With the current running backs included in the discussion, who is or will be the greatest running back ever?
Jim Brown was the first, but then memories of him were wiped away by Walter Payton. Even Payton was overshadowed by Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, and Thurman Thomas.
Now it appears as though LaDanian Tomlinson is on track statistically, but if Adrian Peterson stays healthy, could it be him?
You decide NFL fans, who is or will be the greatest?
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3 months ago
I guess I should have made a choice.....I think LT will be the next to take the rushing title, but I honestly believe if Peterson stays healthy he will top him. Having said that, to me the greatest of all time is Barry Sanders. I can go back right now and watch highlights of him that never get old. He retired with a few good years left and could have easily put the rushing record out of reach for a while.
3 months ago
O.J Simpson was the best running back of all-time. Thurman Thomas would be the 2nd best.
from 3 months ago
You'd put Thomas and Simpson ahead of Jim Brown, Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders?
3 months ago
I agree with Cayce. Barry Sanders was great not because he had breakaway speed and the ability to run downhill which is a must for even decent runningbacks today, but because he was the most elusive runner of all time. He basically dominated the NFL like Reggie Bush dominated during his time at USC so Barry Sanders is the best of all time.
I really feel that an underrated runner who, despite his status, does not get enough recognition is Jim Brown. The man set the bar as well as the prototype for future runningbacks with his build, bruising running style and attitude.
from 3 months ago
Yeah a lot of people called Bush the second coming of Barry Sanders...but idk it's hard to be just that damn elusive he's amazing to watch highlights of.
3 months ago
Walter Payton. He had a horrible offensive line, and not to mention the main target on his offense. Also, it's not even funny how versatile he is compared to some of the other running backs. He's a five-tool back: he can run, block, catch, throw, and he's a leader.
from 3 months ago
It's true I've heard a lot of people say he was the most versatile ever. I think Barry was easily the most entertaining...imagine what he could have done with an offensive line and a fullback (his offense for the most part didn't use a fullback I believe...but don't hold me to it.)
from 3 months ago
Im pretty sure Barry had several great seasons but his career best was when the Lions gave him a fullback
3 months ago
It is Barry Sanders no question, and No, i am not a Lions fan.
3 months ago
There is no doubt that Adrian Peterson can be the best but he has along way to go. They just need to give AP more than 14 carries a game. Jim Brown and Barry Sanders were the best at what they did. Thurman Thomas!!!!! You got to be kidding? Must be a Buffalo fan. Kept dreaming they won a Super Bowl also.
from 3 months ago
If you read the profile, I am a die hard Chiefs fan, not Buffalo. I will say however, real recognizes real, Thurman Thomas was a very good back. In the same respects I left Bo Jackson off of the list due to his short lived career, but he did average over 6 yards per carry with athletic talent still to be seen from anone else.
3 months ago
Hands down the greatest of all time is Jim Brown if he hadn't got tired of playing (remember pro football didn't pay much back then)there is no telling how many yards he would have had
from 3 months ago
The only knock I have on Jim Brown is he was a man playing a boys game back in the day. He was far superior athletically and physically than anyone on the field back then. If he were to run against people who werent afraid to tackle him, I dont know how good he would be. On the same hand, its not his fault he was that much better than everyone else and he took advantage of every carry he had.
from 3 months ago
The fact that he was a man among boys should be the first argument for him being the greatest RB of all-time, which he is. The fact that he did it in 12 or 14 game seasons and in only 9 years only cements that. He led the league in rushing 8 of those 9 years and retired as the all-time TD leader as well as the rushing leader. It is no contest. The only ones who come even close are Walter Payton and Barr Sanders and they are a distant 2nd and 3rd. Sanders himself would tell you that himself.
from 3 months ago
you talk players in todays game, the players today wouldn't stand a chance against him. the players back in his day were dirtier and meaner than those today. players today acted like they have been assaulted if you touch them hold them. also passing wasn't done back them and players stacked the box to stop the run. and he still avg over 100 yrds agame for his carrier
3 months ago
MARCUS ALLEN................
