Everyone has their favorite racers of all time, but here is my list of the top 10 racers of all time:
10) Eric Dickerson – No one was prettier to look at. If you looked at the Los Angeles Rams in the ’80s, they looked like a group of elephants chasing a gazelle.
9) Bo Jackson – Boy, what could have been. If the criteria for the greatest running back of all time were just physical attributes, he wouldn’t even be close. This man was a freak of nature. It looked like someone built it in a Frankenstein-like experiment. It’s a shame that an injury destroyed his career.
8) Gale Sayers – No NFL player had a more memorable career playing fewer games. He scored a record 22 touchdowns in his rookie year. With the possible exception of Barry Sanders, he was the most dangerous outfield player in NFL history.
7) Earl Campbell: No other player has inflicted more pain on the opposing defense than Earl Campbell. With legs as thick as redwoods, every tackle on him was going to be an ordeal.
6) Emmitt Smith – NFL’s all-time leading rusher. What more needs to be said?
5) Ladanian Tomlinson: Has broken records since entering the league. He is a touchdown machine. In the 2006 season, he scored more touchdowns than any entire team that year. If he can keep up this kind of pace, he could break every race record out there.
4) Marshall Faulk – Part of the greatest show on grass. Such an amazing football player that if he played wide receiver, he’d probably still go to the Hall of Fame. By far no other running back has been such a powerful weapon in the passing game.
3) Jim Brown – Revolutionized the position. A man among boys. He is considered by many to be not only the greatest running back of all time, but also the greatest soccer player of all time.
2) Walter Payton – Not injured with great speed or great physical strength. He was THE blue collar racer. He typified the character of Chicago.
1) Barry Sanders: No one has done more in a career with less help than Barry Sanders. His open field moves were something akin to a video game. Sanders played for some really awful Detroit Lions teams. He played with weak quarterbacks, paper-thin offensive lines and yet managed to top 1,000 yards for every year of his career.