Corp000085 Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 On the topic of the football life, I just watched the Steve Gleason episode. Very moving.
machine gun kelly Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 If Barry had Thurman's line.......my God...... Thurmon's line, what about Emmit's line. I always though Dallas had a better O-Line than the Bills back then, but that Thurmon was better than Emmit. Emmit had gaping holes to run through and helped him get the yards he racked up. I'm not saying Emmit was a very good back, but an all purpose threat who could run well and catch passes well was Thurmon. Now if Barry had any type of team around him, there would be no question he would go down as the best RB of all time. He wouldn't have quit in 9 years, and would have crushed all records.
mrags Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 Barry Sanders was, is, and will be the best RB to ever play the game. If he wanted the rushing title for the most yards ever by a RB, he could have set the bar so high that nobody would have ever come close to breaking it. He was classy enough to not drag out his career and quit early because he couldn't stomach the thought of being the best there ever was yet never going to the SuperBowl. I can say it was a pleasure to have been able to watch Barry in my lifetime.
CardinalScotts Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 If Barry had Thurman's line.......my God...... wouldnt work, always looking to hit the homerun, to win you need a forward running back even if it's just 1 or 2. Barry had many too many runs backwards looking to break the big play. When he retired so early there is a reason NO ONE tried to lure him back. Think about that NO ONE
BillsBytheBay Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 And to think he took a back seat to Thurman in college.
Corp000085 Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 Barry Sanders was, is, and will be the best RB to ever play the game. If he wanted the rushing title for the most yards ever by a RB, he could have set the bar so high that nobody would have ever come close to breaking it. He was classy enough to not drag out his career and quit early because he couldn't stomach the thought of being the best there ever was yet never going to the SuperBowl. I can say it was a pleasure to have been able to watch Barry in my lifetime. +1 My grandfather tells me stories of watching Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, etc. play. I will tell my grandkids about watching the likes of Bruce Smith, Dominik Hasek, and Barry Sanders, amongst others... Sanders was so good that we still find ways now to justify that he wasn't the best ever (i.e. 7 rushes for negative yards, one big gain... Stuff like that). The simple truth is hiding in plain sight: He's a football god, period.
mrags Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 When he retired so early there is a reason NO ONE tried to lure him back. Think about that NO ONE you are incorrect 100%. Many, many people thought he would be back within 1-2 seasons and he was only "retiring" to force the Lions to eliminate his contract and he would be a FA. The Lions never did. Meaning that if Barry came back he would have to play for the Lions. Which many believe he didn't want to do. That he wanted to play for a winning playoff team with a chance at a SB.Regardless, it is obviously your opinion and one that is generally not accepted by those that actually watched him play. +1 My grandfather tells me stories of watching Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, etc. play. I will tell my grandkids about watching the likes of Bruce Smith, Dominik Hasek, and Barry Sanders, amongst others... Sanders was so good that we still find ways now to justify that he wasn't the best ever (i.e. 7 rushes for negative yards, one big gain... Stuff like that). The simple truth is hiding in plain sight: He's a football god, period. correct. The fact that he's in the top 5 in rushing yards EVER by a RB (2nd all time at the time of his retirement) should prove that. I don't care how many rushes for a loss you have in your career. if you retire as one of the highest total of rushing yards in history, your one of the best ever. And the fact is, that Barry could have set the bar so high, that it would have never been touched by anyone. He never slowed down in his later years. He easily had 2-3 more years in him running the football and at the time was only about 1,500 yards shy of the record.
justnzane Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 ^^This and back him up with Kennth Davis... Or equally insane: Thurman Thomas... ;-) AND plug in a steady Kelly like Qb... Wasn't it a revolving Qb door in DET? Off the top of my head without googling Rodney Peete Andre Ware Erik Kramer Scott Mitchell (who was semi-stable there)
BuffaloBill Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 Yup, that's the Bruce spin around and outrun the entire defense to the corner move...didn't realize it but Sanders ran a 4.37 40 yard dash at his pro day at Oklahoma State, meaning he had Spiller like speed... He also just had amazing balance and exceptional feet. The guy could change direction better than anyone who has played the game. Its even more amazing that he didn't play with an elite QB who could tKe the pressure off the running game.