3 months ago
TOP 10 RB's ALL-TIME: 1. MARCUS ALLEN 2. BARRY SANDERS 3. WALTER PAYTON 4. JIM BROWN 5. LADAINIAN TOMLINSON 6. EMMIT SMITH 7. JEROME BETTIS 8. GAYLE SAYERS 9. BO JACKSON 10. ERIC DICKERSON
3 months ago
the correct order:
Jim Brown
Walter Payton
Barry Sanders
OJ Simpson
Emmitt Smith
L Tomlinson
Eric Dickerson
Thurman Thomas
Marcus Allen
Gayle Sayers
from 3 months ago
Mine's fairly close to this...
Honestly I go back and forth for the order of the top 3, who I think are a cut above the rest. Brown wasn't a good blocker, Barry's no good at the goal line, and Payton was consistent but led the league in rushing far less than the other two. How you order those three is anyone's guess, but one thing's for sure (at least in my mind): Walter Payton, Jim Brown, and Barry Sanders are the three best running backs of all time.
1) Jim Brown
2) Barry Sanders
3) Walter Payton
4) Emmit Smith
5) Erik Dickerson
6) O.J. Simpson
7) LaDanian Tomlinson
8) Earl Campbell
9) Gale Sayers
10) Marshall Faulk
Honorable mention: Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, Roger Craig, Franco Harris, Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, John Riggins, Thurman Thomas, Corey Dillon, Ricky Waters, Larry Csonka, Eddie George, Tiki Barber, Lenny Moore, Shaun Alexander, Jim Taylor, Paul Hornung, Otis Anderson, Frank Gifford, Leroy Kelly, Marion Motley, Terrell Davis
(and way too early to be including AP in this discussion!)
3 months ago
At least I am not the only one showing Thurman Thomas some love.
3 months ago
#1 MARCUS ALLEN.........
3 months ago
Yeah OJ Simpson was good...... at killing his wife.
3 months ago
I love Marcus and think that he is great, but longevity does not make him number 1. He is the best short yardage touchdown player of all time, but I can name running backs playing right now better than him.
3 months ago
OJ Simpson is in the top 10 list of all time RB's. But he's #1 when it comes to MURDER. LOL
3 months ago
Who is better than MARCUS ALLEN in the NFL right now? Your crazy!!!! No player in the NFL right now can even see MARCUS ALLEN. Here's some advice go to an AA meeting.
3 months ago
The only player that can even sniff his jock strap is Ladainian Tomlinson. But unlike Ladainian Tomlinson MARCUS ALLEN never quit on his teamates and wore his helmet on the sidelines for the AFC Championship game. For that reason and the fact that I'm a life long Oakland Raiders fan and I hate the Chargers and LT.
from 3 months ago
L.T. didn't quit on his team he was injured. kind of hard for a RB to cut dart and dive with a knee injury unlike a QB only stepping back or moving side to side. But i wouldn't expect anything more from someone looking into a black hole and having to hold their head down in shame at what Al Davis has done to this once proud franchise.
3 months ago
And Thurman Thomas isn't even good enough to fetch MARCUS ALLEN'S Gatorade for him. How many Super Bowls did Thurman Thomas win? Wait a minute How any Super Bowls did Thurman Thomas lose? MARCUS ALLEN has a Super Bowl ring and a Super Bowl MVP.
3 months ago
PLEASE! Thurman Thomas? Your kiddin' me right? You must be Buffalo(Lost every super Bowl we were in) Bills fan. Did I mention that the Bills lost every Super Bowl that they were in?
