Do you think Tom Rathman is a Top Ten FB of all-time???

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
It would be a very competitive top ten! From the Bleacher Report's Mike Hempel:

7. Mike Alstott, Tampa Bay Bucs

6. Paul Younger, Los Angeles Rams

5. William Henderson, Green Bay Packers

4. Lorenzo Neal, Cincinnati Bengals / San Diego Chargers

3. Marion Motley, Cleveland Browns

2. Darryl Johnston, Dallas Cowboys

1. Bronco Nagurski, Chicago Bears tie for 1st with larry zonk csonka

And from Leakos (Break Studios) Top ten Fullbacks: I like this list!

1.Jim Brown. Jim Brown is one of the best runners of all time and is easily one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Over his nine-year career at Cleveland, Brown ran for 12,312 yards and 106 touchdowns. He remained the rushing leader until Walter Payton broke his record.

2.Daryl Johnston. Daryl Johnston is one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time, Emmitt Smith’s blocker for three Super Bowl winning Dallas Cowboys teams. Nicknamed “Moose,” Johnston was a prototypical fullback, one of the best blockers in the league while also averaging 42 catches a season from 1993-1996.

3.Larry Csonka. Much like Jim Brown, Larry Csonka was the go-to running back for his team but is a natural fullback and one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Csonka finished his career as the Miami all-time leading rusher and won three Super Bowl rings.

4.John Riggins. During the heyday of the Washington Redskins famed “Hogs,” John Riggins lined up on the offensive side of the ball and became one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. He retired as the Redskins leading rusher with over 7,000 yards and 79 touchdowns.

5.Tom Rathman. While San Francisco was peaking in the 1980's, Tom Rathman developed into one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time, winning two Super Bowls while there. He blocked for tailback Roger Craig while also contributing out of the team’s West Coast offense, leading the league in receiving for running backs in 1989.

6.Franco Harris. Hall of Fame fullback Franco Harris played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for twelve years, becoming one of the greatest fullbacks of all time. While he served mostly as a blocker in college, he went to nine Pro Bowls and won four Super Bowl rings in his NFL career.

7.Jim Taylor. Jim Taylor played for the Green Bay Packers and remains one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Taylor recorded the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history in 1967 and was one four championship teams in his time at Green Bay. Taylor was only the second Packers player to run for 1,000 yards and did is five times.

8.Mike Alstott. Mike Alstott became the new-look NFL fullback and retired in 2006 as one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Over his career, Alstott was a short yardage runner as well as a pass receiver. He finished his career at Tampa Bay with 58 rushing touchdowns and over 300 receptions over eleven seasons.

9.Robert Newhouse. Robert Newhouse spent twelve seasons with the Dallas
Cowboys and became one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. When he wasn’t blocking for Hall of Famer's, Tony Dorsett and Roger Staubach, he ran for a lot of yards himself. He retired with 4,784 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns in his career/

10.Lorenzo Neal. Lorenzo Neal played for seven years in his prolific NFL career and retired in 2008 as one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. He wasn’t a rushing fullback but served as the perfect blocking back, playing at San Diego while LaDanian Tomlinson became one of the best runners in the league.

FB is one positon that is impossible to compare era's. Jim Brown, Larry Czonka, John Riggins, Franco Harris, and Jim Taylor may have been classified as FB's but were really running backs that were simply big. IN every case (perhaps other than Taylor) they were the #1 option to run the ball. Tom Rathman and today's FB's are pretty much blocking backs that catch the ball on occasion but are never the #1 option to carry the ball.

Rathman doesnt compare to the guys listed above as RB's. However, as a pure blocking FB he is one of the best to play in my opinion.

Not always so, a lot of times those mentioned above would run out of an "I formation" in the up back position and get the hand off. To me that defines a full back in the old days. Taylor did that quite a bit and so did Csonka. Calling Harris a full back to me is confusing as I thought he lined up behind Rocky Bleier who was his lead blocker. Either that or I am getting old and senile.

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by JRILL:

Originally posted by modninerfan:
ehh if he is he'd probably be around the 9 or 10 area... its hard to judge FB simply because their role maybe different depending on the era or team they played for. I wouldnt be upset if somebody said he wasnt though

you can say that about all positions... Not all QBs are gun slingers.. Joe Montana wasn't a gun slinger but John Elway was... is it hard to judge them??? NO... When it's a Top Ten List, we are talking about there all around game...

