HOF Classes: 2007, 2008 (official thread)

[The Man]

Originally Posted by gost8

I could have ran the ball for Dallas with the line they had. I agree he was a good back though. I'd like to have seen him play for the Lions in Sander's day or the Bears in Sweetness's.

Agree about the Dallas OL it was probably the best in history. I classify Emmitt as a very good RB, not great. IMO He is not in the discussion w/ Sanders, Brown, Payton, etc as greatest ever.

[tibor75]

Originally Posted by Big Papa

Wow, not sure how you say the guy with the most rushing yards in NFL history was not all that great. You can certainly debate he was not the greatest, but to say he was not all that great is ridiculous.

Yes, "not that great" in the sense that he's not as great as people make him out to be, i.e. the best of all time.

[gost8]

Originally Posted by Best Buckeye

Really???? Really???

Yeah, well... no, not really. But my point was,they did have 4-5 pro-bowl linemen for a lot of years.

[Big Papa]

Originally Posted by gost8

I could have ran the ball for Dallas with the line they had. I agree he was a good back though. I'd like to have seen him play for the Lions in Sander's day or the Bears in Sweetness's.

Typical argument against Emmitt. Which is fine, because I believe having a good line is important, but you still have to grind out the yards. I spent years watching him being a Cowboys fan and I can tell you he did more than just run through the hole and get tackled. He ran hard and smart. He was a winner and one of the greatest of all time. Without him, no doubt the Cowboys were not nearly as successful. The Lions never had any success with Barry, and he never played behind a terrible line. He had other skill players around him, and he typically was a dud in the big games. Something Emmitt excelled in. Sweetness is another story, he was just incredible, though you really IMO can not say he was better than Emmitt. Regardless, when you talk about the best all time, those three make up the top 5 IMO.

[Big Papa]

Originally Posted by The Man

Agree about the Dallas OL it was probably the best in history. I classify Emmitt as a very good RB, not great. IMO He is not in the discussion w/ Sanders, Brown, Payton, etc as greatest ever.

There are many people out there who would disagree with you, me being one of them. I made my case about Sanders and Payton above, and IMO Jim Brown WAS the best ever.

[The Man]

Originally Posted by Big Papa

There are many people out there who would disagree with you, me being one of them.

and there are many people who disagree about Emmitt being in the conversation, me being one of them. You said you are a Cowboy fan, therefore you aren't going to agree with me on Emmitt. I would put Emmitt top 10, but not top 5 probably.

[buckeyepup]

wtf - remember him as an above avg rec te nothing more - wehrli along with mel blount best two cb of the 70's - still amazed that ken anderson has never come close - if you compare his stats from 1973-1982 to his peers he ranks as a top 3 qb over and above bradshaw, griese, stabler etc.(staubach and fouts being the other two)

[gost8]

Originally Posted by Big Papa

Without him, no doubt the Cowboys were not nearly as successful. The Lions never had any success with Barry, and he never played behind a terrible line. He had other skill players around him, and he typically was a dud in the big games.

Not a typical argument.. its the truth.

Put Barry on that Dallas team and the rushing record would be so far out of sight no would even try for better than second.

So if the Lions never had any success then how many big games did he play in?

Name one guy that ever played on the Lions OL during Barry's career (without looking it up.) Defense's came into every game with stopping Barry as their #1 priority.