Emmitt Smith

[madbomber31]

well, since i've gotten my direct ticket 6 or 7 years ago i've watched as little of dallas as i could... since madden and summerall chased them around the country for 4 or 5 years there...


anyway... a better man could have and should have had this record... yes, barry sanders had more class in his right foot than emmitt has... argue away, but the numbers do not lie.. barry averaged more yards per game, per carry.. etc.. and all without a stellar offensive line or even a fullback. you can tell me how often barry lost yards and i'll just point to how often he made a sure loss of yards due to his lines pathetic blocking become 2 yard gains... i have no doubt about barry sanders being a better running back than emmitt smith.. i've lived in detroit my entire life, i've watched barry since day one... barry didnt celebrate, barry didnt take his helmet off and duel with michael irvin about being great.. barry scored.. gave the ball to the ref.. thats it...

when the rushing title was on the line barry looked up at the score board and sat out when emmitt had the same thing happen he chose to get the ball 32 times in a meaningless game so he could get the record....

barry walked away from the game on top, he went out the best.

what we are seeing with emmitt is merely a shell of what he was... all the ego and half the talent, and no offensive line.. this is the sort of line barry had year in and year out... dont blame barry for the lions misfortunes... barry did all he could and more, but when an organization chooses not to spend money and get better the lions are what happens... emmitt had an owner that wanted to win at all costs and luckily so...

barry... barry had himself and his fans...

i can still here the chants from the dome... BARRY BARRY BARRY

BARRY SANDERS let emmitt have the record... he stepped aside and in my book was and still is the best running back to play the game of football.

 

[mylife]

there's no question barry was a better RB. emmitt is holding onto a thin string, barry left when he still had the whole spool of yarn. everytime i see a highlight of him i get chills down my spine.



Sanders' humility makes him distinctive
By M.B. Roberts
Special to ESPN.com



Think of Barry Sanders as a coin.


"Heads" is the record-setting running back who was described as electrifying, explosive, mesmerizing and unstoppable.

"Tails" is the quiet, humble, religious, man who doesn't like attention, treasures his privacy and does his own laundry.

Flip a coin. You got either a terrific player or a nice guy.

First, the player. His best year was 1997, when the 5-foot-8, 200-pound Sanders became the third runner to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. His 2,053 yards put him behind Eric Dickerson (2,105 in 1984) and ahead of O.J. Simpson (2,003 in 1973).

Sanders, who played 10 years with the Detroit Lions, is third all-time in NFL rushing, trailing only Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith. He had 15,269 yards when he unexpectedly retired before the 1999 season. He decided that breaking Payton’s record of 16,726 yards was not all that important to him.

Buffalo Bills running back Thurman Thomas, the only man Sanders ever played behind (for one year at Oklahoma State), explained Sanders' greatness: "He didn't take a big hit. Guys were off-balance playing against him. Barry's was in a Michael Jordan-like zone. He was electrifying."

When he came to the NFL in 1989 after his junior, Heisman-winning year at Oklahoma State, Sanders already had a record collection bigger than Wolfman Jack's. He established 13 NCAA season records, including yards rushing (2,628), yards gained rushing per game (238.9), touchdowns (39) and touchdowns running (37).

Sanders remained a statistician's dream in his post-college career. His 14 games of at least 100 yards rushing in 1997 are a league record. He had 76 100-yard games in his career, second only to Payton's 77. He owns virtually every Lions' offensive rushing record. He scored 109 touchdowns and every season he rushed for at least 1,100 yards.

So what does Sanders, a math-whiz, think of his numbers?

"I'm very competitive when it comes to winning and losing and playing well," said Sanders. "And I did put up big numbers. There were some times in 1997 when I could have gone back in to pad my numbers, but I wasn't as competitive with the numbers as I was about winning and losing."

Sanders was born on July 16, 1968 in Wichita, Kan. He grew up in a small house with two brothers and eight sisters. Showing off was not tolerated, especially by his father William, an old-fashioned disciplinarian who once worked shooting cows in the head on a slaughtering line.

Most of the time, his father worked as a roofer. Young Barry often worked with him during the sweltering, tar-bubbling Kansas summers.

"It was just like being in a sauna," Sanders said. "There's no shade and there's no relief from the heat. But the toughest part was working with my dad. He'd tell you to go get him a screwdriver and you'd bring him one, and then he'd go into this tirade. He'd start yelling, 'I didn't tell you to bring me a Phillips head! I wanted a flathead!' "

Despite the outbursts, Sanders said the experience was good for him.

"I don't know many kids who get the chance to spend a day with their father working," he said. "And I learned a trade, so if I ever blew out my knee, I had something to fall back on."

Sanders was a star running back at North High School in Wichita. As the final game of the regular season drew to a close in his senior year, Sanders was only 33 yards shy of the league rushing title. But with his team leading 35-12, he passed on a chance to go back in. He didn't want to risk injury since a playoff game was next.

Sanders' junior season at Oklahoma State was perhaps the finest ever by a college running back. He rushed for more than 300 yards an NCAA-record four times in 1988 and for five consecutive games he ran for more than 200 yards, another mark.

Two more records: He scored at least two touchdowns in all 11 regular-season games, and nine times scored at least three touchdowns.

