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TMQ smears Walter Payton

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Knighthawk, Oct 2, 2007.

  1. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Mario Lemieux belongs on that list, too. Gretzky was the better player, but if you just sat down and watched them both in their primes, Lemieux would be the one to catch your eye first.

    Brown was ahead of his time. Most men that big just didn't move that fast when he played. He was bigger than a lot of the linemen he played with and against.

    Payton was a different kind of player. He was't particularly big. Probably wasn't as fast as Brown, either. Yet he was still a powerful runner who punished tacklers. Equally impressive to watch, but in a very different way.
     
  2. PhilaYank36

    PhilaYank36 Guest

    Bo knows Bo

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  3. bostonbred

    bostonbred Guest

     
  4. Seahawk

    Seahawk Member

    I was as big a fan of Bo as anyone when he was playing. While he may have been the closest thing to Jim Brown as there has been, he wasn't quite there, in my opinion.

    I would take Brown on my all-time team ahead of Payton. However, I would not complain if I had to take Sweetness.
     
  5. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Bo would be seven feet tall, and he could kill the English by shooting lightning bolts from his arse
     
  6. pseudo

    pseudo Well-Known Member

    Not after 2,500 carries. (Brown is the only back in the top ten with fewer than that, 2,359.) Without the injury, Bo probably could have made it to Canton - but playing baseball at a major-league level after 8-10 years of running the ball (and being hit) 20 times per game? Doubtful.
     
  7. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    He could've done it. As Mizzou said, the guy was a physical freak.

    Would he have done it? That's a different question.

    If he wanted to, he could've been a two-sport HOFer.
     
  8. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    There were faster running backs than Walter Payton.
    There were bigger running backs than Walter Payton.
    There were backs with better moves than Walter Payton.
    There might have been a couple of backs with better receiving skills than Walter Payton.
    There might have been a better blocker at picking up blitzers and other unaccounted defenders than Walter Payton.

    But I don't think there were tougher backs than Walter Payton, and NO ONE - not even Jim Brown - better combined all those skills than Walter Payton. No one. And he did all this with class, something that counts for plenty in my book.

    If Gregg Easterbrook implied anything bad about Payton, I will jump in this one as quickly as the diehard Bears fans. Without hesitation.
     
  9. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    What amazed about Payton, and I have never seen another running back do this nearly as well, was his ability to anticipate the instant contact was about to happen and deliver the shock to the defender.

    The way he lowered his head the instant of contact, not giving the defender anything to wrap, and how he would just clobber (the perfect word) tacklers with his forearm...

    One, two, three tacklers in a row driven off by that battering ram of a head and arm.

    The genius of Payton was that to tackle a runner you need to stick your shoulder pad into the runners ribs and wrap your arms. If you cannot wrap the player, you cannot tackle them. If a runner runs straight up and down, the head is above the torso. Easy tackle.

    Peyton's head and forearm was always away from his torso. Always leaning forward. Never straight up and down. You had to reach to tackle him. And with Walter's famous sand dune legs, if you were reaching, you hand no chance.

    My God, he was great.

    If I had to watch a highlight film of any offensive player in NFL history, Walter is atop that list. No question.
     
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