The Greatest Running Back EVER!
Ok, let’s do something controversial…..
I actually got this idea from something I saw ESPN do last year. They did their “25 greatest college players” and watched in disappointment in how they seemed to come up with names picked out of a hat.
I am not saying those guys listed were not great…but the order they showed them left a LOT to be desired. So I decided to do something similar but with some adjustments.
In a future blog, I am going to count down the greatest running backs in NFL history…and I am doing it by myself…and a formula.
You see, on order to decide who is the best, there has to be a fluid guideline. Fluid in that what is today will not be tomorrow. The best of any sport today is fine, but what happens 10 years from now? Or 5 years from now? Time has a way of changing what we think is the best…
(kinda reminds me of the crappy job VH1 did of the best songs of the 80’s…Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album has at least 2 or 3 songs that should have been number one…but that is for another time…)
So if I am going to make an honest attempt at who the greatest running back in the NFL is, I have to create a formula to test the credibility of the list of greatest running backs. What I did was break up the essence of “greatness” into a few categories, and will award certain points based on each of those factors.
So what ARE those factors? They break down into 4 groups:
1. TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
This is something many people don’t really think about, but simply put, a great player MAKES great teams, or at least makes others great around him. Let’s not forget that in sports, the bottom line has been, and will always be, about winning. Did your favorite running back WIN a Superbowl…or Superbowls? That is part of greatness, the ability to prove that your efforts contributed to the greatest prize in football. THAT is what makes you great.
So what about those who played BEFORE there was a Superbowl? This is actually factored in too, because to me, the championships they had before there was a Superbowl still count as forms of greatness. I cannot penalize Jim Brown because he never had a chance to go to a Superbowl because there wasn’t a Superbowl then.
But we cannot ignore the fact that winning is part of greatness, and the Superbowl is the perfect example of winning. But we also know that some of the best running backs never made it there, so there are points awarded for the losers of Superbowls as well as backs who played in conference championships. I’ll get into more detail on those later once I start with the top running backs.
2. INDIVIDUAL STATS
Well this is pretty obvious too, I mean, to be the greatest running back, you gotta be on some list of the all time best in a few categories, right? Even if you are not #1, you gotta be somewhere on that list. I broke it down into points based on where a back is on the all time lists. If for example you are #1 in a category, you get more points than someone who was in the top 5...or top 10, top 20 or top 30. A running back who is number 4 all time will have more points awarded than one that is #19.
Since we are talking about the greatest running back, we have to place some emphasis on the individual career, not the team. Yes, team success is critical, but the individual stats of a running back separate him from others in that he clearly has stats that prove his ability.
3. INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
You can’t be great if you don’t have any awards, right? I mean, if you think up some of the greatest all time, you know they won some awards throughout their career. What I did was identify about 6 of the biggest awards a running back can win, and will award points for EACH time he has won that award. For example, if a running back won the MVP twice, he gets twice the points as just winning it once.
I also ranked the awards in levels of importance, and placed a set value on each. In my formula, I believe winning an MVP is more important than being selected to the Pro-Bowl. But these things can even out, if for example one running back may have won the MVP once, while another has gone to the Pro-Bowl 8 times. This allows me to have some flexibility in the points.
4. ERA ADJUSTMENT
Now THIS is where things get dicey.
Part of the entire basis of the argument is based on who is the greatest NOW. This is where I think ESPN missed it, because in their list of greatest college players, they named Red Grange as the best of all time.
UH…NOT HARDLY.
Think about what “greatest” means. That means that if you could assemble the greatest college players in one place, right now in 2008, and EACH of those players were at the prime of their career, then by ESPN’s standards, Red Grange, a guy who played DECADES ago, would be better than ANYBODY. I do not want to sound negative against a great player, because Red Grange was great, but nobody sane can tell me that he would be better than ANY other college football player.
That is silly because TIME was never factored. This is what I want to incorporate into my list.
Folks, I want to give you my list of the greatest running backs of all time…but I am limited to only 2008. I cannot tell you what will happen in 2009, or 2019 for that matter. So I can only use history up until now.
