Emmitt Smith is the best running back ever. Period.
I can't believe people can actually say that with a straight face. It is understandable though. There is so much Emmitt propaganda out there that would easily manipulate the minds of the football idiots. You know, the bandwagon fans, the Cowboy fans, and the people that watch football occasionally yet always seem to act like they know what's going on. But you expect those morons to think Emmitt is the "best ever".
What's disturbing is the people who are feeding the propaganda. It seems that almost every sports analyst is infatuated with what Emmitt has done and are so quick to jump on the "Emmitt is the best ever"bandwagon. Are they blind or just stupid? There is absolutely no way that this guy is the best ever, and the question shouldn't even be brought up.
I will give the guy credit however, he has been one of the most durable and consistent running backs to ever play the game. He did surpass Walter Payton's career rushing record of 16,726 yards, which is obviously worth something.
But the best ever? Hardly.
There is no clear cut best ever running back in the NFL. It's not like the NBA, who have a clear cut best ever in Michael Jordan. Jordan absolutely dominated the NBA in his prime while nobody was in the same stratosphere as him. But he does have less career points than Karl Malone. So by the same logic, Karl Malone is better than Michael Jordan.
Now how silly does that sound?
All these "I'm the smartest" sports analysts are either being fed hallucinogenic drugs by Emmitt's buddy, Michael Irvin, or they are just pissed that Barry Sanders, who does deserves the right to be questioned as the best ever, left when he was so close to the record.
Barry Sanders played only ten seasons but still managed to rack up 15,269 total yards in his career. It took Emmitt 13 virtually injury-free seasons to break Walter's record, which was also set in 13 years.
Just imagine if Barry was around for at least three more years. We would be having conversations right now about how no one will ever come close to his personal records. And it's not just the numbers that made this guy incredible, it was his moves. He was poetry in motion on the football field.
So does that make Barry Sanders the best ever? No, but if he didn't decide to walk away from the game then maybe he would be that running back that we refer to as the best ever.
People threw around that best ever talk so much when Barry was around. Now they won't even mention his name in the conversation.
Remember looking forward to Lions' games on Thanksgiving in which Barry was playing? The guy was AMAZING to watch. Have you ever looked forward to watching an Emmitt Smith game? God no. Eight-yard carry, 3-yard carry, 5-yard carry. In the words of Derrick Coleman, "Whoopdee-damn-doo."
We are talking about a guy who ran for 2,054 yards in one season while averaging 6.1 yards a carry. Whoa, talk about impressive numbers. Meanwhile he racked up all of these accolades on a Detroit Lions teams that was generally below average with shoddy offensive lines.
Emmitt only ran for more than 1,600 yards in a season once. The season his Dallas Cowboys won their third Super Bowl. Let's not forget all the options that those Cowboys teams had. They were loaded with standout players like Troy Aikman, Irvin, Jay Novacek and Deion Sanders. Who was Barry's best running mate? Scott Mitchell? Yikes.
Smith barely ever had to run behind a poor offensive line, and when he did in the late 90's he was exposed as what he was - your average run-of-the mill 1,000 yards a season back.
If Barry EVER ran behind one of those Cowboy Super Bowl champion offensive lines his numbers would have been out of this world. He ran behind sub-par offensive lines, yet still managed to dominate the game with an excellence that Emmitt could only dream of.
Emmitt may have the rings, records and recognition, but he isn't close to being better than Barry Sanders, making it insane to consider him the best ever.