3 months ago
So who's better than MARCUS ALLEN right now? I'm still waiting.
from 3 months ago
I never said Marcus wasnt good, he absolutely was, but in my opinion he is not the greatest. I am fine with your opinion, its not like you are saying that Harvey Williams is the greatest ever. I feel that players like LT and Adrian Peterson are better right now than Allen was at this point in his career. Sure I understand that Allen had problems with management that kind of held him back in Oakland, and if that had not happened I may be agreeing with you right now. I never said Thurman Thomas was the greatest, but he was a very good back. Sure his TEAM lost 4 superbowls, but they were good enough to dominate the AFC for almost half a decade. He was the same guy who kept Barry Sanders on the bench in Oklahoma State. Sure in the long run Barry is a better back, but Thomas was a very good back. I just threw his name out there as an honorable mention.
3 months ago
Barry Sanders may not be the best of all time, but he sure was the most entertaining to watch, at least in my day.
3 months ago
Look at the team Barry Sanders played for then ask yourself who was the greatest. Barry was truly magnificent to watch even for the lowly Lions
3 months ago
Jim Brown because of what he accomplished in such a short amount of time just think of what he might have ended with had he played as long as emmitt smith.
3 months ago
i dont agree with barry sanders being the greatest heck marshall faulk could make moves like barry sanders and he was aslo more accomplished at recieving therefor marshall faulk is arguabally better than barry sanders to me i would also rank jim brown,emmitt smith,walter payton,and earl campbell all ahead of barry sanders
from 3 months ago
Marshall Faulk was really good, and even though I back Barry as the best the one knock on him is his heart. I feel like he quit, I understand wanting to make sure you dont let your body get beat up like Earl Campbell, but I feel that it would be an honor to play in the NFL and Barry didnt see it that way. I could be wrong considering I have never been put in that position, but as a fan I felt that he quit.
3 months ago
I like Anonymous' "the correct order" list the best.
I'd probably squeeze in Curtis Martin and Terrell Davis somewhere in the second five tho.
Remember folks, Brown and OJ played 12 and 14 game seasons.
I'm surprised no one from insufferable Steelers Country has chimed in with any Franco Harris love.
3 months ago
peterson will out shine any and all RB's. in only one season he has set several records including the single game rushing record!
3 months ago
When Peterson almost broke the single game rushing record one week and then did it the following week I was convinced he has what it takes to be one of the best. The question with him is will he be able to stay healthy.
3 months ago
I was extremely impressed with Adrian Peterson last season. He looks like the next "great". But I want to see him do it again.
3 months ago
I still think MARCUS ALLEN is #1.
3 months ago
I honestly have a tough time putting anyone other than Jim Brown at the top. The numbers he put up were ungodly: 104.3 yds/game (best all-time), 5.2 yards per carry, 12,312 total rushing yards (8th all-time), 106 rushing TDs (5th all-time). And like some have stated already, you have to realize that he played in 12 and 14 games seasons, in an era when defenses defended the run first and not the pass. Extrapolate his already gaudy numbers in a 16 game season and his numbers would be untouchable. His impact on the game was simply unmatched.
3 months ago
Jim Brown was great no doubt. But look at his era. He really was the only RB. There really wasn't anybody else then. Jim Brown was the guy. And when he was thinking of coming out of retirement to play for the Raiders I was excited. Jim Brown and Al Davis had a good friendship and respected one another. Jim Brown said "If I come back then I come back a Raider". Unfortunately it didn't happen. But there was a sports magazine cover with Jim Brown wearing a Raiders uniform. He looked much better in Black & Silver then he did in Brown & Orange. He definitely was the toughest RB of all time and does a lot of positive things off the field as well.
3 months ago
MARCUS ALLEN is still my #1 RB of all time. But I'm also a Raiders fan.LOL
3 months ago
Not even gonna read the other comments, since there is no time to refute all of them.
To me it's Sweetness--he carried a bad team for a long time, could do everything LT can do (speed and power running, receiving, blocking, and passing) and did it for longer than anyone but Smith. Brown coulda had this distinction, but quit early, so by sheer volume I say Walter--he was unstoppable on that leap over the pile even though you knoew what was coming.
(The greatest runner was Sanders, but you couldn't even use him at the goalline, he was not a good recevier, and not much help in pass protection.) I don't even know how you put Thomas in there--he was great, but not even top 10!
from 3 months ago
Maybe not top 10 but top 20 is a possibility. I just didnt want people to think I was only naming big names.
