Greatest Running Back EVER is...

And now, the Greatest RB ever!

I think I have kinda toyed around with you guys enough, we might as well reveal who THE greatest running back in the NFL is.

Remember folks, this started out as the top 25 running backs in the history of the NFL as of 2008, and that is subject to change every season. As time goes on, there will be better players as some of the best begin to slip in the rankings.

Remember also, that my rankings are based on four basic elements: Team accomplishments, Individual Stats, Individual Awards and a penalty for Era adjustment. I went through 63 of the best known running backs in the history of the NFL and ran each through my formula of Team Accomplishment pts + Individual Stats pts + Individual Awards pts and then subtracted the Era Adjustment from the sub total. From this I got my final number and ranked the running backs according to that total.

My scores ranged from zero to over 78. Of course, if you read my last blog on the greatest running backs ever, you know that Jim Brown was listed at #1 with 78 points. When I started this countdown, I had Ladainain Tomlinson at #25 with 28 points. So you can see that there is a 50 point difference between Jim Brown and LT.

Throughout my series of the best running backs ever, I listed several others who didn’t make the list. Before I reveal the Greatest Running Back Ever, I’d like to share a few more that were good, even great, but didn’t make my list, and why:

Tiki Barber: 16 points

Obviously I am sure Tiki Barber wished he had stayed with the Giants just a little longer, if he had won the Superbowl last year it might have put him very close to being on the all time list. But Tiki didn’t score well in the Individual Awards category, with only 3 points. He wasn’t as well decorated as many of the other running backs. His yards per carry was very good, and he is on the top 20 all time in rushing yards. The individual stats element was his strongest point with only 8 points. He does get 5 points for playing in a past Superbowl, but collectively it just wasn’t enough to say he was on the great list. A very good player, yes, but greatest, no.

Bo Jackson: 12 points

Bo knew a lot of things, but sadly he didn’t know how long his career would last when he got that injury that ended not one, but two careers. I still have some of his baseball cards. He was a great player, and tack on that fact that he was playing for my Raiders was incentive enough for me to make him one of my favorite players. But Bo Jackson didn’t make the list simply because his longevity was cut short by his hip injury. He still ranks at the top with yards per carry, and is really his strongest point in this ranking. He gets 2 points for playing in a conference championship and only 1 point for individual awards, plus the 10 points for individual stats. He loses one point for era adjustment so only has 12 points. If I did a top 40 all time, he’d still not make the list.

Chuck Foreman: 27 points

Fans of the old school Minnesota Vikings know this name very well, and Chuck Foreman saw the Superbowl a few times, but just barely missed the cut for the top 25 all time. Why? Well, remember that my #25 was Ladainain Tomlinson with 28 points, so Chuck missed it by the slimmest of margins. Without the era adjustment of -2 points, he would have had 29 points instead of 27. But what also hurts Chuck Foreman is the fact that in the Individual Stats element, he gets no points at all. He’s not on the top 30 all time in rushing or yardage, and averages under 4.2 yards per carry. As I mentioned before, he has seen a lot of post season games and has been “to the top of the mountain”. He just never won a Superbowl. By a paper-thin margin, Chuck Foreman missed my cut.

Now, it’s time to reveal the GREATEST Running Back of our time…at least until someone else takes that spot.

THE GREATEST RUNNING BACK: Emmitt Smith: 88 points

It seems that every era produces a great back, and the 90’s produced the best running back the history of the NFL has ever seen in Emmitt Smith. I never got to see Jim Brown play, but I know he was great. I barely got to see Franco Harris play, and I know he was great. But I DID get to see Emmitt Smith play and I know he is the greatest running back the NFL has ever seen.

Emmitt Smith scored 10 points more than Jim Brown, and I realize that many are questioning the logic. Here’s why Emmitt Smith is the greatest ever:

He did not score the highest score in the Team Accomplishments element, in fact 7 other players on my list of 63 scored higher than he did. But he got 32 points in this element because he did go to, and win three Superbowls as well as going to a conference championship and losing that one. But no one is going to question his value to the team, in fact one year there was a contract dispute between Emmitt Smith and owner Jerry Jones. Emmitt sat out because he was not getting his fair share, and apparently Jerry Jones felt that the Dallas Cowboys could win without Emmitt. After losing the first couple of games, there was a report of a VERY angry Charles Haley, who supposedly smashed his helmet into the wall, demanding that SOMEBODY (hint, Jerry Jones) to get Emmitt Smith back on the team. It was reported that Jerry Jones was nearby when that tantrum happened, and was moved to pay Emmitt what he was worth…he was rewarded with a Superbowl that same year.

In the Individual Stats element, Emmitt Smith scored 21 out of 30 points. He is, at this moment THE all time leader in yardage AND touchdowns. He got 10 points each for those two categories and 1 point because his yards per carry was the very minimum to score, at 4.2. Only the great Jim Brown scores more in this element, and only by one point. Remember, a great player has to get his team to the promised land AND win, as well as making an individual mark as one of the greatest backs ever by his stats.

Finally, there is the Individual Awards element, which shows how much the league recognized his talents. Emmitt Smith scores 32 points in this element because Mr. Smith was clearly seen as the jewel of the NFL on “America’s Team”. But like the Team Accomplishments, Emmitt Smith was not the leader in this element either. Seven other running backs had more points in this element than Smith, including Marshall Faulk with 34 points, Earl Campbell with 37 points and again, Jim Brown with 41 points. But how many people can say they accumulated the NFL rushing crown, the NFL MVP, a Superbowl Trophy AND become the Superbowl MVP all in the same year….

Nobody.

So the argument would be, side by side, why is Emmitt Smith better than Franco Harris? Franco won more Superbowls, right? That is true, but Smith eclipses Harris in both Individual Stats and the Individual Awards element, and then there is that -2 for era adjustment.

So why is Emmitt Smith better than Jim Brown? Surely it might appear that I am penalizing Brown because he never played in a Superbowl. Not true, remember, I award 10 points to winners of the Superbowl AND I also award 10 points to running backs who won the NFL Championship before there was a Superbowl. Jim Brown and the Browns won the title twice…Emmitt Smith won it three times.

And as I mentioned, Jim Brown edges Emmitt Smith by one point in the Individual Stats category, but scores 9 points more in the Individual Awards element. But the era adjustment subtracts 4 points from Jim Brown, whereas Emmitt Smith suffers no penalty.

The difference between Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith is 10 points…the difference of Emmitt Smith’s third Superbowl victory. So the greatest running back of all time…for now, is Emmitt Smith.

I really hope you had some fun with this, remember folks, this is just my opinion based on some ideas, I understand that if 100 people did a similar ranking it would be different 100 times. But I wanted to do more than just SAY who the best were, I wanted to give a case for each, and why they were great. As I said before, this is not meant to disrespect those that have been our childhood favorites or current favorites. We all have players we tend to like more than others. My favorite NFL teams are the Raiders (ugh) and the Saints, so I had to keep my feelings in check on these rankings.

So there it is, the greatest running back of all time…for now. Who knows what the next 5 years will bring? Right now, I have one, maybe two players that are still active. Ladainain Tomlinson at #25 is still active, so he can move up with time, and IF Shaun Alexander has not retired, then he could possibly move up. That means that this may be set in stone for awhile. But for now, my pick for the Greatest Running Back EVER is Emmitt Smith.