Tomlinson retires

I think Emmitt Smith gets discounted because he wasn't as fast or flashy and had great offensive lines the first half of his career. There's something that is undeniably all-time great about 4,409 carries. Who else has ever been that durable at that position?

Just as Bo doesn't get credit for what he didn't do, Barry and Jim Brown shouldn't either.

 

Emmitt is great. There is no denying that. But when you play behind that offensive line on that team, fairly or unfairly, your accomplishments are going to be minimized compared to someone like Barry Sanders.

 

I don't care if your entire offensive line is HOF players, 4,400 carries is a toll the human body wasn't built to take.

Also, by 1998 the Cowboys line was Larry Allen and a collection of washed up former greats and spare parts. Yet Smith went for 4,900 yards from 1998-2001. The guy missed like seven games in 13 seasons while averaging 312 carries each season. That's absurd.

Barry Sanders had the best 10-year stretch of any back ever. But then he just walked away. It was like a novel without the last two chapters. I know many will disagree, but I hold that against him in these all-time arguments.

 

You're comparing total yards to what Campbell did rushing only in his best season.

 

I can't argue with that list.

And I will say, that as much as I despised him, Emmitt Smith's shoulder game against the Giants might be the best game I've ever seen by a running back.

 

LT is walking away after just one more year than Sanders. Are you holding that against him?

 

Bad comparison. LT could have squeezed out another 1-2 mediocre seasons, but he was essentially done...

Sanders was still one of the best backs in the league and was on the verge of breaking the rushing record when he walked away.

 

Yeah, if you compare Sanders to anyone, it's Jim Brown.

Tomlinson's ending is more like O.J. Simpson's. Let's just hope he never kills his ex-wife and a waiter.

 

Very similar... Down to the final two seasons with a different team...

 

Knowing what we know now, it's pretty hard to hold it against anyone who walks away early. And in Sanders' case it wasn't tremendously early, it was just earlier than we wanted him to leave. But he certainly has the best chance of being 60 years old and still walking on his own legs without a cane.

 

And both were done at 32. The main difference is that O.J.'s career got off to a slower start due to injury. But his prime was just as good.

 

Hey, I am not the biggest supporter of Sanders.

I just hate rushes for loss. Freaking drive killers.