Actually it is almost impossible to compare qb's through time. Who was greater, Unitas or Elway? Marino or Staubach?

As the game evolves the
comparisons lose their value. And
the fullback position has changed so much it has almost disappeared from some teams.

I agree with the guy who said yes, but only in the modern game.

so here's the question, what years are considered the modern era?

Originally posted by JRILL:

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by JRILL:

Originally posted by modninerfan:
ehh if he is he'd probably be around the 9 or 10 area... its hard to judge FB simply because their role maybe different depending on the era or team they played for. I wouldnt be upset if somebody said he wasnt though

you can say that about all positions... Not all QBs are gun slingers.. Joe Montana wasn't a gun slinger but John Elway was... is it hard to judge them??? NO... When it's a Top Ten List, we are talking about there all around game...

Actually it is almost impossible to compare qb's through time. Who was greater, Unitas or Elway? Marino or Staubach?

As the game evolves the
comparisons lose their value. And
the fullback position has changed so much it has almost disappeared from some teams.

I agree with the guy who said yes, but only in the modern game.

so here's the question, what years are considered the modern era?

Singletary

^ GOOOOOD JUAN, lol
^
||

I love him so it doesn't matter. To me he is the best!

Originally posted by BobS:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
It would be a very competitive top ten! From the Bleacher Report's Mike Hempel:

7. Mike Alstott, Tampa Bay Bucs

6. Paul Younger, Los Angeles Rams

5. William Henderson, Green Bay Packers

4. Lorenzo Neal, Cincinnati Bengals / San Diego Chargers

3. Marion Motley, Cleveland Browns

2. Darryl Johnston, Dallas Cowboys

1. Bronco Nagurski, Chicago Bears tie for 1st with larry zonk csonka

And from Leakos (Break Studios) Top ten Fullbacks: I like this list!

1.Jim Brown. Jim Brown is one of the best runners of all time and is easily one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Over his nine-year career at Cleveland, Brown ran for 12,312 yards and 106 touchdowns. He remained the rushing leader until Walter Payton broke his record.

2.Daryl Johnston. Daryl Johnston is one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time, Emmitt Smith’s blocker for three Super Bowl winning Dallas Cowboys teams. Nicknamed “Moose,” Johnston was a prototypical fullback, one of the best blockers in the league while also averaging 42 catches a season from 1993-1996.

3.Larry Csonka. Much like Jim Brown, Larry Csonka was the go-to running back for his team but is a natural fullback and one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Csonka finished his career as the Miami all-time leading rusher and won three Super Bowl rings.

4.John Riggins. During the heyday of the Washington Redskins famed “Hogs,” John Riggins lined up on the offensive side of the ball and became one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. He retired as the Redskins leading rusher with over 7,000 yards and 79 touchdowns.

5.Tom Rathman. While San Francisco was peaking in the 1980's, Tom Rathman developed into one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time, winning two Super Bowls while there. He blocked for tailback Roger Craig while also contributing out of the team’s West Coast offense, leading the league in receiving for running backs in 1989.

6.Franco Harris. Hall of Fame fullback Franco Harris played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for twelve years, becoming one of the greatest fullbacks of all time. While he served mostly as a blocker in college, he went to nine Pro Bowls and won four Super Bowl rings in his NFL career.

7.Jim Taylor. Jim Taylor played for the Green Bay Packers and remains one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Taylor recorded the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history in 1967 and was one four championship teams in his time at Green Bay. Taylor was only the second Packers player to run for 1,000 yards and did is five times.

8.Mike Alstott. Mike Alstott became the new-look NFL fullback and retired in 2006 as one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. Over his career, Alstott was a short yardage runner as well as a pass receiver. He finished his career at Tampa Bay with 58 rushing touchdowns and over 300 receptions over eleven seasons.