Sanders only reluctantly attended the Heisman Trophy presentation (live, via satellite, as his team was playing Texas Tech in Japan). Before he won, he said he thought another nominee, Southern Cal quarterback Rodney Peete, deserved the award.

Pat Jones, his coach at Oklahoma State, said Sanders didn't mind winning the Heisman, he just didn't want to talk about it. As his mother Shirley taught him: "Glory to God, not to yourself."


With the third selection in the draft, the Lions chose Sanders. He didn't disappoint, rushing for an NFC-leading 1,470 yards to break Billy Sims' team record and scoring 14 touchdowns as a rookie. In 1990, he won his first NFL rushing title, though he gained 166 fewer yards than he had in his first season. His 1,304 yards put him seven yards ahead of former teammate Thomas.


In 1993, it looked as if Sanders would win his second NFL rushing title, but an injury to his left knee in the Thanksgiving Day game caused him to miss the final five regular-season games. He finished with 1,115 yards, his lowest total as a pro.

Sanders won three more rushing titles, with 1,883 yards in 1994, 1,553 yards in 1996 and the 2,053-yard outburst in 1997. In his 10 seasons, Sanders never averaged less than 4.3 yards a carry or ran fewer than 243 times (1993).

Despite Sanders' credentials, not even his own father rated him as the NFL's greatest running back.

"I'm so proud of Barry, but I'm also a realist," William said. "I watched Jim Brown play for the Cleveland Browns and he was the best I have ever seen. Playing football back then was harder."

Sanders refused to take reporters' bait regarding his father choosing Brown over him.

"What kind of a son would I be to take away my father's hero?" he said.

Just to have his father talk about him in the same league with Brown is a compliment, he said.

Sanders on the field was a slick, fast, showman. The moment play stopped, though, he became quiet and gentlemanly. He handed his touchdown ball to the nearest official. He didn't trash talk or dance in the end zone. He learned this approach from his parents.

"They are get-up early, hard-working, go-do-your-job people," Sanders said. "They don't want anything from anybody. They want to take care of their own. That was exactly my approach to football. I wasn't necessarily looking for fame and fortune. I tried to make sure I upheld my end. I took care of business and then went home."

After games, he returned to his modest-by-millionaire standards ($180,000) home in a Detroit subdivision. Sanders, who earned $5 million a year, turned down millions in endorsement opportunities.

"It probably was not wise if you want to live by the Business 101 textbook," he said, "but I value my privacy over endorsements."

In July 2000, Sanders sent the Lions a check for $1.833 million, a payment he was obligated to make if he doesn't play this season. The money represents part of a signing bonus Sanders received in 1997, when he signed a six-year contract.


In a February 2000 decision, arbitrator Sam Kagel said Sanders owes the Lions $1.833 million of unearned signing bonus for each year he doesn't play during the remaining three years of his contract.

 

[gettinlarger]

Walter

motherfucking

Payton.

 

[biteme]

well, since i've gotten my direct ticket 6 or 7 years ago i've watched as little of dallas as i could... since madden and summerall chased them around the country for 4 or 5 years there...


anyway... a better man could have and should have had this record... yes, barry sanders had more class in his right foot than emmitt has... argue away, but the numbers do not lie.. barry averaged more yards per game, per carry.. etc.. and all without a stellar offensive line or even a fullback. you can tell me how often barry lost yards and i'll just point to how often he made a sure loss of yards due to his lines pathetic blocking become 2 yard gains... i have no doubt about barry sanders being a better running back than emmitt smith.. i've lived in detroit my entire life, i've watched barry since day one... barry didnt celebrate, barry didnt take his helmet off and duel with michael irvin about being great.. barry scored.. gave the ball to the ref.. thats it...

when the rushing title was on the line barry looked up at the score board and sat out when emmitt had the same thing happen he chose to get the ball 32 times in a meaningless game so he could get the record....

barry walked away from the game on top, he went out the best.

what we are seeing with emmitt is merely a shell of what he was... all the ego and half the talent, and no offensive line.. this is the sort of line barry had year in and year out... dont blame barry for the lions misfortunes... barry did all he could and more, but when an organization chooses not to spend money and get better the lions are what happens... emmitt had an owner that wanted to win at all costs and luckily so...

barry... barry had himself and his fans...

i can still here the chants from the dome... BARRY BARRY BARRY

BARRY SANDERS let emmitt have the record... he stepped aside and in my book was and still is the best running back to play the game of football.

Quit your pathetic bitching. You make me sick. Give the man his due.

 

[DownUnder23]

At least Emmit stuck around to get the record so it must mean something to him...barry just fuckin quit!

 

[mylife]

At least Emmit stuck around to get the record so it must mean something to him...barry just fuckin quit!

that's the problem. it means too much to him, seemingly more than winning/losing does.

 

[DownUnder23]

that's the problem. it means too much to him, seemingly more than winning/losing does.

you dont know that

 

[mylife]

you dont know that

great rebuttal!

 

[madbomber31]

barry didnt just quit... he was playing for a team that put nothing into it.. he played his heart out.. left it all on the field.. and yet, his management and fellow players did not....

 

[ConstantChange]

Barry Sanders is in a league of his own. It's obvious Barry is a better running back than Emmit, but that doesn't mean Emmit shouldn't get respect for breaking the record.

Barry had his football goals, and I think he accomplished them and moved on with his life.

Emmit had the goal to break the record, and he did

Two completely different men with completely different goals.