Emmitt Smith

[converge241 0]

per ESPN.com/ESPN Radio offical announcement to be forthcoming

[Zetterberg is God 0]

How much do you want to bet that he signs a one day contract to retire wtih the Cowboys?

[Crimson Platypus 0]

This is two years too late really. Oh well, the second best running back I have ever seen has retired (Walter Payton = #1).

[Guest Vitamin X]

How much do you want to bet that he signs a one day contract to retire wtih the Cowboys?

He better, signing with Arizona was a silly idea to begin with.

[2GOLD 0]

He actually did pretty well in Arizona for an over the hill running back and he was still a better option than Troy Hambrick ever was in Dallas.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

I was expecting this. Damn, he was good... does anyone here think he was the best ever? I can't put him at the top with what Barry Sanders could've done... but still, a Hall of Famer if there ever was one.

 

Enjoy retirement Emmitt. You deserve it.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

This is two years too late really. Oh well, the second best running back I have ever seen has retired (Walter Payton = #1).

Did you never see the Lions play?

 

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think Marshall Faulk is a better RB then Emmitt Smith.

[Guest The Gecko]

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think Marshall Faulk is a better RB then Emmitt Smith.

I could agree with you a little on that one... I think Emmitt Smith is a little overrated. I mean YEAH he has the rushing record, but he played for 486 seasons...

 

 

Then again I'm also a Lions fan, and happen to think Barry is the best RB ever...

[2GOLD 0]

I put Emmitt in the top five overall that I've seen.

Second behind Sanders and just barely ahead of Faulk.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Emmitt also had a better line, not to mention much better support then Barry, in the great passing game they also had. A line with Stepnoski, Allen, etc. etc. INSANE.

[Slayer 0]

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think Marshall Faulk is a better RB then Emmitt Smith.

I could agree with you a little on that one... I think Emmitt Smith is a little overrated. I mean YEAH he has the rushing record, but he played for 486 seasons...

Number of seasons Payton took to set career record = 13

Number of seasons Smith took to equal that record = 12.5

 

And I know Barry would have destroyed both of their numbers had he played an extra 3-5 years, but he didn't.

[cabbageboy 0]

Barry Sanders is like the Ken Griffey, Jr. of football...the guy who puts up all the numbers but didn't really make his team notably better or win anything in the postseason. Add to it retiring early and he's not really the best ever by a long shot.

 

I think Emmitt outta play one more year for the Cowboys and go out with them....hell it's not like they aren't signing every old bum they can find anyway.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Barry Sanders isn't the best based on numbers, he's the best based on the fact that he did the most with the least. He had better moves and played better then either Emmitt or Walter, football is not a sport where one person can carry a team.

 

I would say that Jim Brown is the best ever, but I would place Barry at Number Two for sure.

[starvenger 0]

He actually did pretty well in Arizona for an over the hill running back and he was still a better option than Troy Hambrick ever was in Dallas.

He did a lot better than an Arizona back has any right to...

[Vern Gagne 0]

This is two years too late really. Oh well, the second best running back I have ever seen has retired (Walter Payton = #1).

Did you never see the Lions play?

 

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think Marshall Faulk is a better RB then Emmitt Smith.

Did you see the Bears play? It wasn't until about 83 or 84 that Payton had a good team around him.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Barry Sanders isn't the best based on numbers, he's the best based on the fact that he did the most with the least. He had better moves and played better then either Emmitt or Walter, football is not a sport where one person can carry a team.

 

I would say that Jim Brown is the best ever, but I would place Barry at Number Two for sure.

Paragon gets a gold star for being the first to mention Jim Brown. He's so far ahead of everyone else it's not even funny.

 

Sanders is my #2, pretty far behind JB but further ahead of #3 than he is behind #1 (if that makes sense)

 

3-5 is tough, because there's a laundry list of players that deserve consideration: Smith, Faulk, Thurman Thomas, Curtis Martin, OJ, Marcus Allen, etc.

 

I'd probably go Emmitt, Faulk, and then OJ as my 3-5.

 

/wonders where Bo Jackson would have fit if he stayed away from baseball and stayed healthy

[C Dubya 04 0]

I agree on the Jim Brown being number 1.