9.Robert Newhouse. Robert Newhouse spent twelve seasons with the Dallas
Cowboys and became one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. When he wasn’t blocking for Hall of Famer's, Tony Dorsett and Roger Staubach, he ran for a lot of yards himself. He retired with 4,784 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns in his career/

10.Lorenzo Neal. Lorenzo Neal played for seven years in his prolific NFL career and retired in 2008 as one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. He wasn’t a rushing fullback but served as the perfect blocking back, playing at San Diego while LaDanian Tomlinson became one of the best runners in the league.

FB is one positon that is impossible to compare era's. Jim Brown, Larry Czonka, John Riggins, Franco Harris, and Jim Taylor may have been classified as FB's but were really running backs that were simply big. IN every case (perhaps other than Taylor) they were the #1 option to run the ball. Tom Rathman and today's FB's are pretty much blocking backs that catch the ball on occasion but are never the #1 option to carry the ball.

Rathman doesnt compare to the guys listed above as RB's. However, as a pure blocking FB he is one of the best to play in my opinion.

Not always so, a lot of times those mentioned above would run out of an "I formation" in the up back position and get the hand off. To me that defines a full back in the old days. Taylor did that quite a bit and so did Csonka. Calling Harris a full back to me is confusing as I thought he lined up behind Rocky Bleier who was his lead blocker. Either that or I am getting old and senile.

My point was the FB position is completely different today then it was in days past. Fullbacks ran the ball back in the 60s and 70s. Today they very seldom do and are almost exclusivley blockers. Brown, Riggins, Harris and even Czonka were not in there for their blocking. They were there to carry the rock.

All postions are difficult to rate or compare from one era to another or even one team to another. OLines from the Washington hogs were very different than those WCO lines of the 9ers in the 80s, but I would not say they were better. I'll take the 9ers lines because I really like mobility and craftiness.

Jim Brown pretty much destroyed any vision of the fullback/halfback difference because he was the best of both. But you have the one back, two back, three back, split back, no back backfields all making it impossible to rate players with any true logical scale. But then I like Roger Craig as much or more than Rathman!

Can we measure how good the guy was in every facet of the game? Not when he splits time, is not the featured back, or is in a pass oriented team. And it is very difficult to quantify blocking. But it is fun to argue the merits!

Originally posted by Jakemall:
Perry, Rathman, Floyd and Beasley were all great FBs.

I wouldn't call Floyd and Beasley "great" - definitely good, but I would reserve "great" for FBs like Csonka, Neal, and Nagurski.

Originally posted by SonocoNinerFan:
I can still remember vividly the second half of the NFC Championship game against the Rams at the Stick. He and Craig and the OL completely owned the Ram defense. But Rathman in particular in that second half just abused the Ram LB's and DB's either carrying the ball or leading for Craig. It was a beautiful thing to watch.

That was the Jim Everett's phantom sack game, right?

Originally posted by JRILL:
I'm sure many of you have seen the show on NFL network "Top Ten". To my knowledge, they haven't done a Top Ten for Fullbacks. I hope they do because Tom Rathman aka "Woody" (his teammates thought he looked like Woody Harrlson) would definitely be on there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY726D982B8

the video was from video taping the TV, either way I still love watching his highlights!!!

Big time turnaround when the backfield went from Craig-Cribbs to Craig-Rathman. I think the Niners went on to win consecutive Super Bowls. Can't think of ten fullbacks I would rather have had than Tom Rahtman.

YES Possibly top two. One of my favoret 9ers of all time.

[ Edited by aclarke49 on Aug 3, 2011 at 00:47:45 ]

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

10.Lorenzo Neal. Lorenzo Neal played for seven years in his prolific NFL career and retired in 2008 as one of the best NFL fullbacks of all time. He wasn’t a rushing fullback but served as the perfect blocking back, playing at San Diego while LaDanian Tomlinson became one of the best runners in the league.

http://www.nfl.com/player/lorenzoneal/2502265/profile

The 49ers dont get enough credit for the power backfield of craig rathman.

They were used like 2 fbs.



1Craig
2rathman
3 marc logan
4 william floyd

All were interchangable becuase of the system


Hell marcus Allen played FB in the wco(and for bo jackson)


There are too many bad ass FBs


If I am building from the ground up....


I want Gayle Sayers following fridge perry

He's the greatest FB of all time in my eyes. End Discussion.