Lord Stan The Man

Is it just me, or is Emmitt Smith planting his cleat into his teammate's eye on this play?

On Saturday, Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has rushed for more yards than any other back, and is second only to Jerry Rice on the all-time touchdown list. He won three Super Bowls during an illustrious 15-year career in the NFL. But although he may rule the world of statistics, Smith will never go down as the greatest running back in league history.

In other sports, greatness is easier to quantify. For example, the consensus greatest player in NHL history, Wayne Gretzky, tops the list of all-time goal scorers and point scorers. But in the NFL, a player’s individual accomplishments are often directly linked to other players on his team. In this regard, the fact that Smith played for one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history hurts his place in history.

Interestingly enough, the standard measure for quarterbacking success in the NFL is simply winning. Though Dan Marino’s statistics outshine those of Joe Montana, the 49ers quarterback is probably held in higher regard historically than Marino, just because of Super Bowl success (Montana won four while Marino won none). To a degree, statistics matter with quarterbacks. For example, Peyton Manning is largely considered to be the best quarterback of this era because of his statistics and single Super Bowl victory, even though Tom Brady has very good stats and three Super Bowl wins.

But with running backs, statistics are diminished when it comes to sorting through the best of all-time. Not only must a runner rush for thousands of yards, but he also has to look good in the process. Smith’s detractors argue that he had one of the best offensive lines in history (a fairly true statement), along with a great team all around the field. A prolific passing offense ensured that opposing defenses couldn’t stack the box to stop Smith. So running lanes were aplenty during the glory years of the 90’s.

Emmitt Smith’s highlight tape is quite impressive, but doesn’t quite top some of his colleagues in the Hall of Fame. But in the long run, he is punished for having too easy of a road to the end zone. On the other hand, the only other runners arguably better than Smith didn’t necessarily play on the best teams. Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers and Walter Payton won a combined two championships in their careers.

Many believe that Smith was simply a product of a great offensive line. To an extent, this is probably true. If Barry Sanders had played with the Cowboys in the 90’s instead of the Lions, he would have demolished the all-time NFL rushing record, even if he had still retired early. But the reason we appreciate Barry, and even consider him greater than Emmitt (at least I do), is because of his magnificent, graceful runs, often set up by an offensive line inferior to that of the Cowboys.

The little man could find his way through any wall of defenders, darting through linemen and linebackers twice his size as if he was dodging bullets in The Matrix. And then his blazing speed and flawless footwork would take him to the end zone, a dream player for the likes of NFL Films. Walter Payton similarly busted through tackles, making the impossible seem easy, and became the primary offensive threat on a team known for its stellar defensive play. Jim Brown is considered by many to be the best player in NFL history, mainly because of his tackle-proof, rugged running style. And Gale Sayers, who retired early like Brown and Sanders, was Barry before Barry was a toddler.

Meanwhile Emmitt almost seemed to have too many clear paths to the end zone. Sure, he broke countless amounts of tackles during his career. And of course he made a few guys miss. But Smith was on a team with more than a few Pro Bowlers, not to mention Hall of Famers.

Emmitt should be remembered as a great running back. He is obviously one of the best in NFL history. But while Sweetness had to move over for Emmitt at the top of the record books, Emmitt will never pass Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers or Walter Payton in the eyes of football history.

Punished for being on a great team? Absolutely. But had we put Emmitt on Barry’s Lions, we honestly have no idea how his career would have shaped up. So even though Smith has rushed for the most yards in NFL history, he just didn’t look pretty enough doing it.


You can e-mail Stanley at lordstantheman@gmail.com with any comments or questions. Stanley writes a Detroit Lions blog for NFL.com's Blog Blitz powered by SportsFanLive.com.