Barry Sanders Or Emmit Smith....

[usmccharles]

My and some of my friends always argue this and im just curious to see what everyone here thinks, both great running backs. So wich one do you think is better, Very easy choice for me, not even close

[theFRANCHISE]

Barry Sanders, in my opinion. Even though his career abruptly ended, you can't blame him for retiring early after having been the only bright spot on such a dismal team. To me, Sanders' greatness lies in the fact that he played so well in spite of his teammates. Although Sanders also has the most carries for negative yardage in league history, his numbers are made even more impressive because they also came in spite of those negative plays as well.

To me, Emmitt Smith's accomplishments are diminished slightly because of all the starpower with which he was surrounded. Though it's hard to deny that it takes talent and ability to become the top rusher in league history, it's much easier to do so with a great offensive line like the Cowboys had, as well as great skill position players that opposing defenses also had to account for. In contrast, opposing teams gameplanned to stop Barry Sanders and only Barry Sanders when they played the Lions, and they still couldn't contain him when they stacked the box. The Lions only lost because they had such a horrible defense, and their QB play was atrocious.

[codizzle]

barry sanders without a question and i grew up a hard cowboys fan (until 1996)

if sanders played for the cowboys we'd be saying he was the greatest player ever

[Tighthead420]

Sanders...


I have no connection with the Lions, but I would watch every game just to see him play. The moves he made on the field were superhuman. He made hall of fame defenders look silly on a regular basis.

[Rocky Mountain Raven]

Barry. I really dont remember Barry hitting a hole, because there usually wasnt one. He was the kind of player that play after play shook the entire defense, truly amazing.

[usmccharles]

glad to see we are lal on the same page.....barry would of dominated easily if he was on a team with a decent line.. we got robbed of seeing the best of all time because they wouldnt trade

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='usmccharles' post='150645' date='Feb 5 2009, 12:05 AM']glad to see we are lal on the same page.....barry would of dominated easily if he was on a team with a decent line.. we got robbed of seeing the best of all time because they wouldnt trade[/quote]
The irony of this thread is, the last game of Barry Sanders' career was a 19-10 loss to none other than our Baltimore Ravens.

And he would later write in his autobiography that he cried over the loss for a while because he knew in his heart that it was his last game since the entire season had basically robbed him of his competitive spirit. That's not to say that the Ravens defense forced Sanders to retire, of course, but it had to have been disheartening to have played well all season in spite of his teammates, only to lose. And even worse, his teammates could never pick up the slack whenever he had bad games that all players are bound to have.

[H8R]

Emmit, his love of the game kept him around A LOT longer and he produced HUGE numbers. If Barry would have stayed around longer and had similar or better numbers I'd pick him but that just didn't happen.

[Ronnie Brown # 23]

[quote name='H8R' post='150683' date='Feb 5 2009, 07:58 AM']Emmit, his love of the game kept him around A LOT longer and he produced HUGE numbers. If Barry would have stayed around longer and had similar or better numbers I'd pick him but that just didn't happen.[/quote]

Yea well when you play 10 years for a bottom 5 team, you wouldn't stick around longer then 10 years either. Sanders retired after having a 1491 yards rushing year and only one year removed from 2,000 yards. the scary thing was that Barry was in a way still in his prime when he retired and still put up similar numbers despite playing 5 less years.

[H8R]

[quote name='Ronnie Brown # 23' post='150977' date='Feb 5 2009, 11:20 PM']Yea well when you play 10 years for a bottom 5 team, you wouldn't stick around longer then 10 years either. Sanders retired after having a 1491 yards rushing year and only one year removed from 2,000 yards. the scary thing was that Barry was in a way still in his prime when he retired and still put up similar numbers despite playing 5 less years.[/quote]


so what? Emmit went to a crappy team (Az) just to stay in the sport. Barry was the "what IF?" Emmit did it all.

[Purple Punishment]

Barry couldnt goto another team. Detroit kept on to him. He was trying to goto the Dolphins but the Lions wouldnt allow it so he retired. He played for the Lions! and had NO offensive line or supporting cast. He was for the Lions, The Only Show On Turf. Dont get it twisted, Emmit was great but if you threw barry Sanders in the Dallas backfield, We would have a +23,000 rusher. He put up over 2000 yds in his next to last season with NO support on offense. Put Emmit in Detroits backfield and he wouldnt have lasted even 10 years. Barry Sanders should have had the opportunity to showcase his talents on a competitive team. He even took Detroit to a playoff game. Hands down, Barry Sanders is the greatest running back in NFL History, then Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Earl Campbell, then Emmit Smith might fall in 5th. Just because you have the most yards doesnt make you the best. Anyone can hang around for that last yard. This isnt ESPN, Emmit and Barry shouldnt even be compared because Barry had talent beyond any back of his time

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='H8R' post='150683' date='Feb 5 2009, 07:58 AM']Emmit, his love of the game kept him around A LOT longer and he produced HUGE numbers. If Barry would have stayed around longer and had similar or better numbers I'd pick him but that just didn't happen.[/quote]
Of course Emmitt Smith still had love for the game at the end of his career; he had played for a star-studded Cowboys team for most of his peak years. Barry Sanders had nothing around him. He WAS the Detroit Lions.