But what I am also factoring in is a simple fact…that today’s athletes are BETTER than those before. I am not saying that guys in the NFL right now are better than those who played 3 years ago… but I am saying that the game of football and progressed in every way in the last 70+ years.
Guys are stronger, faster, plays are much more complicated and numerous other factors. Nobody is going to tell me that a running back in 1950 is better than any running back in 1980. Thirty years of football has passed and guys got better, stronger, faster and smarter.
It’s like if you has the ability to go back in time, and get the fastest car in 1965 and bring it to a drag strip to race against the fastest care today…no contest. Even an average car of 1965 stands no chance against an average car of today.
My point here folks is that just as we award greatness, we also have to temper it with time. A great running back of 1976 compared to a great running back of 1996 has twenty years of disadvantage against him. Now, this does NOT mean he is inferior; that is what the other factors are for.
So a part of this formula is to actually SUBTRACT points from running backs depending on the decade they played in or finished their career. For example, there will be no subtraction of points from any athlete who played after 2000. But the further back your favorite running back is, the more points that will be taken away.
This is going to create a big controversy because some will wonder where Jim Brown will fit, or O.J. Simpson. But by my formula, they HAVE to lose points because today’s athlete is built off the former, and they are more knowledgeable to professional football. I am actually very interested in how they will fit as well.
So, there it is…now the real debate…who IS the greatest running back ever? Stay tuned….
Monday, September 22, 2008
Why are the Raiders so BAD?
Why are the Raiders so bad?
You know, it is hard for me to sit here and throw darts at one of my favorite teams. I used to live in California, and the Raiders was the first team I started to like of ALL team sports. I was always a fan of the Raiders and probably will continue, but I cannot separate the other end of this relationship.
Why are the Oakland Raiders so bad? I am blogging on this based on the imminent threat that owner Al Davis is probably going to fire Lane Kiffin probably today…as some sources say. Today I was watching some sports television and they were talking about the Raider situation. I was watching a show on ESPN and they had some guys debating whether this move to fire Kiffin was legit or needed.
I was kinda surprised that nobody was siding with the coach…they all went on Al Davis’ side.
What part of HISTORY were they watching?
They always tell us in school to learn your history or else you are doomed to repeat it…ever since the Raiders went to the Superbowl in 2002, they have consistently repeated history by failing…and doing it MISERABLY.
Yeah, I know I am a Raider fan, but my goodness, can’t people see where the real problem lies? It’s not the coach…it is the owner!
Sometimes owners get to caught up in their own power that they forget how to delegate…isn’t that what a coach is to an NFL team…delegated power from the owners of the teams. Otherwise, Al Davis should just come on down to the field and coach these teams himself.
Again, understand that I am a Raiders fan, but I want my team to win just as much as those guys who dress up in those Road Warrior costumes too. But we keep killing the messenger when he is only delivering the message….take up the problems with the person who wrote that message.
I personally think that those guys on ESPN on “First Take” have totally ignored the history of the Oakland Raiders. Why don’t somebody ask Warren Sapp why he decided to retire…probably had something to do with the fact that the last team he was on, the Raiders, were so poorly prepared that it was a joke.
(I don’t want to put words in Sapp’s mouth…he’s one of my favorite defensive players).
So why are the Raiders so bad? With the current coach apparently on the block (chopping block), you have to wonder if what Al Davis is doing is the right thing, and if it will help the team get better. To me, the answer to both are the same…NO.
Has anybody been looking at the HISTORY of the Raiders, and why they have consistently done so poorly? I cannot possibly tell an owner how to run his business, but even the richest of people need to understand that if you are not willing to allow your people to DO THEIR JOB, you are almost always guaranteed to fail.
Even back in the early 90’s when Art Shell was the coach, there was always rumors that Shell never ran the team like a real coach because Al Davis was always hanging over his shoulder like a vulture.
