NFL Derrick Henry has passed Jim Brown.....

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

......on that all time rushing list, he now has 12,448 yards to Browns, 12,312, Henry now at number 11 and closing in on Tony Dorsett at number 10 with 12, 739, he could do it this season.

As we know Brown played in 12 and 14 game seasons, if 16/17 ike these cats today he'd obviously be much higher on the list,

Jim Brown without question the most dominate RB (actually a FB) we have seen.

Looking at this top 50 rushers list I notice two glaring omissions, that being Gale "Kansas Comet" Sayers *** and Bo Jackson &&& obviously injuries fucked things up for them.

*** While in HS Sayers lead the nation (HSers) in the long jump with a 24-11 leap and his older bro Roger a world ranked sprinte with a win over Bullet Bob,

&&& Jackson a two time Alabama HS decathlon champion without running the 1500, he had it won without that,

 

[TheNinja]

And didn't Brown retired because he basically got bored with it and wanted to do other things like commentate UFC and act?

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

And didn't Brown retired because he basically got bored with it and wanted to do other things like commentate UFC and act?

Apparently Brown was on the set of The Dirty Dozen when his coach started bugging him about getting in camp, it was pretty much.....fuck you I quit.

Thing about Brown was his size with speed combo, nobody that big had ever been that fast before, and the D wasn't much bigger and slower,

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

We all know about Jim Brown or should, but who were the other quality RB's back in his time?

First 1000 yard rusher ***

Rams....Dick Bass UOP ***
Niners.....JD Smith NCA&T
Lions....Nick Pietrasonte ND
Bears....Rick Casares Miami, Willie Galimore Florida A&M
Colts....Lenny Moore Penn St, first great receiver at RB, Hall of Famer
Vikings....Tommy Mason Tulane
Packers....Jim Taylor LSU***, Paul Hornung ND both in the Hall of Fame
Cowboys....Don Perkins New Mexico
Eagles.....Timmy Brown Ball State
Giants....Frank Gifford USC Hall of Fame
Steelers....John Henry Johnson ASU *** Hall of Fame, this cat was a load
Redskins....Don Bosseler not much here
St.Louis Cardinals.....John David Crow Texas A&M***.....he was born with half his face paralized and Paul Brown once said he'd trade Jim Brown to get him, WTF?

Will ignore the AFL, those defenses were shitty. The NFL had all the stud defenders,

Before Jim Brown

Steve Van Buren Eagles/LSU
Joe "Jet" Perry Niners/Compton JC
Hugh "King" McElhenny Niners/Washington
Ollie Matson Rams/USF

All the above in the Hall of Fame.

Will mention....Tank Younger and Deacon Dan Towler two 225 pounders who shared carries for the 1950's Rams. Younger the first Grambling NFLer
Weird thing about those 50;s Rams teams was they used two QB's in Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield both making te pro bowl in the same season and, they had two future Hall of Fame WR's in Tom Fears and Crazy Legs Hirsch.

When I first started really getting into pro football it looked like this....

NFL West
LA Rams
Green Bay Packers
Detroit Lions
Chicago Bears
Minnesota Vikings
Baltimore Colts
San Francisco 49ERS

NFL East
Dallas Cowboys
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns
Washington Redskins
Philadelphia Eagles
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Giants

AFL West
Los Angeles Chargers
Dallas Texans
Oakland Raiders
Denver Broncos

AFL East
New YorkTitans
Boston Patriots
Houston Oilers
Buffalo Bills

The first "star" of the new league was Texan RB Abner Haynes a speedy do it all cat out of North Texas State, he was the first black to play college football in Texas,

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

i can't say enought about Jim Brown (his RC and book "Out of Bounds" right over there). He was something special, imagine defenses totally geared to stop one player and they just couldn't do it. He averaged over 100 yards a game for his career, he averaged 5.2 a carry. yep....wow~~~~

6-2 230 pounds, have read he ran a 10 flat 100 yard dash, that is crazy for a cat that big.

I do go with....

1.Jim Brown
2.Barry Sanders
3.Walter Payton
4.Adrian Peterson
5.Emmitt Smith
6.Eric Dickerson
7.OJ Simpson
8.Earl Campbell
9.Ladainian Tomlinson
10.Gale Sayers

 

[TheNinja]

i can't say enought about Jim Brown (his RC and book "Out of Bounds" right over there). He was something special, imagine defenses totally geared to stop one player and they just couldn't do it. He averaged over 100 yards a game for his career, he averaged 5.2 a carry. yep....wow~~~~

6-2 230 pounds, have read he ran a 10 flat 100 yard dash, that is crazy for a cat that big.