Considering Sanders endured 10 seasons on a mediocre team, it's amazing that he was able to suck it up for that long. 5 playoff appearances, but 4 of which were one-and-done...how do you think [i]your[/i] competitive spirit would hold up?

[FerrariFan87]

Barry Sanders would have shattered Payton's record and Emmitt would never have been able to catch it... that being said, you can't go wrong with either guy

[thewarden86]

Put Barry on a good team and Emmitt Smith is always a step or two behind him. No question: Barry.

[Sub-Zero]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' post='151342' date='Feb 6 2009, 03:16 PM']Of course Emmitt Smith still had love for the game at the end of his career; he had played for a star-studded Cowboys team for most of his peak years. Barry Sanders had nothing around him. He WAS the Detroit Lions.

Considering Sanders endured 10 seasons on a mediocre team, it's amazing that he was able to suck it up for that long. 5 playoff appearances, but 4 of which were one-and-done...how do you think [i]your[/i] competitive spirit would hold up?[/quote]
don't forget about Herman Moore, he was a 4x pro bowler himself. At least he stuck around and waited till he fizzled out till he decided to call it quits.

[Ronnie Brown # 23]

[quote name='Purple Punishment' post='151218' date='Feb 6 2009, 04:33 PM']Barry couldnt goto another team. Detroit kept on to him. He was trying to goto the Dolphins but the Lions wouldnt allow it so he retired. He played for the Lions! and had NO offensive line or supporting cast. He was for the Lions, The Only Show On Turf. Dont get it twisted, Emmit was great but if you threw barry Sanders in the Dallas backfield, We would have a +23,000 rusher. He put up over 2000 yds in his next to last season with NO support on offense. Put Emmit in Detroits backfield and he wouldnt have lasted even 10 years. Barry Sanders should have had the opportunity to showcase his talents on a competitive team. He even took Detroit to a playoff game. Hands down, Barry Sanders is the greatest running back in NFL History, then Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Earl Campbell, then Emmit Smith might fall in 5th. Just because you have the most yards doesnt make you the best. Anyone can hang around for that last yard. This isnt ESPN, Emmit and Barry shouldnt even be compared because Barry had talent beyond any back of his time[/quote]

WOW and to think if the Dolphins got sanders and draft randy moss like Marino wanted, Move over Irvin,aikman,Smith...a new triple threat has come, I never thought of thaat.

[Ronnie Brown # 23]

And to put things in perspective about how good barry was, he has the most negative yards with something like over 2,000 yards lost and still put up 15,000 yards in 10 years. He had nobody around him his line sucked so much the play would be shut down immmediately so Sanders used his ability to dance aroound and made plays that could not have been made by just about any other player in the history of the nfl.

[Purple Punishment]

[quote name='Ronnie Brown # 23' post='151636' date='Feb 7 2009, 02:35 PM']WOW and to think if the Dolphins got sanders and draft randy moss like Marino wanted, Move over Irvin,aikman,Smith...a new triple threat has come, I never thought of thaat.[/quote]

Yeah Barry was trying to go to Miami, but it never happened so he called it quits. He was way too talented for the Detroit lions to hold him back. Now Calvin Johnsonis going to suffer the same fate. Lions better pick up Matt Cassel

[usmccharles]

barry after ten seasons was like 1100 yards or so behind paytons record, it was some low amount that was close to the lowest yards he ever got in a season, then he retired. It took Emmit like 4 more years to get the record....enough said

[TSizzle00]

[quote name='usmccharles' post='150302' date='Feb 3 2009, 10:07 PM']My and some of my friends always argue this and im just curious to see what everyone here thinks, both great running backs. So wich one do you think is better, Very easy choice for me, not even close[/quote]

RAY RICE

[Purple Punishment]

[quote name='TSizzle00' post='154139' date='Feb 15 2009, 11:53 PM']RAY RICE [/quote]

ummm....get out!

[ZIBBY28]

BARRY!

[Ravenglenn]

Barry Sanders for sure. (Unlike an unnamed Steeler who would run out of bounds to avoid hits....)