The Raiders have had a lot of problem not because of players, but because the owner has not allowed the game of FOOTBALL to evolve. The way he saw things back in the 60’s and 70’s and even the 80’s are gone, never, ever to return. He has to allow the people he hire to implement the things he hired them for…not to be his puppet. I think the Raider’s failure has been based primarily on that simple fact. Al Davis is not a genius in calling plays…let somebody else do that.
You hire a coach to be the leader of a TEAM…not a puppet of the owner. When owners cannot separate that, they become too involved and actually become a cancer to the very product they want to prosper. The history of the Raiders over the last 30 years has been an excellent example.
Those guys on ESPN kept talking about how great the Raiders were only 6 years ago… but what happened during that time? WHY where they “great”? Was it because of Al Davis? No. Sure he had a great hand in it, let’s not be totally ignorant. But no Superbowl was ever won by an owner…it was won by a coach who guided a team… not an owner who called all the shots.
Consider this timeline:
Raiders for many years prior was not very good. In about 1998 that Al Davis hired Jon Gruden. The Raiders were NOT that good, but what did Gruden do? He gave the Raiders two 8-8 records in his first 2 years…and what happened on his third year?
12-4 in 2000, losing to eventual Superbowl Champions, the Ravens. The next year they went 10-6 but lost to eventual Superbowl Champions, the Patriots on the now famous “tuck rule”…
(many Raider fans, including myself, have performed the Jedi-mind trick to forget that terrible incident…)
So what Jon Gruden did in 4 years was bring EXCELLENCE to the Raiders. So what happened?
Ask Al Davis…the owner who apparently didn’t think Gruden was worth paying more money for. How can a guy give you a 40-28 record, averaging 10 wins a year, and you don’t think he is “worthy” or more money?
One of other problems was that Al Davis started forcing himself on the team, wanting more of a downfield passing game than the “screen passing” that Gruden was using. Al Davis wanted to run it the way HE wanted it, and it created a difference of opinion with the coach.
This is where the problems lie folks…some people just can’t leave well enough alone.
The Raiders were a very good team in the AFC when Jon Gruden was there, and they kicked him out…rather Al Davis did. Now you can tell me all you want about how Al Davis is the owner and can do what he wants, I won’t argue…but everything that has happened to the Raiders is HIS fault.
Call it karma if you want, or retribution, but what happened the very next year, after the Raiders felt it was too good for Gruden?
Ever heard of an event called SUPERBOWL XXXVII?
The Raiders (on a team built by Gruden) lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (then coached by Gruden) by a score of 48-21. The coach Al Davis didn’t think was worth the money beat him into the ground.
And from then to now, the Raiders have done…NOTHING. This is where those guys on ESPN picked up, acting like it was the genius ONLY of Al Davis that got them to the Superbowl that year, when the fact was that it was with a lot of help from Jon Gruden. In fact, Jon also understood the importance of support when he publicly acknowledged Tony Dungy for building the Buccs that helped Gruden win that Superbowl.
See, that’s something Al Davis does not understand…respect and support.
Those guys on ESPN kept talking about “loyalty” with Al Davis…and where has that gotten them? Sitting in the dark cellars of the AFC. And let’s get this straight too, loyalty is not a one way street! I love the Raiders with all my heart, and if I had to buy two hats with NFL teams, one would be the Raiders (the other the Saints since I was born in New Orleans). But to me, the Raiders organization is a complete failure…and it starts at the top.
Since the Raiders lost that Superbowl, they have not SEEN six wins a year. Even before the 90’s it seemed apparent that the Raiders didn’t really allow coaches to do their thing. Most people know about the Art Shell days and the rumors about who was really in charge. But remember as well that when Gruden left, Bill Callahan was the coach and that year they went to the Superbowl they were 11-5. The very next year, they fell pitifully to 4-12...and Callahan was gone. Only two years…what happened? Then Norv Turner got the job and went 5-11 and then 4-12...and then HE was replaced. Where is the consistency folks? How much of this was based on the players, or the coach, or maybe, just maybe the owner whining like a baby because he can’t have his way right NOW.