I do go with....

1.Jim Brown
2.Barry Sanders
3.Walter Payton
4.Adrian Peterson
5.Emmitt Smith
6.Eric Dickerson
7.OJ Simpson
8.Earl Campbell
9.Ladainian Tomlinson
10.Gale Sayers

Honorable mentions to Frank Gore and Cutis Martin - not for their elite play at their prime per se, but for their longivity. I had to look it up but couldn't believe Frank Gore is #3 all time rushing yards. I don't even know if he was ever top 5 in a season.

added - looked it up he was #3 in 2006 and had multiple top 10 finishes for a season. But ya, nobody is ever gonna say "I'll take Frank Gore for the season". I can think of 50+ other backs I'd take before him.

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

Honorable mentions to Frank Gore and Cutis Martin - not for their elite play at their prime per se, but for their longivity. I had to look it up but couldn't believe Frank Gore is #3 all time rushing yards. I don't even know if he was ever top 5 in a season.

added - looked it up he was #3 in 2006 and had multiple top 10 finishes for a season. But ya, nobody is ever gonna say "I'll take Frank Gore for the season". I can think of 50+ other backs I'd take before him.

Gore was a stud, but......number 3 all time is a bit shocking.

Hate to go here, honest.....but not looking forward to his Hall of Fame speech, the guy comes off a bit.........ah, slow.

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

One thing that gets lost in the Jim Brown story is how there was a 4 year period where his running back (Brown a FB) was former Big10 sprint/hurdles champ Bobby Mitchell, who also averaged over 5 yards a carry and was the fastest man in football.

Not really Thunder & Lighting because Brown also had some lighting.

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

Being an x runningback it s very true, it really is about instincts, you aren;t thinking you are reacting. Like rhythm you either have it or ya don;t

Good to see a runningback win the SB MVP but he wouldn;t have if Charbonnet hadn't been injured, because of that injured he carried a lot more than he would have.

I didn;t realize Walker was that speedy.

Looking like the next big thing rookie will be Jeremiyah Love out of Notre Dame. A 215 pounder with "good" speed and can catch a football, but wouldn;t spend a first round pick.

As we know these RB's can step right in a star, young legs and nothing to learn. Just hit a hole and run.

So far...

Jerome Bettis
Ricky Watters
Greg Bell

...the best ND RB's in the NFL.

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

i think t's safe to say if not for injuries Bo Jackson, Gale Sayers and Terrell Davis would be among the top 10 all time rushers. Yep, bummer.

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

Speaking of Derrick Henry he isn't the biggest, but he is the biggest fast RB, a cat who at over 250 can go 99 yards,

Pete Johnson 260
Christian Okoye 255....fast but not as fast

While only 240 Marion Motley (40's) played when that D line was 250. So his size actually more dramatic in his day.

Billy Joe 250
Cookie Gilchrist 250, he had good speed.

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

Then there was Mack "Truck" Lee Hill out of Southern U a Chief.

A 5-11 225 pounder who averaged 5.5 a carry banging the line as a rookie.. Here was a bonafide monster.

His senior season at So U he was injured so he went undrated, signed on after a try out.

He was the Rookie of the Year in the AFL.

The guy ran as if he was afraid to hit the ground, that word.....tenacity....would fit.

His second season he averaged 5 yards a carry running over wannabe tacklers, then it happened, he banged up a knee.

Keep in mind this was in the late 60;s,

So he needs an operation, he dies on the operating table. like the above mentioned Bo Jackson another .....what could have been.

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

Speaking of HBCU/NFL RB;s

1.Walter Payton Jackson State/Bears
2.Leroy Kelly Morgan St/Browns

Those two in the HOF

3.Clemon Daneils Prairie View/first Raider 1000 yard rusher
4.Willie "Wisp" Galimore Florida A&M/Bears
5.Tank Younger Grambling/Rams
6.Mack "Truck" Lee Hill Southern U/Chiefs
7.Emerson Boozer Maryland Eastern Shore/Jets
8.Wilie Ellison Texas Southern/Rams
9.Hewritt Dixon Florida A&M/Raiders
10.Ricky Young Jackson State/Chargers

That HBCU All Time Offense

QB...Steve McNair Alcorn/Titans
RB....Walter Payton
RB....Leroy Kelly
WR....Jerry Rice Miss Valley/Niner
WR....Bob Hayes Florida A&M/Cowboys
TE.....Shannon Sharpe Savannah St/Broncos

All but McNair in the HOF

 

[Sir Elzio Dennick]

His senior season at USC he came in 6th in both the 60 and the 100 at the NCAA.

He also ran a leg on a World Record 4x1 team