Emmit Smith the Greatest?
 

My congrats to Emmit. He is a class act and deserves the rushing title. But there has been debate on is he the greatest rusher of all time? After seeing his past runs on ESPN last night, I might have to say yes.

even though he's a dick,Jim Brown...he retired at 30,Emmitt wouldnt have any records if Jim played til his age

Payton, Sanders and Brown were all better than Smith and Earl Campbell might have been too if his legs had held up..

you gotta remember that Smith had an excellent offensive line, a good team and a great quarterback for most of his career. The fact that the Cowboys had multiple offensive threats made it much easier for him to gain yards than it was for Payton.

Bears opponents KNEW Payton was coming every time he touched the ball. Cowboys opponents had to cover the air attack AND the ground attack.

Not to say Smith isn't good, he's just not as good as Sweetness

Couldn't agree more....

Sanders was awesome as well same situation as Payton


Another good one was Gayle Sayers

Hands down Jim Brown, no question about it.

Jim Brown or Barry Sanders crush Emmit, Sanders was fun as hell to watch, I can't believe he retired so early

Everything in life is based on #'s. He has the most yard, most TD's, and most rings.

Definately in the top 3

WAY OVERARTED..

The only thing he ever did well was run behind
a lot of big fat people. I'll give him 1 thing and
that is he's durable. He was a durable above
average back who has way overstayed his worth.
He should have retired 5 years ago.

I would rather have:

Bo Jackson(healthy)
Walter Payton
Earl Dickerson
Barry sanders
Thurman Thomas
Rager Craig
Marcus Allen
Franco Harris
Ricky Williams
Tony Dorsett
Terrel Davis ( healthy)
Earl Cambell
Wilbert Montgomery
Chuck Muncie
Billy Simms
(many, many more)

they were talking about this on sportscenter this morning and brought up an interesting point. the guy was talking about how you tend to say someone you watched when you were 18-35 is the best ever. as for emmitt being it, he even said he didn't think so.

Walter Payton I rest my case.:thumbsup

you put that in order? Ricky Williams has been in the league 3 years,be for real... O.J Simpson is top 8 at least..but I do agree with Bo Jackson,he quite possibly could have been the best if he didnt get hurt

I have to put a premium on these four:
Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Jim Brown
Erick Dickerson

Awesome stats, and avg yard per carry.

E. Smith just doesn't have the avg yard per carry stat even close...

Who knows what the history book would be like if each of these guys (excpetion of Payton) played day in day out...nevermind the luck of playing behind one of the greatest O-lines ever.

Sorry I wouldn't include backs like Terrel Davis. No way TD was going to contiune that pace, given the way he ran and the hits he took on a weekly basis. Injury was envitable.

Barry on the other hand...could have put 2 more 2k seasons together. :(

Sorry. Part of being the best ever is being durable.

Emmit was far from the best in any single season.

He was however, extremely durable, extremely tough, extremely dependable, he knew the role on his team, he was a damn good running back, a damn good blocker, and most importantly, he knew how to win.

I'll take him before anyone except maybe Barry Sanders.

Best pure runner: Barry Sanders

Best Running back: Jim Brown

You guys are too young, hell even I'm too young. From everything I know, and my Dad watched all Cleveland Browns games, Jim Brown was in a league by himself.

He was just unstoppable, he ran over people. He also did the coolest thing and just walked away from the game at the height of his career at 30 or 31.

Payton comes next. He played on many HORRIBLE Bears teams and still amassed great yardage and excelled.

Emmit is a great durable back, but not in Brown's or Payton's class
as a pure talent. Emmit for most of his glory days was on a star studded offense. Emmit deserves his props as one of the greatest but can't be included in any debate over who's the greatest of all time.

Gale Sayers is the one people think could have been the best of them all but his career was too short.

Brown and Payton.........then the rest. Not sure why O.J. Simpson never ranks higher, i grew up watching him and you just don't see anybody these days do what OJ did, putting up 250 yard days
. And this doesn't have to do with OJ's new status as psychopath and double murderer.......he wasn't regarded as Brown's equal even before.

Durability?
Dude..same goes for Sanders, Brown, Payton, and Dickerson.
All very durable backs. Injury didn't take those guys off the field, they took themselves out.

As far as being a leader, it helps to have a good team. In the NFL RBs aren't really the de facto leaders, that has to be your QB. I can't even name the QBs Sanders, Brown and Dickerson had for the majority of their years.

In fact, e. smith has been rotating in and out for the past two years, holding on trying to surpass this record ... maybe he will finally retire now.

Well you have to take in to account championships. Jim Brown and some of the others mentioned never won a championship. Emmit has won 3 and would have had 4 if it wasn't for the miser Jerry Jones. The Cowboys may have had other weapons, Irving etc. but the bulk was carried by Emmit. He made big plays and scored when teams knew he would get the ball. He rushed for over 200 yards in the first half in a game against minnesota and would have gotten 500 that game if it weren't for an injury to his had. Emmit is arguably the best and he played for the best team, America's Team. How Bout them COWBOYS.

Damn, nice sig...

http://espn-i.starwave.com/classic/2.../ss_walter.jpg

Emmitt who?

The best running back? Who The Hell OWNS the total yards rushing RIGHT NOW? Is it Jim Brown, OJ, Payton, or whoever? NOO..EMMITT SMITH has the rushing crown! He owns the title for the most yards...so that means EMMITT is the best running back EVER! Regardless of whoever thinks the best back is....Is it EMMITT's fault he ran behind a big O'Line? Is it EMMITT's fault he had a Hall Of Fame QB and Receiver? NOOO. You make the most of what you got! And EMMITT did...that's why he has the MOST yards and is the BEST back ever! Period!

