I may get flamed but facts are facts. Emmit Smith is not even in the top 10, he had average speed, size and a very above averge hall of fame line. remember, he was running behind 330lb guys when 280 was still big in the NFL. Emmit would run through one of those holes big enough to drive a truck through and get tackled by a backer or safety for a 4 to 7yard gain, wash, rinse and repeat. I will give him this, he was a tough SOB, and a gamer no doubt. A great team mate with a ton of heart and again a tough SOB. But make no mistake, put any of these other guys (Barry Sanders) behind that line and they set a mark so high that it would never be touched again. Can you imagine Barry Sanders with ANY, I repeat, ANY kind of line, QB (scott Mitchell and his 5 games of greatness do not count) or offense around him. Barry got his, every single week when they put 9 and 10 in the box with the sole intention of stopping him as he was the ONLY option. Flame away??? or agree to some extent, again I am not hating on the guy for the squad he had around him, but he did not have top 10 talent, neither God given, or hard work..... I think Jim Brown was a man among boys (film I have watched) but he did not play in a time where these guys play football year round, with the sole intention of being a pro from the time they are 5.
Couple guys have mentioned Bo Jackson, so I punched him up on Wiki. I remember Bo being pretty cool. I was 8 years old. It sounds to me like he was on his way to being one of the greatest of all time, but as it was he had a great Monday night, and a few years of good supplemental backing to Allen. Sounds to me like if he had made football a priority, he'd have been even better. Is part of being a top ten back of all time having any kind of longevity? IMO, if you only played 4 years, even if you were spectacular, you'd have a hard time making that list. Isn't that like saying that Strasburg is one of the top ten pitchers of all time. He may have been, if he hadn't gotten hurt, but he didn't. ( I know it's a weak comparison cause he's gonna come back, but I am only a casual sports fan trying to converse with legends with wisdom beyond their years. )
One thing about BO, quite a few guys have been successful playing 2 sports, but BO was a star at both of them. Ever see the catch where he runs up the wall, not up and jump off like a regular human, but in an arc like you and I would if the wall were flat on the gorund, or the time he ask for time out, was not given time as the pitch was being thrown so he simply hit a homer. Only time a pitcher ever complained that time should have been granted to a hitter. None of this has any bearing on the conversation, so I will end my love affair here...BO Knows, the first marketing campaign to take over the world, you know before everyone wanted to be like Mike.
I look at it like this, Ben. Regarding pitchers......who would I LEAST like to see in the bullpen, warming up, if I was getting ready to play the other team? I wouldn't care how long they've been doing it. Ditto football.
