hold Mike Ditka responsible for not allowing one of the most beloved backs the NFL has ever seen to score a touchdown in the greatest game of his career. I will ALWAYS have respect for Walter Payton.

Why not higher? The actual spots between 5 spots here is paper thin. Walter Payton is one point behind #5, and 2 points behind #4 and #3 (there’s your hint that there is another tie). The reason why Payton isn’t higher is not for what he lacked but simply because the others did a little more. Let’s also add that he lost 2 points by era adjustment. This could have put him in the top 5. He scored 12 points with team accomplishments, but remember for awhile, the Bears were an average team with a great player. It took awhile for Walter Payton and the Bears to get to the promised land. He scores 17 out of 30 in the individual stats and gets 34 points in the individual awards element. This is a great score, it’s just that there are a few that are better…but not many.

Why on the list? Anybody that is on the top 5 in yards and touchdowns MUST be on this list. This cat was a legend and a hero to some of the players playing today. How many running backs playing now had posters of Walter Payton on their wall? If this was a list of the classiest running backs ever, this guy is in my top 3. He is also one of my favorite running backs so I might have a slight bias to him. But Walter Payton is easily one of the greatest ever, and most people won’t argue that at all.

So, we are now about to enter the top 5 running backs of all time. The next three I am going to cover next time are separated by one point. Two are tied and one is just a single point behind.

Remember folks, greatness isn’t JUST about stats, it is about what he adds to a team. A great player has to elevate his team to greatness. In fact, of the top 10, only Barry Sanders is the only running back with no championship awards. This actually speaks greatly to how good this guy was, even though his team was…well…bad.

So as we continue to count it down, we will be revealing even greater running backs of the NFL. Hope you’ll continue to join me. Until next time…..