Marcus Allen, Jerome Bettis, Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Earl Clark, Eric Dickerson, Tony Dorsett, Harold "Red" Grange, Franco Harris, Hugh McElhenny, Lenny Moore, Marion Motley, Bronco Nagurski, Adrian Peterson, Marshall Faulk, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, OJ Simpson, Emmitt Smith, Jim Taylor, LaDainian Tomlinson, Thurman Thomas and Walter Payton. (left off the original post list Thomas and Payton) I have not seen Earl Clark, McElhenny, Red Grange, Steve Van Buren Bronco Nagurski or Marion Motley. I saw a little of Jim Taylor and Lenny Moore near the end for both of them. I would not put in Bettis or Martin. I would put in Terrell Davis. I would certainly put Martin in ahead of Bettis. Another guy I would consider ahead of Bettis is also an ex Jet, John Riggins. He's stats aren't that great but he was an absolute beast on a couple of Redskins championships. In my opinion also better than Bettis. I also think Csonka was better than Bettis. He was a beast. Very tough to pick one guy over another in different era's. Hard to argue any of them but this is a list that's very debatable. There's one guy they left off who may have been the best I ever saw, Bo Jackson. I know that's a crazy pick but Bo was a sick talent.
Very well said. Curtis over Bettis for sure but not over the rest. TD I think too short but was a great back. Riggins and Csonka should be on there. They brought intangibles. Bo was great. Really sad what could have been. It is a good list. Hard to argue any of them. Maybe Bettis but when looking at the talent of all everyone is well deserving.
I've long been frustrated by the thought that Bettis was better. The across era comparisons is so hard. Marion Motley played in a league with 8 teams. That's not to say he wasn't obviously amazing at his draft but it was such a different game.
How much did you love when he was breaking a big run his jersey was literally falling apart during the run when guys were grabbing at it.
so many great running backs over the years. I'm not angry that Martin didn't make the cut line with that array of superstars but it seems like the NFL did this all wrong by putting limits on positions. If you are going to list the 100 greatest players in NFL history - it seems to me it should be the 100 greatest players regardless of position. Why put a limit on the number of running backs?? They are adding 2 punters and 2 kickers to the list, that's dumb as well.
Against the Rams it seemed like all 11 defenders had a chance to tackle him and he broke every tackle....amazing
It's hard to argue across generations and I have never thought of Martin as an all time great. I never thought Bettis was either and you can certainly make the argument that Martin was better than Bettis, I would. I happen to think Terrell Davis was a dominating running back. He had a short career but he dominated in two SB runs and was arguably the best player on the field in many of the games he played in and they were playoff games and consequential. Csonka gets overlooked but he was a cornerstone running back on an all time great team as was Riggings. Agree with your frustration about Bettis. In reality Franco was probably not better than several guys but he was a cornerstone to one of the greatest stretches by any team in pro football history. I think Bettis was a big stretch and with Franco on the list the Steelers were well represented.
There's Jim Brown, and then you can rank and sort the rest. Brown was the "Babe Ruth" of football. There was no one close.
Freeman was FUN to watch. Curtis was probably a better all around back, but he rarely broke a long run and was, quite frankly, a bit boring to watch.
Barry was great...he would dance around behind the LOS looking for a hole (sound familiar?). I think I read that Barry had the most tackles for a loss (to go along with his great runs).
Bettis isn't the one I'd remove. People are forgetting all those years when Bettis was the Rams entire offense. I'd probably remove AP because injury shortened his days at the top, or Franco. If the Steelers didn't win 4 Superbowls he'd never smell this list. Franco being on the list and Walter Payton being left off shows the list is bogus. Clearly Curtis, one of the top rushers to ever play the game, deserves to be there.
Even though he was a great RB, the murderer (Simpson) should not be on that list. Interesting that I don't see a RB who's in the HOF on that list...Thurman Thomas. I think he may have been better than Terrell Davis. His career lasted almost 2x as long.
I disagree. Curtis got all of his yards because of his running style, working hard to stay in shape (and luck that he stayed relatively free or serious injury) and the huge number of carries he got. He was very good at everything, but not great at anything. He doesn't come close to deserving to be on that list.
