by Peter Jankowiak

Created on: July 12, 2010

Barry Sanders was the best football running back in National Football League history. That is a great argument for those who have their favorites. This is unbiased. As a pro football fan, and aside from watching the sport consistently and fervently and aside from coaching football at the high school level for over 15 years, Barry Sanders was the best running back that has ever played the time honored and passionate game of American football. It would be good to do some discussing about the others who have made their mark in history.

Emmitt Smith, he is the all time rushing leader in yards. Nobody has more than him. Why isn't he the best of all time? Simply put, he was not the only weapon that the Dallas Cowboys had to use in their arsenal. Troy Aikman, Michael Ervin, "Moose Johnston", and an offensive line that a Mack truck could run through in first gear without getting touched. This is why Emmitt is not it, too many others who made it work for him and receive all those great accolades.

Walter Payton, or Sweetness. He was a great, great rusher. He was unbelievable to watch. He had speed, power, and grace that was unmatched at the time he played. But, he doesn't win either. He, like Emmitt Smith, had a great quarterback, great offensive line and a defense that would not allow the other team to score. They won the Superbowl with so much talent, just like the Cowboys had done with Emmitt. He had so much on his team other than him.

Jim Brown, he was a monster of a man. Those who he played with at that time and in that decade, were not. I will not take away from the great Jim Brown's records or credentials, but he, compared to those he played with, was so much a better athlete. But the talent level that he played with and against was just not comparable to him.

Barry Sanders. He played on a losing team almost every year he played. He did not have a supporting cast. No offensive line that was able to effectively block for him. Watch the highlight reels and see that the hole that he was supposed to go through wasn't there when he got there. He had to stop and change direction. Usually he saved the play to at least get back to the line of scrimmage. Most of the time he spent making a 20-30 yard run out of nothing at all.

He had no good quarterback when he played, and with no good wide receivers. In fact, Barry Sanders didn't have a fullback to lead block for him like Emmitt and Walter. He had to do it all himself. Detroit had no good defense to stop the other team from scoring. In short, Barry Sanders made something out of nothing, and do it by himself. He made the best defensive players miss and made them look silly as they did. Defenses had no way of stopping the man. His ability to change the play made the defenses do only one thing, and that was to take away the cutback lanes, and even that didn't work.

This article didn't even focus on his numbers. It doesn't need to. He was more valuable to his team than any other running back in history because he WAS the team. Barry was the best.

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