| There are few universal truths in this world. You’ve got your death,
your taxes, your crowded mall parking lots during Christmas time. And this from the world
of professional football: Today’s players are bigger, stronger and faster than
they’ve ever been before. Based on that fact alone, I can assert, with supreme
confidence, that Barry Sanders is the greatest running back of all time.
The great RB debate has become all the rage in recent weeks on the heels of
Sanders’ breathtaking assault on the 2,000-yard barrier. His amazing feats of this
past season — when he broke as many long runs as he did hearts (yes, I’m
referring to you, Bill Parcells) — clinched it for me. I now give Sanders the nod
over Jim Brown, the people’s choice for top-RB honors, and Walter Payton, whom I grew
up watching.
I never thought I’d see someone better than "Sweetness," whose
all-around skills (running, receiving, blocking, even passing) outweighs whatever nonsense
my colleague might try to tell you about his per-carry average. (Let’s see you
find room to run with Bob Avellini as your quarterback.) But, even in my fawning fandom of
the Payton-led Chicago Bears, I wasn’t about to ignore Brown’s accomplishments,
or the fact that most NFL historians rank him No. 1.
Even though Payton and others passed him on the NFL’s career rushing list, Brown
still has the highest per-carry average in league history (5.22 yards). Plus, he held the
rushing record for two decades, despite playing only nine seasons. Finally, the
chroniclers of these things seem to put Brown in Babe Ruth’s class, reasoning that
they dominated their eras to such an extent that you can’t possibly back anyone else.
Well, I’m here to debunk that claim. In Ruth’s case, there’s no arguing.
He was a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher before he became a prolific slugger (who, in the
early 1920’s, was apt to hit as many home runs in a season as entire teams
were). Ruth is the best baseball player ever. Is Brown the best back the NFL has ever
seen? No, because his numbers, which are comparable to Sanders’, were compiled in an
era when defensive players were smaller, weaker and slower than the defenders Sanders
regularly bewilders and enfeebles.
Brown, 6-2 and 232 pounds (in his playing days), was bigger than most running backs of
his era and nearly as big as many defensive linemen and linebackers. In his final season,
1965, the best team Brown’s Browns faced was the Green Bay Packers, who defeated
Cleveland in the Jan. 2, 1966, NFL championship game. The biggest defender on the Green
Bay roster that year was DT Bud Marshall, who weighed 270 pounds. The Packers’ best
defensive linemen, Willie Davis and Henry Jordan, weighed 245 and 250 pounds,
respectively.
Thanks to Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren, the Packers are the best team around these days,
as well. Since they play in the same division, Sanders’ Lions must face the Packers
twice every regular season. The ’97 Packers’ biggest defender is DT Gilbert
Brown, who is listed at 345 pounds (a conservative estimate). Brown and Reggie White are
Green Bay’s best defensive linemen, weighing 345 and 304 pounds, respectively. At 5-8
and 200 pounds (my dimensions with a few more double cheeseburgers in my belly),
Sanders constantly faces a size disadvantage.
Yet Sanders’ numbers stand tall. Second-most rushing yards ever (13,778).
Second-most 100-yard rushing games ever (67). Second-most 1,000-yard rushing seasons
(nine). Most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons (nine). Oh, and then there’s the little
matter of the yards-per-carry average. Thanks to his electrifying 23-carry, 184-yard
performance in Week 17 vs. the Jets, Sanders’ career rushing mark jumped to 5.07
yards per carry, just 0.15 lower than Brown’s. Brown advocates argue that no one was
in his league when he played, while Sanders often is mentioned in the same breath as at
least one contemporary, Emmitt Smith of the Cowboys. But was Brown really that much better
than his peers than Sanders is his?
Over the course of Brown’s nine-year career, the NFL’s rushing average, minus
his statistics, was 4.0 yards per carry. Over the course of Sanders’ nine-year
career, the NFL’s rushing average, minus his statistics, is 4.0 yards per carry
— against bigger, stronger, faster defenders.
Think battling the big boys on a weekly basis has beaten Barry down? Not by a long
shot. Sanders actually has gotten better as he’s gotten older. Knocked in recent
years for lacking true breakaway speed, Sanders went all … the … way in 1997. En
route to career bests in rushing yards (2,053) and per-carry average (6.13 yards), Sanders
became the first player in NFL history to record two TD runs of 80 or more yards in the
same game (Week Seven vs. Tampa Bay).
Brown was just as good in his last three seasons as he was in his first three, and he
often is applauded for leaving the game on top. But, in the end, playing only nine years
could hurt his legacy more than help it. If Sanders keeps up his recent pace (1,747 yards
a year over the last four seasons), he will blow by Payton’s career mark in just two
more seasons. If he continues to play at this level (no signs of slowing down yet) and
avoids injuries (you can’t hurt what you can’t tackle), Sanders could put so
much distance between himself and everyone else that he, not Brown, will belong in a
league of his own.
Michael Lev says Barry Sanders was best RB
of all time
Ron Pollack says Jim Brown is best RB ever
Opinions from NFL authorities
The scouting report
Dominance in their respective eras
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