Top ten running backs all time post 1960-Current

My partner in crime, Bill Johnson, said on our show after Dwayne Wade’s comments about the World Trade Center and his apology suggesting he was “taken out of context,” understands why Wade was a partial qualifier because of his time at Marquette.  In my opinion, I thought that was a little over the top, but that’s one man opinion. So be it. Then he posted his unscientific list on Facebook of the greatest running backs of all time in which he put Barry Sanders 7th.  Well after I saw the list I had to post a response; especially when he used an analogy that Barry Sanders was the equivalent of Meadowlark Lemon while Bo Jackson, who he had 3rd on his list, was the equivalent of Bill Russell.  I really hope the point he was trying to make is being taken out of context.  If not, then Wade’s analogy explains his freshman year of eligibility.  This to me suggests he would have received a negative score on the Wonderlic Test.

He’s my brother from another mother and if anybody's going to rip him, it should be me. But the point is be careful when you cast stones from a thin glass house. I hope I can convince him to re-calibrate, re-examine and then re-elaborate this point of view, but hell has never frozen over so I got to let it go. However, not without dropping a sample of common sense on him. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and on this fine website. 

1)Jim Brown- He banged  Raquel Welch, brought Crips and Bloods together and nobody got shot, and as  Chris Carter says: “He’s still walking heavy, move around.”

2) Barry Kevin Sanders- Every play there was a chance you were going to see something you never would see again! By himself, he kept Detroit respectable at a .500 record year in and year out with bad management, questionable coaches, and average QBs at best! Ask most of the cats on the list and they would say he is top three! He might be one of the top ten to ever play any position in the league EVER! He’s Charles Barkley, Ken Griffey Jr. and Dominque Wilkins COMBINED! The only way you could take your eyes off him is if you were BLIND!

3) Walter Payton- Could run by you and through you; finally got a team worthy of his gifts and it was at the end of his career when he was past his prime.

4) Earl Campbell-The best big back next to Jim Brown on this list to play the game. He got robbed of playing in a Super Bowl because of a blown call. Ask Jack Tatum, Isaiah Robertson, and The Miami Dolphins that Monday night in Houston about what the Earl Campbell experience was all about!

5) Emmett Smith-He was consistent and knew what his strengths were and played within them. Never tried be anything but what he knew he was.  And that made him an all-time great.

6) Jerome Bettis- Best cat at 4-6 yards of positive yardage to ever suite up! Jerome was a winner from day one and a leader wherever he played from college. Now he was an alpha dog.

7) Gayle Sayers was a freak of nature, but might have been a better return man than a RB. Injuries stole him in his prime, but when he was out there he was a bad boy. Sandy Koufax of the NFL, no Bill Russell; that’s a diss to Bill Russell!

8) Eric Dickerson- Dickerson was the best straight line runner ever to play the game. Chris Johnson to me, a smaller version of Dickerson. Hit the hole and was gone!

9) OJ Simpson- Looking at what he did during his NFL playing career he was one of the best, no question; the 70’s version of Sanders.  The opinion of him has been skewed by post football life.

10) Tony Dorsett- Just like Emmett in Big D, overlooked because of the greatness of the overall team, would do a lot dirty work in between the tackles but never gets credit for his toughness.

Honorable mention- Franco Harris, Marshall Faulk, Larry Csonka, Ladanian Tomilanson, Curtis Martin, John Riggins, Chuck Foreman, Thurman Thomas, Bo Jackson-best part timer to ever play in the NFL!

This blog is about me and my point of views about all things. Through my colleagues, who have written outstanding columns on all of these diverse topics, they have forced me to acknowledge how they got it right on point. Now a lot of the people that work in this business would rather drink their own urine than give credit to someone else who does a great job via print, TV or radio in terms of a good piece of sports journalism...I'm not that guy, so here are some links to what I feel, in my opinion, are really good pieces of work - which includes one guy that I think is an arrogant self-serving disrespectful PRICK! That being said, good work is good work; I choose to look past my personal distaste for this individual and put his link in as well.
 