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 I've only started watching this "Football Life" series this year, but looking at it's past history, kind of surprised there hasn't been an episode on either the Bill's four consecutive Super Bowls, or an individual show on either Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, or even Steve Tasker as best special teams player of all time, or even the comeback game. I know thew Bill's lost all four, but seems like they are starting to reach the bottom of the barrel for subject material, this upcoming week Dallas Cowgirls, Best O-line of all time?? seems a bit of stretch as best of all time is a long time. Did I miss a Bill's related show or have they been shut out to date??
Big Turk Posted December 1, 2013 Author Posted December 1, 2013 (edited) He also just had amazing balance and exceptional feet. The guy could change direction better than anyone who has played the game. Its even more amazing that he didn't play with an elite QB who could tKe the pressure off the running game. Yeah some of the stuff he did, you just thought to yourself that its not fair for the other players on the field...he looked like he was playing against high schoolers at times the way they flailed helplessly at him... I've only started watching this "Football Life" series this year, but looking at it's past history, kind of surprised there hasn't been an episode on either the Bill's four consecutive Super Bowls, or an individual show on either Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, or even Steve Tasker as best special teams player of all time, or even the comeback game. I know thew Bill's lost all four, but seems like they are starting to reach the bottom of the barrel for subject material, this upcoming week Dallas Cowgirls, Best O-line of all time?? seems a bit of stretch as best of all time is a long time. Did I miss a Bill's related show or have they been shut out to date?? Here is the wiki link listing the episodes: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Football_Life Only one I see on there with Bills connections is Chris Spielman... Thurman was on quite a few times talking about Barry on the Barry Sanders episode Actually just sent them a message on facebook about why no Bills are represented Edited December 1, 2013 by matter2003
Bufcomments Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 ^^This and back him up with Kennth Davis... Or equally insane: Thurman Thomas... ;-) AND plug in a steady Kelly like Qb... Wasn't it a revolving Qb door in DET? crazy to think that Barry and Thurman were on the same team huh. Barry was the best I ever saw play running back. Period.
Big Turk Posted December 1, 2013 Author Posted December 1, 2013 crazy to think that Barry and Thurman were on the same team huh. Barry was the best I ever saw play running back. Period. Switzer when he was coaching Oklahoma implored his team to not injure Thurman because he didn't want Barry to get in the game
DC Tom Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 crazy to think that Barry and Thurman were on the same team huh. Barry was the best I ever saw play running back. Period. Robb Riddick is better than both of them. [/DC Tom, circa 1988, when he couldn't tell one end of the football from the other.]
49er Fan Posted December 2, 2013 Posted December 2, 2013 Best I ever saw....my top 5 are Brown, Sanders, Tomlinson, Payton, Simpson
Big Turk Posted December 3, 2013 Author Posted December 3, 2013 NFL Films just wrote me back regarding Bills episodes and why there aren't any: "Thanks for your note. We agree that there are so many Buffalo stories to tell, and we hope to produce a Bills episode of "A Football Life" in the near future. A handful of our employees here are Bills fans and would love to work on this. -NFL Films" Hopefully they do a few of them...
Bill from NYC Posted December 3, 2013 Posted December 3, 2013 Best I ever saw....my top 5 are Brown, Sanders, Tomlinson, Payton, Simpson How about Earl Campbell before he was hurt?
Pneumonic Posted December 3, 2013 Posted December 3, 2013 Sanders was Sayers but with the added ability of getting tackled behind the LOS way too many times. Campbell was a beast and Dickerson was a phenom but the only guy in the same zip code of Brown is Peterson.
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