 

After that it's a clusterfuck in my mind. Barry was the most amazing runner I ever watched, but he was also the most likely to lose 10 yards on a play and he didn't make his teams a winner. But, I don't know that many RB's who do.

 

Along the lines of Bo Jackson, one has to wonder how great Terrell Davis would've ended up had he not gotten hurt.

[starvenger 0]

Along the lines of Bo Jackson, one has to wonder how great Terrell Davis would've ended up had he not gotten hurt.

Easy. Just use the numbers produced by Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, and Reuben Droughns as estimates...

[C Dubya 04 0]

Along the lines of Bo Jackson, one has to wonder how great Terrell Davis would've ended up had he not gotten hurt.

Easy. Just use the numbers produced by Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, and Reuben Droughns as estimates...

I assume that you're arguing TD was a product of the system, and I agree to an extent he was. But, none of those guys came anywhere near having the season he had in 98. Over 2000 yards rushing, 21 touchdowns and 5.1 ypc. That's insane. In 97 he put up over 1700 rushing yards.

[UZI Suicide 0]

Emmitt is an all-time great. I think it's riduculous for people to tell him he hung around too long or whatever.

 

One thing I remember Jerry Rice saying a few years ago that Football isn't a sport like say, basketball - where you can go to the park and play a pickup game anytime you want, or just go in your backyard and shoot basket after basket. Once you retire from Football, you're done, you can't find 22 guys, throw on some pads and go to the park to play.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Emmitt also had a better line, not to mention much better support then Barry, in the great passing game they also had. A line with Stepnoski, Allen, etc. etc. INSANE.

This gets tiresome... look at the pro bowl teams from the years that Barry played for the Lions. They had at least one, and many times two players in the Pro Bowl EVERY YEAR.

 

 

I know Jim Brown is considered one of the greats, but I haven't even seen a game of his on ESPN Classic so I always add the qualifier "that I've seen".

 

 

And yes, I've seen the Lions play. Many times. I live in Michigan, I know Barry was great, he was also, as stated before NEVER a winner. Being great isn't about athleticism, it's about being talented and winning. Emmitt did both. Barry only had one of those traits.

[Vern Gagne 0]

If all you want is back to run the ball. Than it's hands down Jim Brown. If you want a back, to block, return kicks, catch balls out of the backfield. Than it's Walter Payton. Very often Brown, wouldn't block, or catch passes. Payton played like the better all-around back.

[Guest Vitamin X]

And yes, I've seen the Lions play. Many times. I live in Michigan, I know Barry was great, he was also, as stated before NEVER a winner. Being great isn't about athleticism, it's about being talented and winning. Emmitt did both. Barry only had one of those traits.

That's kind of silly to say, considering running back isn't one of those "clutch" type positions like quarterback is. He was extremely talented and did what he could to win, it's not his fault the team around him sucked. You can stick a great running back or a great receiver on a bad team, and they'll produce numbers but they won't be responsible for winning any games unless they have a talented team around them. The same doesn't quite go for quarterbacks, as is evidenced by guys like Marino and Favre who have done a lot with nothing.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Hell of a career. But I wouldn't be suprised seeing him sign a one year deal with another team.

 

And I know people talk about the all time greats, and I can't fairly make that list since I haven't seen many of the greats, just their highlights and their stats.

 

So in my list Sanders is tops

[The Niggardly King 0]

No love for Eric Dickerson?

[MikeJordan23 0]

He says he's not retiring. Blah.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

put down the pipe emmitt.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Dickerson has the best running style in NFL history. Almost glided down the field.

[Youth N Asia 0]

If he stays it'll look like nothing more than padding the numbers to keep someone else out of it for a while. If he was playing for a contender it would be one thing.

[Matt Young 0]

Up until the end there, I was afraid that everyone had forgotten about Eric Dickerson, until KOAB restored my faith in humanity.

 

As for Emmitt, I always hated the Cowboys, but my best friend growing up was a Dallas fan (as was his whole family), so I saw a lot of games at his house when I was younger. Even I can admit that Smith was one of the best ever. I hope he returns to Dallas for one more year, or at least signs with them for a day before retiring.