"5.2 yards per carry, never missed game, won the rushing title every year but one when he was in the league, there was a lot of contenders but if you have to select one, you have to pick Jim as the greatest running back in history."

- Bob Costas

Emmit had a super bowl winning offensive line for years, barry sanders had a piece of shit detroit lions offensive line to block for him and still kicked ass

There's moves I've watched Barry do in highlight shows that I have never seen anyone since "sweetness" accomplish. Spin moves, jukes, breaking tackles and making the best of the best defensive players look like rookies. Most of Emmit's yardage came when he had 3 or more pro bowl players on the line blocking for him, and opening up holes the size of interstate highways for him to run through. Granted, he is a great legendary runningback, and deserves his acclaim, he just wasn't as talented as a few of the other greats.

:2 cents:

barry sanders is much better than smith. sanders is a guy that defenses pull their hair out over. for running backs he's just in a class all by himself.

i'm sorry but you put a guy like barry sanders on that team and he would have more rings.

you think scott mitchell could help the cowgirls beat the niners? i don't think so.

Fuckin' A and the rest of you bitches are just jealous.

Is Emmit the best ever...no don't think so...but like the man said he holds the record now.

But for those who attribute it all to just being behind the offensive line the cowboys had that wasn't the only factor in this man getting his yardage.

Being from Texas and a cowboy's fan I've watched my fair share of Cowboy's games...and the simple fact is during those super bowl years I saw on many occassions Emmit break tackles not once during a run...but two...three...four times.

I've seen moves from Emmit that would make Payton cream his pants...and Sanders cry like a little girl.

Give the man credit where credit is due.

Once again is he the best in NFL history? No...maybe not...I couldn't care fucking less.

Is he one of the winningest? Hell fucking yeah and he made us Texas Bubba's proud.


Does he own the record? Yeah...and you haters can kiss my ass 2x's.

He brought that shit home to Texas where America's Team resides.

sanders cry like a lil girl? smith didn't have a tenth of the moves sanders had. smith is one of the best backs ever, but thats just a stupid statement.

read my statement again jealous bitch

Haters?
Na, there is a big difference between owning a record and being the "greatest ever." I'm sure you would agree. That is like Terry Bradshaw is the greatest QB ever b/c he has 4 superbowl rings...

LOL it is a team sport right?

Now we all know that's Roger Staubach :winkwink:

jealous of what? any idiot can tell you sanders had more moves than any running back ever.

jealous of the cowgirls? sorry my team has won more super bowls. i count, ya 5.

LOL and what imaginary team is that?

niners...

A healthy Gayle Sayers.........with a long career.:2 cents:

Considering the Cowboys have won 5 I don't think you have more. :)

a healthy Bo Jackson...with a long career

ya but i don't care what happened before i could remember.

Barry Sanders started every run as a 5 yard loss. Emmitt started every run as a 3 yard gain. Barry still has a better yards per carry average than everyone but Jim Brown.

Man oh man, Sanders behind Larry Allen and company...that would have been something!

DG

It's a pretty simple answer to this question. Emmitt is no where near the top.

All of the top backs played for shit teams most of there career. Name a QB and top WR for Payton in his first 5 seasons, or for Barry Sanders, or Jim Brown, or Gale Sayers. Most won't know it.

But Troy Aikmen and Michael Irvin are like house hold names. Shit a good amount of people can name half the starters on the old Cowboys Offensive Line.

:Graucho

So you do know about and care about what happened before you can remember? :winkwink:

On and my vote goes to Payton with Sanders close second!

i hate people who bring up things like, o my team won 10 championships in the 40's and 50's.

if you never celebrated a championship that your team won, it doesn't matter much now does it?

Hate whatever you want. Ignoring the truth doesn't really make your strange math any more true, except in your own little world.

Whatever floats your boat though.

again if you haven't celebrated your teams wins when they happened it doesn't count for much now does it?

what am i hating? a super bowl win in the 60's or 70's doesn't really have much meaning to a cowboys fan who's in their mid 20's.

That's nice.

Like I said, hate what you want.

Your team still hasn't won more super bowls than the Cowboys which is what you originally said, and which is all I responded to.

*shrugs*

what am i hating? i don't remember the cowboys winning 5 super bowls. its nice that they have but that was a while ago. its like the smart guys who bring up notre dame's wins from like 50 years ago. doesn't matter much to you if you weren't around.

No it just goes to show you don't know shit about what you're talking about.

Cowboys and Niners (who have my respect) are tied for most wins...cowboys however have been to the superbowl more than any other team.

You originally stated your team had more wins than the cowboys...you're full of shit and can't back it up so therefore you lose this round.

Now when you hit 36 like I am...and some kid in his 20's doesn't give the niners their due because he wasn't around to see it...does that make their wins any less real?

EDITED TO ADD:
and being 36 I've been around for every single superbowl...watched the first one against the Dolphins with my dad when I was 6.

EDITED TO ADD:
and being 36 I've been around for every single superbowl...watched the first one against the Dolphins with my dad when I was 6. [/B][/QUOTE]

I don't think the dolphins played in the first superbowl.

ROFuckingL dipshit...talking about the first superbowl the Cowboys played in...it was 1972 against the Dolphins...Cowboys won.

Also try not just reading a snippet of the post...read it in it's entirety so you can fully understand what's going on.:thumbsup