Who Was The Best Running Back In The NFL?
Contents
Who was the best running back in the NFL? This is a question that has been debated for years, and there is no clear answer. However, there are a few players who stand out as being the best of the best.
Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith was the best running back in the NFL during his playing career. He was a member of the Dallas Cowboys from 1990 to 2002, and helped the team win three Super Bowl titles. Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, with 18,355 yards and 164 touchdowns.
His stats
Emmitt Smith was born in Florida in 1969. After a stellar high school career, he played college football for the University of Florida, where he was a first-team All-American running back. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft, and went on to have an illustrious professional career.
Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, with 18,355 yards. He also holds the record for most rushing touchdowns in a season (25) and in a career (164). He was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player three times (1991, 1992, 1993) and was a eight-time Pro Bowl selection. He helped lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles (1992, 1993, 1995), and was named Super Bowl MVP after the Cowboys’ victory in Super Bowl XXVIII. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
His accomplishments
Emmitt Smith is a former professional American football player who was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) for fifteen seasons. Smith is the NFL’s all-time rushing leader, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and was the league MVP in 1993. He played college football at Florida, where he was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist.
While playing for the Cowboys, Smith became the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, eclipsing Walter Payton’s then-record of 16,726 career rushing yards during the 2002 season. In 2010, he was ranked as the 32nd greatest player in NFL history by former ESPN analyst Tom Jackson. Smith is also one of only seven running backs to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career, and he holds several other notable records.
Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders was the best running back in the NFL in the 1990s. He was a ten-time Pro Bowler, a four-time first-team All-Pro, and the NFL MVP in 1997. Sanders was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
His stats
In his 10 NFL seasons, Barry Sanders was one of the most electrifying players in NFL history. He was a human highlight reel, making defenders miss and breaking tackle after tackle. He was so good that some people consider him to be the best running back of all time.
In his career, Sanders rushed for 15,269 yards and 99 touchdowns. He was a First-Team All-Pro six times and a Pro Bowler 10 times. He was also the NFL MVP in 1997, when he rushed for 2,053 yards.
His accomplishments
Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is a former professional American football player who was a running back for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). A Pro Bowl invitee in each of his 10 NFL seasons and two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Sanders led the league in rushing four times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.
In his 1993 season, Sanders became just the third player in NFL history to record over 2,000 rushing yards in a season, and was named the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year. During his 1994 season, he became just the fourth player to surpass 1,500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in a season. His 1,491 rushing yards that year were second only to Emmitt Smith’s 1,563. In 1997 he amassed 2,053 total yards (1,491 rushing and 562 receiving), becoming one of only seven players to gain over 2,000 total yards in a season.
Walter Payton
Walter Payton was the best running back in the NFL. He was a versatile player who could run, catch, and block. He was also a great team player. Payton was the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
His stats
In his 13 NFL seasons, Payton amassed 21,803 total yards, an average of 1,390 yards per season. He had 16 100-yard rushing games and six 200-yard games. In 1977, he had a 1,852-yard season, which is still the NFL record. He also had 275 receptions for 3,838 yards and 15 touchdowns. Walter Payton was the first player in history to have more than 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.
His accomplishments
Over the course of his 13-year NFL career, Payton was an nine-time Pro Bowl selection, a six-time first-team All-Pro, and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1977. He also rushed for more than 16,000 yards, which was an NFL record at the time of his retirement.
Jim Brown
Jim Brown is considered by many to be one of the best running backs of all time. He was a dominating force in the NFL for nine seasons. Brown was a Pro Bowl selection in eight of his nine seasons. He was the NFL MVP in three different seasons. Brown was a first-team All-Pro selection in all nine of his seasons.
His stats
In nine NFL seasons, Brown averaged104.3 yards rushing per game (5.2 per carry), caught 262 passes for 2,499 yards (9.6 per catch), and scored 126 touchdowns—114 rushing and 12 receiving—in 140 games. He led the league in rushing yards in eight of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired had rushed for more yards than any other player in NFL history with 12,312. In 2002, The Sporting News placed Brown at No. 1 on its list of the 100 Greatest Football Players; in 2010, he was ranked No. 1 by NFL Network’s “The Top 100: NFL’s Greatest Players”
His accomplishments
Jim Brown is widely considered to be the greatest running back in NFL history. He was a powerful, elusive runner who could also catch the ball out of the backfield. In nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns, he rushed for 12,312 yards and scored 126 touchdowns. He was named All-Pro eight times and was the NFL MVP three times. Brown retired from football in 1965 to pursue a career in acting.
Eric Dickerson
Eric Dickerson set the single-season rushing record in 1984 with 2,105 yards. Dickerson played college football for the SMU Mustangs of Southern Methodist University and was drafted in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He holds the NFL’s rookie rushing record, and was named 1983 Rookie of the Year. In his first four NFL seasons, Dickerson gained 5,212 yards rushing.
His stats
Eric Dickerson spent his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, where he was a First-Team All-Pro selection in each year and won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1983. He set NFL rookie records for most rushing yards in a season (1,808) and most rushing yards in a game (206). He also broke the single-season record for rushing attempts (390) previously held by O.J. Simpson. In his second season, Dickerson helped lead the Rams to Super Bowl XIV, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 31–19.
His accomplishments
Dickerson played college football for the SMU Mustangs of Southern Methodist University and was recognized as an All-American. He was drafted in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams and holds the NFL’s single-season rushing record with 2,105 yards, set in 1984. He was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year that season and won a championship with the Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Dickerson was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in 1987 and had four more 1,000-yard rushing seasons 🙂
