Wednesday, December 24, 1997

Some criteria for picking the best-ever running back

By Ted Dunnam / Abilene Reporter-News

After Barry Sanders was in the National Football League for two or three years, most of us knew the day would arrive when we'd have to ponder an age-old question that will undoubtedly resurface many times:

Who is the best running back in the history of the NFL?

Sanders has certainly etched his name among the greats, and, with his 2,053-yard performance this year, likely became the choice of many as the league's best ever.

Barring severe injury, Sanders will shatter Walter Payton's all-time record of 16,726 yards if he plays five more years. Right now, Sanders is second at 13,778 yards, meaning he'll likely catch Payton in two years.

But is Sanders the best ever? That's something that will long be debated. First, you need to set a criteria so let's do that now.

Your Best Ever Running Back will be graded on the following: speed, acceleration, moves, power, pass-catching ability, blocking, durability, versatility and intangibles.

First of all, let's pare the field. Not on the Best Ever list will be the following: Eric Dickerson, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, John Riggins, Earl Campbell and Emmitt Smith.

Dickerson and Dorsett fumbled too much. Dickerson wasn't a good receiver and Dorsett lacked power. Allen was good at everything, but not great at anything.

Harris wasn't fast, didn't have great moves, wasn't overly powerful, and yes, he did run out of bounds quite a bit before he needed to. Thomas is fumble-prone, and like Allen, is good at many things but not great at anything.

Riggins is the No. 9 leading rusher of all time and a great power runner, but no way, for many reasons, is he the best ever. Smith isn't fast, doesn't accelerate well, and like Harris, has played on team with a multitude of offensive weapons (Note: Don't refer to 1997 season).

Campbell didn't catch well and didn't have great moves.

That leaves us with our five candidates for Best Ever Running Back. They are, drum roll please, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, O.J. Simpson, Walter Payton and Sanders.

Now, let's rank them according to the criteria.

Power -- 1. Brown, 2. Payton, 3. Simpson, 4. Sanders, 5. Sayers. Brown and Payton are clearly the two strongest, though Simpson, at 6-3 and 220 could run over you if he had to. This isn't Sanders' and Sayers' forte.

Speed -- 1. Simpson, 2. Sayers, 3. Sanders, 4. Brown, 5. Payton. The Juice was the fastest when he turned it on. Sayers and Sanders were close behind. Brown and Payton had good speed, but nothing exceptional.

Acceleration -- 1. Simpson, 2. Sayers, 3. Sanders, 4. Payton, 5. Brown. The first three are pretty close. Putting the pedal to the metal wasn't part of the Payton-Brown package.

Moves -- 1. (tie) Sanders and Sayers, 3. Simpson, 4. Payton, 5. Brown. Sanders and Sayers are simply dizzying. There are many athletic supporters on playing fields all across the U.S. where Sanders and Sayers have roamed. Simpson had good moves, but not in the class of the first two. Payton was blessed with shiftiness. Brown had decent moves, but used them only as a last resort.

Pass-catching ability -- 1. (tie) Sayers and Payton, 3. (tie) Simpson and Brown, 5. Sanders. We're not counting screen passes here, and I assume all of these guys could go the distance if one is properly set up. Sayers and Payton both had great hands, could run good routes and would have been good wide receivers. Simpson and Brown were very solid, putting them only a notch below the Chicago tandem. Barry is seldom used in the passing game, isn't an overly talented receiver and is a small target.

Blocking -- 1. Payton, 2. Brown, 3. (tie) Simpson and Sanders, 5. Sayers. Payton did everything at 100 percent of his ability, including blocking and he could do it well. Brown was a bulldozer. The other three probably wondered why they ever had to block.

Versatility -- 1. (tie) Sayers and Payton, 3. Brown, 4. Simpson, 5. Sanders. Sayers and Payton come closest to being able to do it all and do it well. Sayers was a great punt returner, receiver, thrower and a great open-field runner. Payton was a good punt returner, good receiver and could also throw the ball extremely well. He wasn't as good in the open field as Sayers, but Sayers couldn't block as well. Most people don't know Jim Brown was also a placekicker.

Durability -- 1. Brown, 2. Payton, 3. (tie) Simpson and Sanders, 5. Sayers. Jim Brown never missed a game in nine years. Enough said. Payton was almost as resilient. Simpson and Sanders held up pretty well too, but didn't dish out the punishment of Brown and Payton. Sayers' succeptible knees ended what could have been a remarkable career.

Intangibles -- Brown and Sanders are the only two that averaged more than five yards per carry. All, except Brown, played on mediocre teams for most of their careers. All, except Sanders (domed stadium), played in cold-weather environments. Payton had the longest career, Sayers the shortest. Sanders was the smallest, Simpson and Brown the biggest.

And the winner is -- Tough question, no easy answer. I'm ranking Sanders fifth for no good reason other than the company he's keeping. As far as running with the football, he may be the best ever. I'm putting Sayers fourth only because his career was too short-lived. Overall, he was probably more electrifying than Sanders, but regrettably, too fragile.

Third place goes to Payton. I don't believe he was as athletically gifted as the others, but made the most of what he had, which was still a considerable amount of talent. His effort on the field is rivaled only by that of Brown. A first-class guy, too.

Simpson earns second place. He had the best blend of power and speed, good moves and good hands. He was fast and could accelerate extremely well. Lethal in the open field. At 6-3, 220, the prototype back.

That leaves our winner, Mr. Brown. My decision came down to this. If I was going to start a team tomorrow, who would be my first choice? Brown. He's going to show up every week, rain or snow, healthy or hurt. He'll give 100 percent every play.

He wasn't well-liked, but he did his job extremely well. If it was third-and-three, I'd give the ball to Payton. If it was third-and-five, I'd hand it to Brown. He quit playing in the prime of his career to focus on an acting career.

He played only nine years and gained 12,312 yards which still has him ranked fifth on the all-time list. He also played in just 12 games per year. Thus, after nine years in the league, Barry Sanders will have played in 36 more games than Brown did in the same time frame. Oh yeah, he was immensely talented.

Weighing all the evidence, Brown is your Best Ever Running Back.

What this proves is absolutely nothing. I could go out on the street tomorrow and ask five people the Best Ever question and get five different answers.

It makes for good debate, though. And 10 years from now, I might have Eddie George on the list. See ya then.

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