Then of course we see that Al Davis hires Art Shell again, but that only lasts for one year and the record was terrible at 2-14. Tell me again who is supposed to be the leader of the team? The owner, or the coach who manages those players? Al Davis is proving time and time again that an owner who has both his hands in the cookie jar cannot possibly create a winning team or a winning mentality.
So then we come to Lane Kiffin, and the two years he has had the job…and likely to be his last. And the problem I see is that even after a close loss to the Bills, Al Davis isn’t happy at all. He wants to be in control of the Raiders, but he does not want to accept responsibility when they lose. That’s why he has coaches, to take the blame for HIS mistakes.
The sad thing is that it really looks like the Raiders have a decent offense. If Al Davis would just shut up and let his coach do what he paid them to do, they would win some games. It’s almost like Al Davis is racing against time, since we know his health isn’t so great, and he wants to win a Superbowl NOW before it gets too late.
I think maybe he ought to take a page out of Jerry Jones book, maybe he’d win a Superbowl or two by now. I think the Dallas Cowboys owner learned a lesson in humility twice. Once when the Cowboys was on the top of the world winning Superbowls with Jimmy Johnson, but started getting a little jealous that Johnson was getting too much attention rather than himself. It’s absolutely amazing how these people who have so much money can’t have a slice of humble pie and enjoy the fruits of it, but Jones had problems with Johnson and it caused him to leave. Even though they did win a Superbowl with Barry Switzer, it was purely based on what Jimmy Johnson built. After that last Superbowl, the Cowboys have not been there since. In fact up until this year they can’t even get out of the first round of the playoffs (although that should change this year).
Sometimes NFL owners need to learn to just leave success alone.
Jerry Jones also learned this when Emmitt Smith refused to play because Jones didn’t want to pay him his worth. Dallas lost their first two games of that year and there was a report that Charles Haley was so ticked off he took his helmet and smashed it into the wall, demanding (with an explicative word inserted) to get Emmit Smith on the team.
Jerry Jones may have realized that to WIN you must pay your players what they are worth. So shortly afterwards he signed Emmit Smith…if the records are correct, I believe the WON the Superbowl that year.
Al Davis has not learned humility, and he reminds me so much of the character “Monty Burns” from the “Simpsons”. The rich old man who doesn’t care about anybody but himself. And in the cartoon he is always flanked by his loyal “Mr.Smithers”…
(no jokes please)
It seems so much that Al Davis is looking for a “Mr. Smithers” or a “yes man”. Heck, even the catch phrase Monty Burns uses is similar to the Raiders. What is the saying for the Raiders: “Commitment to excellence”
What is Monty Burns’ catch phrase?
“Excellent”.
So why are the Raiders so bad? It isn’t because of coaches, they’ve only had one in the last 10 years or so…and he isn’t a good coach at all.
You know, it is hard for me to sit here and throw darts at one of my favorite teams. I used to live in California, and the Raiders was the first team I started to like of ALL team sports. I was always a fan of the Raiders and probably will continue, but I cannot separate the other end of this relationship.
Why are the Oakland Raiders so bad? I am blogging on this based on the imminent threat that owner Al Davis is probably going to fire Lane Kiffin probably today…as some sources say. Today I was watching some sports television and they were talking about the Raider situation. I was watching a show on ESPN and they had some guys debating whether this move to fire Kiffin was legit or needed.
I was kinda surprised that nobody was siding with the coach…they all went on Al Davis’ side.
What part of HISTORY were they watching?
They always tell us in school to learn your history or else you are doomed to repeat it…ever since the Raiders went to the Superbowl in 2002, they have consistently repeated history by failing…and doing it MISERABLY.
Yeah, I know I am a Raider fan, but my goodness, can’t people see where the real problem lies? It’s not the coach…it is the owner!
Sometimes owners get to caught up in their own power that they forget how to delegate…isn’t that what a coach is to an NFL team…delegated power from the owners of the teams. Otherwise, Al Davis should just come on down to the field and coach these teams himself.
