Greatest RB Of All Time?

I'm a diehard and lifelong 49er fan. But 1 player is the reason that I love this game. Barry Sanders is the man. I still watch his highlights to this day and shake my head watching him make defenders miss. He defines poetry in motion as a football player. The GOAT.

Loved Sir Walter, but then I saw Barry Sanders do things had never seen and may not ever see again. Was too young to have seen Brown play live, although have seen many of the highlights and without question he was awesome. But for me it's Barry Sanders and it ain't even close.

Originally posted by RishikeshA:
Jim Brown played his last game almost 50 years ago. How many fans saw him play? How many were not even born yet? There weren't any 24 hour sports channels and there was only an hour show once a week with highlights of all the games. For those of us who saw him play he's still the standard by which all running backs are measured.

Jim Brown made defenders look like children trying to tackle a grown man. GOAT!

Which of these had the worst o line?

The game has changed so much I don't believe you can make this assessment. Since I have been watching the game, Barry.

Terry Kirby

Mike Pringle

I only say Walter Payton because he had the most longevity (was still productive past age 34) and played with game-manager type QBs most of his career so he was the focal point of the Bears' offense. He also held the career mark for rushing yards quite a while until Emmitt Smith eclipsed it. Don't get me wrong, B. Sanders was amazing. Probably the most elusive, dynamic running back I ever saw but didn't play long enough and only had 1 playoff win. The only game I attended at Candlestick was MNF vs. the Lions 1998. I went to see Young the first time ever in person, not knowing how much longer he'd play and was excited to see Barry as well. Ironically that night Barry was rendered totally ineffective with, I s**t you not, under 30 yds while the Niners rushed for over 300 (Garrison Hearst almost 200 with Young and Terry Kirby adding 60+ each). Steve passed for less than 100 yds which didn't matter one iota. The game simply dictated a huge dose of running the ball including 4 rushing TDs. It was a rare combo of swarming defense and a dominating ball-control offense resulting in a 35-13 rout. Might've been the worst rushing performance of Sanders' career. That was also the season Hearst broke his ankle on the s**tty astroturf of the Georgia Dome, 1st offensive series in the divisional playoff game. One of the most depressing moments in Niner history.

lol you can tell the average age in this thread with all the Barry Sanders love.

Sanders was great, but people tend to forget how often he used to get dropped for losses. I never saw him play outside highlights, but Walter Payton probably gets my vote for best RB of the post-Brown era.

Marshawn Lynch

Even though I do remember a few names of sport's figure who played when I was 5, Jim Brown retired when I was 4 so all I know about him are from stats and watching NFL films. I come from an era where you pretty much watched what dad wanted to watch and my dad was a football and baseball fan. I also read a few books about the history of the NFL. As others have mentioned Jim Brown was a man against boys even at the NFL level, Brown retired in 1965, and the first team with a full blown weight room and nutritionist was the Chargers in 1963. Brown was naturally muscular and 6'2" 230 pounds, which basically was his era's size for offensive and defensive lineman, he had sprinter's speed. So for the very fact that Brown's greatness was mostly due to running over smaller players and running away from slower ones I will give the edge to Barry Sanders. I don't think anyone could change direction as easily as Sanders and make guys try to tackle air.

Originally posted by Niners99:
lol you can tell the average age in this thread with all the Barry Sanders love.

Sanders was great, but people tend to forget how often he used to get dropped for losses. I never saw him play outside highlights, but Walter Payton probably gets my vote for best RB of the post-Brown era.

A lot of those times Sanders lost a yard or had no gain when the average back would have lost 3-4 yards. Nobody was as good as Sanders evading tacklers when the blocking broke down at the line of scrimmage. Detroit's offensive line wasn't that great, Sanders did a lot on his own.

Brown's claim to the title of greatest running back of all time is supported by statistics. In 118 career games, Brown averaged 104.3 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry. None of the NFL's career rushing leaders come close to these spectacular totals. For example, Walter Payton averaged only 88 yards per game during his career with a 4.4 yards-per-carry average. Emmitt Smith averaged only 81.2 yards per game with a 4.2 yards-per-carry average. Brown has famously said on the subject: "When running backs get in a room together, they don't argue about who is the best."

You younger fans need to educate yourselves on a subject before speaking on it. Jim Brown is the Jerry Rice of running backs. Even Barry Sanders dad agrees.

Originally posted by tondiman:
Barry Sanders HANDS DOWN. No question. For real. Can't argue about it. Don't even try. Stop. Shhh.

Lock this s**t up.

I'm out.

this!

IMO its only between Jim Brown and Barry Sanders. A great case can be made for both guys, but I voted Barry Sanders. Obviously its because I watched him play. I imagine guys that watched Brown play would say him, and the numbers can suggest that as well.