I was told this a long time ago by a public relations director for a professional sports team, "sometimes showing your talents and greatness in your work is acknowledging others work that's better than yours in that case." Well, I guess I'm doing that in this blog so take a few moments to enjoy some good work done from my point of view.

By the way had to show some Birthday love to one of my favorite Movie-TV stars ever Richard Roundtree, aka "Shaft!"
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=5401981
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/jason-whitlock-expose-ncaa-not-reggie-bush-072210?GT1=39002
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=jackson/100720
http://espn.go.com/blog/sportscenter/post/_/id/67677/steve-levy-dwyane-wade-has-it-wrong
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/98979049.html
http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/includes/news_items/40/news_items_more.php?id=3926&section_id=40&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/scorecard071010.html
 

How quickly we forget, you want to put that buster they traded for from Baltimore and watch him blow assignments like he did in the Viking game in Minnesota or maybe your giddy about starting Underwood on the corner. This is like anything else in a capitalistic society, its not how much you're worth, it's how much you can get. Now call me names and tell us how much better the team is without these guys...if you can write that without choking on the truths you ignore!

 
 
Last but not least is the reality of making a place at the table of NBA immortals for one Kobe Bean Bryant. If everything goes as predicted Kobe will pick up his 5th championship in seven tries in this decade of which two of those would be won without the presence of Shaquille O' Neal, if Kobe finishes off the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals this week. He has without question been the most dominant player of this post-Jordan era and has had no real contemporaries to say were his major foe during the decade. The closest that has come to playing that role is former teammate Shaq who went on to get that 4th ring with D Wade in Miami. The bottom line is that Kobe, aka "Frank Lucas" as I call him has proven over and over his talent, work ethic and mental toughness. He has shown the greatest ability to focus on the tasks at hand and excel, surrounded by major distractions and team overhaul, he also has proven his maturity and won on the greatest stage. Bottom line, when they serve the plates of all-time greats at the table of immortals Kobe gets seconds with Jordan, Magic, Kareem, Dr. J, Bird, Wilt and the big O.

I had a white colleague ask me this weekend if he would be considered racist if he thought a lot of the violence at public venues in his opinon are committed by black people after the shooting across the street from our studios in Downtown Milwaukee. My answer to that was no, he's no racist for feeling that way, BUT he needs to streamline that down to a sub-group of people I think he was referring to and that is young black males with no respect for themselves, each other or anybody else.

They are the 2,000lb elephant in the room we want to protect because there are those out there that feel that it is more important to be politically correct than righteous and call out wrong when apparent. 
 
I look at this from a sports perspective as much as life perspective and say to myself that BS has got to stop. If you want to live the gangsta lifestyle or you have a "thug" mentality ok, but there is a place to express that attitude and places not to do so. I'm convinced some of these people would shoot at each other at church, but you know why that doesn't happen that often if ever, because "those people" know when it's appropriate to act a certain way and when it is not. Put the blame where it belongs, on the individual jackasses "them people" that commit the acts of stupidity, nothing else.  

The synopsis of this blog is in life from the day you are born more times than not, someone is trying to take things from you...it’s like when you drive a new car off a auto lot, it starts to lose value the instant you do. So let this burn in your heart, mind and soul...no matter what type of relationship you may have or had with her it was the mother that GAVE YOU LIFE! I broke down and cried on Mother’s Day when I heard of all things Tupac's "Dear Mama". You know why? Because it made me understand how blessed I have been to have my mom’s to this day...my best friend.

She chooses her kids over any man that she may have been involved with, she sacrificed her own personal lifestyle choices to make my sisters and little brother the priority. She taught me right from wrong by examples in living and a well deserved a**-Whooping when it was needed...and they were needed from time to time. I would let her down once in a while, but her love and support has never wavered (sound familiar) Happy Mother’s Day Veda Mae Haywood...and thank you

Now let’s go get some lunch!