Best 10 Running Backs In NFL history
Best 10 Running Backs In NFL history. The National Football League (NFL) gets defined as a professional American football league. It consists of 32 teams.
NFL earned popularity in the sports world, because of equal revenue sharing with a salary cap. 2/3rd of the NFL money gets sourced from television contracts.
It gets distributed equally among all teams in the league. The NFL has a rich history and gave us some brilliant players to watch play. We picked the 10 best running back players in the history of the NFL.
Jim Brown
Jim is majorly a fullback who ended up playing halfback. He is an eight-time all-pro and 3 times MVP player. Brown, never missed a single game in his complete career.
His career was short for sure as he moved to act. He was the one to run easily over the defenders and also around them.
Brown was famous for his weird combination of speed with size. It helped him in leading the league.
He was played and rushed above 1000 yards 7 times. It happened in the seasons where games lasted no more than 12 to 14 games.
The average of Brown per game was 1 TD with 5.2 yards average per carrying. Yes, it’s the highest one in NFL history.
Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders was left behind Walter Paytons by 1457 yards. He could have covered that to the top record book if avoided, hanging up cleats.
He was the owner of 4 rushing titles. Sanders remained the first rushing back who notched 5 seasons of 1500 yards. That 2 seasons were without any fumbles.
He seemed to be like custom-built artificial turf, which is of Silverdome. Sanders was known for fast cuts and the capability to make losses into gains.
Few went for losses in that. Statistics say that Barry lost around 1114 yards in their whole career. It happened because of small plays that got turned into home runs.
Walter Payton
Many consider Payton as a player with a killer stutter step. But off the field, he is the sweetest personality one ever met. He remained a bruising runner.
Payton was the ideal player for the city and especially the blue-collar team. He loved to owe over the defenders.
Walter always denied moving out of bounds. He invented the stiff arm. In his career, he just missed a single game.
His records show 300-plus carries for 10 times. He remained the lead rusher when he retired for NFL history. Walter is part of the NFL’s 1970s and 1980’s All-Decade teams.
Emmitt Smit
Emmitt James Smith III is one of the renowned former American football running back. He played for the National Football League for 15 seasons. His major contribution to sports was with the Dallas Cowboys. Smit was the league’s all-time leading rusher. Smith turned out to be the only player to bag the rushing crown, Super Bowl MVP, and Super Bowl MVP in one season. He holds the record of record 18,355 career rushing yards. Emmitt is also known for his one-time Dancing With the Stars champ.
O.J. Simpson
Orenthal James Simpson majorly known by his nickname “Juice”, is a former football running back. Well, he is also a broadcaster, advertising spokesman, and actor. He is best known for notching 2,003 yards during a 14-game 1973 season. Simpson recorded NFL’s best six 200-yard games during his career. The fact is that most of them were for awful teams.
Marshall Faulk
He remained the vital cog of the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf.” Marshall Faulk is, one of the iconic receiving running back in the history of the NFL. He is having an average of more than 63 catches in his NFL career. Do you know that this seven-time Pro Bowler was also excellent in running? He tallied seven 1,000-yard seasons. How many know the fact that he bagged the title Offensive Player of the Year award. Yes, he did that in three consecutive seasons. The memorable one was in 1999. That year he outshines 1,000 yards in both receiving and rushing.
Gale Sayers
The Kansas Comet delivered giant numbers in a short career of 68-games only. His career remained short because of an injury.
Sayers began with a bang and scored 22 touchdowns in the rookie season. He crossed the goal line in a December game 6 times.
It was a magnificent record that still exists. It was a brilliant performance. George Halas mentioned this performance as “the greatest football exhibition I have ever seen.”
Do you know he remained the best kickoff returner in the history of the NFL? It was an unreal 30.56-yard average.
Eric Dickerson
Dickerson raced for 13,259 yards during his 11-year career. He led the league by rushing three times to become the first-halfback.
Eric gained 1,000 yards in seven straight seasons. He holds the single-season record of 2,105 rushing yards. That happened in 1984.
This 3-times Pro Bowler gave outstanding performance post-season. He recorded 248 rushing yards in the 1986 game. It was against the Cowboys.
He broke off TD runs of 55 and 40 yards. Eric Dickerson made multiple NFL records. There was no Super Bowl champion record in his kitty.
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson is one of the finest American former football players. He was a successful running back in the National Football League.
Tarshane played for 11 seasons. He is among the greatest running backs in NFL history. LaDainian remained the owner of highly dominant seasons in history.
He broke the single-season record with 31 TDs. LaDainian collected186 total points in 2006. He is one of the finest NFL players who never won a Super Bowl.
Earl Campbell
Earl Campbell is the 1978 Rookie of the Year and MVP. He was an Oilers star who punished defenses badly in a short career span.
He bagged the Offensive Player of the Year title in 3 consecutive years.
Campbell topped both 1,300 yards and double-digit touchdowns.
He did that in five out of the first six seasons. Earl had a vicious running style.
He used to run straight into the defense teeth very often. A record of 373 carries in one season was possible by Earl. He ended up paying for the bruising mentality. Earl played only five healthy seasons in the NFL.
Apart from the above 10, many other players enriched NFL history. Who is your favorite Running back player in NFL?