Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Barry Sanders " Why He is The Best Running Back Ever in the NFL"





                                                                               Image posted by Ryan Koziel






When it comes to which NFL Running Back was the greatest of all time, many will make arguments and make their case as to who is and why. For me I believe that Barry Sanders happens to be the best of all time and will give you facts and to other reasons why I believe so.



          


                                                                            Some of the Facts

Barry Sanders who only played in the NFL for 10 seasons still managed to register 15,269 rushing yds. 2nd of all time on the career rushing list at the time of his retirement (3rd of all time to this day behind Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton, respectively)


Now lets look at Sanders, Smith, and Payton's numbers and averages throughout their careers.

                                Barry Sanders                     Emmitt Smith                         Walter Payton

No. of Seasons                 10                                        15                                          13
Played

Career Rushing Yds.       15,269                               18,355                                     16,726

Avg. Yds. Per Season     1,526.9                              1,223.66                                  1,286.62

 Total Career TD                99                                       164                                         110

Avg. TD Per Season          9.9                                       10.9                                        8.46



                                                                                  
                                                                 Barry Sanders always displayed amazing elusiveness!


     As you can see the numbers speak for themselves. Barry Sanders at the time of his retirement(age 31)
would have probably passed Walter Payton on the all time Rushing list if he played one more season. And
if Sanders would have played 5 more seasons (same amount as Smith) going by his average he would have
amassed 7,634.5 yds. (1,526.9 x5) which would have put him at 22,903.5 yds. ( 15,269 + 7,634.5)
This would have put Sanders first on the all time list and over 4,500 yds. ahead of a 2nd all time Smith.

 Now even though Sanders' production may have likely slowed down over those extra 5 years, he would only need to average 617.2 yds a season to put him in a tie with Emmitt Smith

    18,355 - 15,269    =       3,086         divided by          5                                 = 617.2
    (Smith)   (Sanders)   (difference between     (number of more seasons Smith  (Avg. number of
                                    Smith and Sanders)          played over Sanders)         yds. Sanders needed)         
                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                    



Not only are Barry Sanders numbers are reasons why he was the best Running Back of all time, but the
way he carried himself as well.  He never show boated, always gave credit to his offensive line, and was very humbled with his accomplishments.

 And to add to that, Barry Sanders was a Heisman Trophy winner in college. And was recently voted by
fans in a poll in which former Heisman Trophy winner they wanted to appear on the cover of
NCAA Football 13.

  Some may agree and I'm sure many will disagree with my opinion. But given the reasons
and facts I presented, this is why I believe Barry Sanders was the best Running Back of all time!


Image Sources: (1.) http://www.makefive.com/categories/sports/team/greatest-football-american-players-of-all-time/barry-sanders
                          (2.) http://www.makefive.com/people/ryankoziel

 If you like my blogs and want to keep up to date with them, subscribe to my channel on youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/namsnoodle?feature=mhee as I always update when I write my latest blog. Also, like my facebook page devoted to my blog http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nams-Noodle-Sports-Blog-FB-Page/252192688235247


2 comments:

  1. haha how are you gonna have a Pittsburgh background and have barry on here. Good stuff for backing him though

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lol yea, but only in hockey am I Pittsburgh. Nevertheless it's hard not to see as to why Sanders is the best back in NFL history.

      Delete