:whackit: He wouldn't have had his "problem" of too many carries for negative yards.

How many times did the Lions make it to the playoffs with Barry Sanders even though he didn't play it smart? Do you think he would have had near as many carries for loss if he played for the Cowboys during his playing years? With the cowboys line blowing open huge holes like they did? With the cowboys having a multi-dimensional attack that made defenders account for more than just the running back? It was said here earlier and I'll repeat it. He made chicken salad out of chicken shit. He had to try and fight for yardage because that's all the team had.

Bottom line it for you.

In a team with a good O-line and good surruonding talent, I'll take Barry Sanders.

On a team with a bad O-Line and marginal surrounding talent, I'll take Walter Payton.

What an idiotic statement. "he put them in 2nd or 3rd and long more than specatcular runs".....NO SHIT. He also put them in 2nd or 3rd and SHORT more often than 2nd or 3rd and long.

I remember watching a highlight of his on Sportscenter, from just the hips down, and him just dancing around defenders... He was flat awesome.

Yes'm.

So basically, you're saying Walter Payton would have run better than Barry if he played for the Detroit Lions? Because the lions were a bad o-line with Marginal talent, and Barry put up numbers as great as Paytons.

And your anology of Barry losing yards being like a QB throwing interceptions is completely wrong. It would be more akin to a QB taking a lot of sacks hanging in the pocket waiting for a big play. Or a qb attempting a 60 yard bomb and having an incompletion rather than hitting the open guy 3 yards out. If he fumbled, that would be a comparison to a QB throwing an INT.

And to set the record straight, Barry didn't lose 2,000 yards as you stated. He lost yards 336 times in his career for a total of 962 yards lost. Averaging 16 games a year (not sure how accurate that is, don't know exactly how many games he played figuring games not played + playoff games. ) That equals about 2 losses for a total of -6 yards per game. I'd take losses for 3 yards twice a game anyday with what he brought to the table. Especially when you take into account how many gains he had after he was hit behind the line of scrimmage, or juked a guy to avoid a hit behind the line of scrimmage.

Anyway, back to more of the fun stuff:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_eYnW-0PVBs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I really like videos like this that show all of his runs in a game so you can really get a feel for how he did throughout the game. Watch how many times he has people in his face behind the LOS. It's amazing he didn't have MORE carries for loss.

I believe thsoe Lions teams could have made it to the playoffs just as often with back like Payton, and with his ability to make positve yardage on almost every single carry, they might have won an extra game or two, putting them in a more favorable seed in the playoffs.

2nd and 14, 3rd and 17 situations are extremely difficult situations.

I'm not going to find the link, cause it's been a few years, but I read a story a few years ago that said he had far more lost yardage than 962 yards.

Regardless, I watched Sanders, and his propensity for lost yrdage always pissed me off.

Again, statistically he lost yards 2 times per game at -3 yards per loss. Just watch the video I just posted. Pick out the times he lost yards. Then pick out the number of times he has someone in the backfield when he gets the ball. Then pick out the number of times he gains yards when he does have someone in his face in the backfield.

I don't know what pissed you off back in the day to give you the perception that Barry was always losing yards and a detriment to his team, but it wasn't and still isn't based off reality.

Steve Young was so talented that he could have won a SB in TB... oh wait...
Circumstances tend to play a huge role in player performance. To make the comparison of Peyton and Sanders is a bit of a reach. Sanders fell forward as often as he could and dropped the shoulder on many occasions, much like Peyton, but in no way was Peyton more elusive, (he was too busy high stepping his way into the end zone untouched).

Just to throw more fuel to the fire:

uhhhhhhh....what? Seek help.

First, Barry was awesome.

Second, Herman Moore. Loved watching that guy play.

Also at 2:58 in the Bucs vid, he just shrugs off a DE like its nothing. Bary was/still is the man. Can't wait to watch his son play at Stanford.