Again, understand that I am a Raiders fan, but I want my team to win just as much as those guys who dress up in those Road Warrior costumes too. But we keep killing the messenger when he is only delivering the message….take up the problems with the person who wrote that message.
I personally think that those guys on ESPN on “First Take” have totally ignored the history of the Oakland Raiders. Why don’t somebody ask Warren Sapp why he decided to retire…probably had something to do with the fact that the last team he was on, the Raiders, were so poorly prepared that it was a joke.
(I don’t want to put words in Sapp’s mouth…he’s one of my favorite defensive players).
So why are the Raiders so bad? With the current coach apparently on the block (chopping block), you have to wonder if what Al Davis is doing is the right thing, and if it will help the team get better. To me, the answer to both are the same…NO.
Has anybody been looking at the HISTORY of the Raiders, and why they have consistently done so poorly? I cannot possibly tell an owner how to run his business, but even the richest of people need to understand that if you are not willing to allow your people to DO THEIR JOB, you are almost always guaranteed to fail.
Even back in the early 90’s when Art Shell was the coach, there was always rumors that Shell never ran the team like a real coach because Al Davis was always hanging over his shoulder like a vulture.
The Raiders have had a lot of problem not because of players, but because the owner has not allowed the game of FOOTBALL to evolve. The way he saw things back in the 60’s and 70’s and even the 80’s are gone, never, ever to return. He has to allow the people he hire to implement the things he hired them for…not to be his puppet. I think the Raider’s failure has been based primarily on that simple fact. Al Davis is not a genius in calling plays…let somebody else do that.
You hire a coach to be the leader of a TEAM…not a puppet of the owner. When owners cannot separate that, they become too involved and actually become a cancer to the very product they want to prosper. The history of the Raiders over the last 30 years has been an excellent example.
Those guys on ESPN kept talking about how great the Raiders were only 6 years ago… but what happened during that time? WHY where they “great”? Was it because of Al Davis? No. Sure he had a great hand in it, let’s not be totally ignorant. But no Superbowl was ever won by an owner…it was won by a coach who guided a team… not an owner who called all the shots.
Consider this timeline:
Raiders for many years prior was not very good. In about 1998 that Al Davis hired Jon Gruden. The Raiders were NOT that good, but what did Gruden do? He gave the Raiders two 8-8 records in his first 2 years…and what happened on his third year?
12-4 in 2000, losing to eventual Superbowl Champions, the Ravens. The next year they went 10-6 but lost to eventual Superbowl Champions, the Patriots on the now famous “tuck rule”…
(many Raider fans, including myself, have performed the Jedi-mind trick to forget that terrible incident…)
So what Jon Gruden did in 4 years was bring EXCELLENCE to the Raiders. So what happened?
Ask Al Davis…the owner who apparently didn’t think Gruden was worth paying more money for. How can a guy give you a 40-28 record, averaging 10 wins a year, and you don’t think he is “worthy” or more money?
One of other problems was that Al Davis started forcing himself on the team, wanting more of a downfield passing game than the “screen passing” that Gruden was using. Al Davis wanted to run it the way HE wanted it, and it created a difference of opinion with the coach.
This is where the problems lie folks…some people just can’t leave well enough alone.
The Raiders were a very good team in the AFC when Jon Gruden was there, and they kicked him out…rather Al Davis did. Now you can tell me all you want about how Al Davis is the owner and can do what he wants, I won’t argue…but everything that has happened to the Raiders is HIS fault.
Call it karma if you want, or retribution, but what happened the very next year, after the Raiders felt it was too good for Gruden?
Ever heard of an event called SUPERBOWL XXXVII?
The Raiders (on a team built by Gruden) lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (then coached by Gruden) by a score of 48-21. The coach Al Davis didn’t think was worth the money beat him into the ground.
And from then to now, the Raiders have done…NOTHING. This is where those guys on ESPN picked up, acting like it was the genius ONLY of Al Davis that got them to the Superbowl that year, when the fact was that it was with a lot of help from Jon Gruden. In fact, Jon also understood the importance of support when he publicly acknowledged Tony Dungy for building the Buccs that helped Gruden win that Superbowl.
