Where do you Rank Emmitt Smith

[leith]

So Emmitt is retiring. He\'s signing a one year contract w/ Dallas but that is only to retire as a Cowboy which is only fitting. So where do you think he ranks on the list of Alltime NFL Running Backs?

I was gonna put up a poll but screwed up so just discuss.
 I am biased because I hate anything Cowboys related.
I\'m a Barry Sanders fan so I would rank Emmitt 4th behind Jim Brown, Barry, and Walter Payton, even though he owns the record right now.

[rujahI]

i strongly disliked the cowboys when they were americas team, now its the patriots, but a i am huge lions fan and Barry is what got me into football so my top 5 would be

barry sanders
jim brown
walter payton
gale sayers
emmitt smith

[oldnewbie]

earl campbell has to get consideration.....smith is the only one with multiple championships. not the deciding factor , but always a factor.

[davepeck]

Originally posted by leith
So Emmitt is retiring. He\'s signing a one year contract w/ Dallas but that is only to retire as a Cowboy which is only fitting.  

leith, just to clarify, he\'s signing a one day contract...

[leith]

Yeah I posted when reports were 1 year i turned off the news conference.

oh and where do u rank him at least post abt the thread yo!

[Igziabeher]

Championships + Durability + Record = #1

I love Barry as much as anyone, but you can\'t deny Emmitt\'s greatness.  I was a Bills fan when I was younger, so I hated the Cowboys, but the fact remains  Emmit did what no one else could do in the running back position.

[davepeck]

Originally posted by leith
oh and where do u rank him at least post abt the thread yo!

been a giant fan my whole life, so i never liked emmitt.. that said, i\'m not ignorant, and i\'m not one to make an argument that rodney hampton is the best rb of all time.

i\'d put him right up there with barry, payton, and brown as well.. 11 straight 1000+, and 1500+ in 17 postseason games... COME ON.

[leith]

Originally posted by Igziabeher
Championships + Durability + Record = #1

I love Barry as much as anyone, but you can\'t deny Emmitt\'s greatness.  I was a Bills fan when I was younger, so I hated the Cowboys, but the fact remains  Emmit did what no one else could do in the running back position.

Emmitt would not extended  the record so much if he did not continue his career in Arizona. He has Championships because Dallas had their shit together for all of 4 years while he was there.

 I can deny Emmitt\'s greatness and did so in my ranking.
Oh and Barry COULD have done what Emmitt did if he hung around to play.

[oldnewbie]

Originally posted by leith


Emmitt would not extended  the record so much if he did not continue his career in Arizona. He has Championships because Dallas had their shit together for all of 4 years while he was there.

 I can deny Emmitt\'s greatness and did so in my ranking.
Oh and Barry COULD have done what Emmitt did if he hung around to play.

yeah....but he didn\'t (just playing devils advocate)
part of dallas having their shit together certainly was him.emmitt has to rank above sanders IMO.longevity and championships has to count for something.......a lot more than might have beens.

[kindm's]

Jim Brown - Greatest running back to ever play the game. Have u ever seen the footage ? It is INSANE ! He was WAY ahead of his time as far as speed size and talent. If you were able to turn the clock back for him his size and build are exactly what the NFL of today wants and he played 30 - 40 yrs ago and retired while he was still young enough to play. Plus he made some killer movies

Walter Payton - completely different style then brown but sweetnes was the shit. I loved the way he would take on defensive backs never shy\'d away from contact and was usually the 1 delivering the BLOW. truely and amazing Talent

Emmit Smith - I was never a Cowboys fan but he was a class act on a team that seemed to have few. Sure of all of the running backs discussed here he was on the best team (as far a rings wins etc) Jim Brown was the team and still managed to rack up the yards and records (in a shorter season mind u). But there is no denying Emmits greatness the numbers speak for themselves. He always seemed like a classy guy to me and who can ever forget the effort he put forth when he help beat the Giants (i think) playing with broken ribs!

Barry Sanders - This is kind of more an emotional vote because i just loved to watch him play. It was amazing. I am a patriots fan but it is still burned in to my memory when he just schooled the pats db turning him around and around (see in those days all the killer highlights were always against the Patriots) and even though it was against my team just loving it. But Barry lost a lot of stock in my book when he just walked away from the Game. I know there was alot of crap he dealt with being a Lion etc but i just never sat well with me. Now Barry was probably given the WORST team of all these cats and he put up numbers and was the only weapon for many many season and the defense would just wait for him and he still would just get it done.

Bo Jackson - Possibly the most amazing running back ever. Probably better then everyone on this list. He was just punishing as a running back. Much like Brown power, speed and size were his weapons. We will never know what could have been but glad I got to enjoy his very short career.

Earl Campbell - for much the same reasons as the rest but another short career

[leith]

Dude take your eloquent, well thought out posts to another forum. This ain\'t the place for them. lol
Great points man. Bo was amazing and not only in Football that guy was just sick.

[kindm's]

LOL. thats what happens when i in front of a keyboard and the smoke is swirling around my head


True Bo was what a real athlete does in 2 sports. It made Jordans follie even the more sad

[leith]

Ya know you are only one of like 3 people I know who even acknowledge that fact. Jordan was a Great Basketball player,that\'s it.