3 months ago
Wow MJ. Thanx for sayin it for me. Walter Payton; not only the greatest running back, but the greatest MAN ever in the NFL.
3 months ago
What, has everyone forgotten about 400 pounds of sweetness by the name of Refrigerator Perry?
3 months ago
Jim Brown and Walter Payton both had a gift that their combination of speed and brusing running skills blended together so well that one could not differentiate between the skill set while they were running with the ball
3 months ago
MARCUS ALLEN #1
3 months ago
Jim Brown
Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Bo Jackson (unfortunately a career cut short, but look at his stats from his playing days.. legendary)
3 months ago
I think that it is kind of sad because Adrian Peterson is not going to surpass LT because his career is to close to Tomlinson's. LT is going to continue putting up amazing numbers for at the very least a couple more years and he will be remembered as the premier running back of his time. He is going to end up being remembered as a great but in LT's shadow, just like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson lived in MJ's shadow.
3 months ago
I think it is way too early to say adrian peterson will be the best all time he has had 1 good year that doesn not make a man great by any means
3 months ago
Marshall Faulk deserves to be at least, top 10.
LT is a pussy, but, legit. He'll probably be #1 eventually, but, Jim Brown gets the nod here.
Bo Jackson...what coulda been?!
3 months ago
I could also go with Marcus Allen, but Bo was even a bigger threat that was cut short like Gale Sayers. Bo would have been the best. He could not be stopped. You simply can not compare him to anyone in the game today or yesterday. Speed, power, vision, moves.
3 months ago
I agree with the Bo Jackson chorus here. Bo had it all and was absolutely unstoppable. Coaches, players, league personnel alike all agree that he was like nothing no was has ever seen. Sad his career was cut short, but for anyone who watched Bo, it's hard to have a conversation about great running backs without him.
3 months ago
I'd like to make my case for Walter Payton. For the first 7-8 years of Walter Payton's career he had some of the worst offensive lines in history. All of these other backs had far superior lines during their career (Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett had superb O-lines)
Two, the Bears had absolutely NO passing game for 80% of Payton career. Zero. Year in and year out the Bears were always at the bottom of the league in passing. Can you even name one decent Bears QB or wide receiver during the first 7 yrs of Payton's career? (until Jim McMahon came along).
The joke in Chicago was that the Bears have 3 plays, Payton left, Payton right and Payton middle.
So every week the opposing team prepared to stop Payton, that's all the Bears had.
Payton took an enormous beating but missed only one game in his long career. His first season. And it was because his coach held him out. I consider this perhaps the greatest consecutive games streak in all of sports history rivaling Cal Ripken and Brett Favre. I think its harder to not miss a game for 12 years as a running back taking 30 carries per game then these other two achieved.
I also remember something even most Chicago fans seem to forget. Payton would probably hold the touchdown record as well. But quite often when the Bears got to the goal line they'd run a QB sneak. This is because the defense stacked up to stop Payton. I remember an inordinate number of QB sneaks on the goalline.
Lastly, Payton bowed out a year or two early to make way for Neal Anderson who had been patiently waiting his opportunity. Payton had a little more life left in his legs.
Don't also forget Payton was the top blocking back, threw passes, caught passes and even kicked a field goal on occasion. A 1970's Jim Thorpe.
Don't get me wrong, I loved watching Barry Sanders. On the turf, in a dome, the guy was untouchable. And when he retired he mentioned not wanting to break Payton's record. A great class guy who could've run for 20,000 yards barring injury. It wouldn't have bothered me one bit to see Barry break the record.
When Jim Brown played he was bigger than most of the Defensive linemen. He was a Bull and dominated his era. Would he have been as effective playing against Lineman 100 pounds bigger than himself?
If only Bo Jackson remained healthy. We'll never know. That guy was the greatest physical specimen to ever step on a football field.
3 months ago
O.J Simpson is the greatest running back ever
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