See, that’s something Al Davis does not understand…respect and support.
Those guys on ESPN kept talking about “loyalty” with Al Davis…and where has that gotten them? Sitting in the dark cellars of the AFC. And let’s get this straight too, loyalty is not a one way street! I love the Raiders with all my heart, and if I had to buy two hats with NFL teams, one would be the Raiders (the other the Saints since I was born in New Orleans). But to me, the Raiders organization is a complete failure…and it starts at the top.
Since the Raiders lost that Superbowl, they have not SEEN six wins a year. Even before the 90’s it seemed apparent that the Raiders didn’t really allow coaches to do their thing. Most people know about the Art Shell days and the rumors about who was really in charge. But remember as well that when Gruden left, Bill Callahan was the coach and that year they went to the Superbowl they were 11-5. The very next year, they fell pitifully to 4-12...and Callahan was gone. Only two years…what happened? Then Norv Turner got the job and went 5-11 and then 4-12...and then HE was replaced. Where is the consistency folks? How much of this was based on the players, or the coach, or maybe, just maybe the owner whining like a baby because he can’t have his way right NOW.
Then of course we see that Al Davis hires Art Shell again, but that only lasts for one year and the record was terrible at 2-14. Tell me again who is supposed to be the leader of the team? The owner, or the coach who manages those players? Al Davis is proving time and time again that an owner who has both his hands in the cookie jar cannot possibly create a winning team or a winning mentality.
So then we come to Lane Kiffin, and the two years he has had the job…and likely to be his last. And the problem I see is that even after a close loss to the Bills, Al Davis isn’t happy at all. He wants to be in control of the Raiders, but he does not want to accept responsibility when they lose. That’s why he has coaches, to take the blame for HIS mistakes.
The sad thing is that it really looks like the Raiders have a decent offense. If Al Davis would just shut up and let his coach do what he paid them to do, they would win some games. It’s almost like Al Davis is racing against time, since we know his health isn’t so great, and he wants to win a Superbowl NOW before it gets too late.
I think maybe he ought to take a page out of Jerry Jones book, maybe he’d win a Superbowl or two by now. I think the Dallas Cowboys owner learned a lesson in humility twice. Once when the Cowboys was on the top of the world winning Superbowls with Jimmy Johnson, but started getting a little jealous that Johnson was getting too much attention rather than himself. It’s absolutely amazing how these people who have so much money can’t have a slice of humble pie and enjoy the fruits of it, but Jones had problems with Johnson and it caused him to leave. Even though they did win a Superbowl with Barry Switzer, it was purely based on what Jimmy Johnson built. After that last Superbowl, the Cowboys have not been there since. In fact up until this year they can’t even get out of the first round of the playoffs (although that should change this year).
Sometimes NFL owners need to learn to just leave success alone.
Jerry Jones also learned this when Emmitt Smith refused to play because Jones didn’t want to pay him his worth. Dallas lost their first two games of that year and there was a report that Charles Haley was so ticked off he took his helmet and smashed it into the wall, demanding (with an explicative word inserted) to get Emmit Smith on the team.
Jerry Jones may have realized that to WIN you must pay your players what they are worth. So shortly afterwards he signed Emmit Smith…if the records are correct, I believe the WON the Superbowl that year.
Al Davis has not learned humility, and he reminds me so much of the character “Monty Burns” from the “Simpsons”. The rich old man who doesn’t care about anybody but himself. And in the cartoon he is always flanked by his loyal “Mr.Smithers”…
(no jokes please)
It seems so much that Al Davis is looking for a “Mr. Smithers” or a “yes man”. Heck, even the catch phrase Monty Burns uses is similar to the Raiders. What is the saying for the Raiders: “Commitment to excellence”
What is Monty Burns’ catch phrase?
“Excellent”.
So why are the Raiders so bad? It isn’t because of coaches, they’ve only had one in the last 10 years or so…and he isn’t a good coach at all.
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