All Time Backs Better than Jerome Bettis

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Bettis is fifth on the career rushing list. That's about the only good thing I can say about him. Oh yeah, he has 'nimble feet'.

The rankings below are their rankings on the career rushing list

1. E Smith 18355
2. W Payton 16726
3. B Sanders 15269
4. *C Martin 14101
5. *J Bettis 13662
6. E Dickerson 13259
7. T Dorsett 12739
8. J Brown 12312
9. *M Faulk 12279
10. M Allen 12243
11. F Harris 12120
12. T Thomas 12074
13. J Riggins 11352
14. O Simpson 11236
16. E George 10441
17. *C Dillon 10429
19. E Campbell 9407
20. *E James 9226
33. *P Holmes 8035
37. *S Alexander 7817
39. T Davis 7607
42. *L Tomlinson 7361
46. *R Williams 7097


I would consider every back on this list to be better than Bettis, with the exception of Dillon, George, Harris, and Ricky Williams, who I think can be argued are probably better. I just don't understand all this adulation for a guy who has about 25 backs ahead of him.

By the time their careers are done, I can see arguments being made for Tiki Barber, Larry Johnson, Deuce McAllister, maybe even Bro Sweets and Jamal 'Scarface' Lewis.

A final note: his career ypc is 3.9--barely better than the NFL average.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by 4th and Long

You're an idiot.

Who on the list do you disagree with?

[4th and Long]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Who on the list do you disagree with?

You've done nothing but whine, complain, piss and moan about anything that has to do with Pittsburgh tonight. I cannot take anything you say seriously. When your nuts drop, come back and we can talk. Until then, take your whiney ass, little girl, cry baby antics elsewhere.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Everyone here knows that Jerome is going into the HOF on the first ballot. I think he's between the 20th and 30th best RBs all-time

I think we can all agree it would be hard to find 20 LBers better than DT all time, yet he's not in the HOF. Shit like this makes me bitter.

There's only 17 LBs in the HOF, and there are only 1 or 2 that I would put DT ahead of, of those I've seen.

There are a couple of others that I never saw.

DT will get there, I believe.

[listopencil]

I can still vividly remember Bettis in his prime and he was awesome to watch. The only thing I remember hearing about him during the off season is that he likes to go bowling and hang out with his family. In this day and age of drug abusers and wife beaters, I'm glad the NFL had a player like him. I was rooting for the Steelers to win in part because I wanted to see him get a ring. Hate him if you want to, I think you're an idiot for it.

[BigChiefFan]

Proof is in the pudding and it's obvious Bettis has done more than the players listed behind him have. Sure, he isn't playing at his prime, but he still had an impact on the Steelers this year and that's what counts.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by 4th and Long

You've done nothing but whine, complain, piss and moan about anything that has to do with Pittsburgh tonight. I cannot take anything you say seriously. When your nuts drop, come back and we can talk. Until then, take your whiney ass, little girl, cry baby antics elsewhere.

Look at the response from Mr. Toughass. I'm sorry if I'm appearing to piss and moan about Pittsburgh. I call it like I see it, and that was a horribly officiated game. It's obvious that you are all-Pitt all the way, so if you want to slurp them so much, move to the rust belt and don a Terrible Towel. If not, quit adultering the Chiefs. Your worship on the Steeler thread was no better than my (worthy) criticism of them given that they had the game handed to them on a platter. Considering that I'm about 20 minutes from Roethlisberger's hometown, I think that I have a right to bitch--all of these people around here are Steelers fans despite the fact that they are closer to the Browns, Lions, Bengals, and Bears. Shitty teams, yes, but when you are surrounded by piss poor fans it has a tendency to wear on you. As far as you are concerned-can you really say that Bettis is even in the Top 15 RBs of all time??

He only had 4 seasons where he averaged over 4ypc...and the best game he ever had he ran for 164 on 30 carries. I've seen a lot of backs able to change a game unlike he ever could. He was always a 2-down/short yardage running back, and despite having the fourth most rushes in NFL history, he didn't even get to 100 touchdowns.

The guy had longevity, but so did Dave Kreig, and if you look at his stats, he's up there with a lot of QBs--it doesn't mean that he's one of the great QBs ever. Bettis is like the Drew Bledsoe of running backs to me--their stats say a lot more for ability than their play on the field and in crucial games ever did. Look at Bettis' career playoff rushing totals--199 carries, 674 yards. He averaged over 4 ypc in ONE playoff game...his first. 13 playoff games, 3 career 100 yard games, never over 105. there isn't a lot to bowl over and awe about; and there are a lot of guys who never beat their wives who were great NFL RBs, Walter Payton, Marshall Faulk, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith...

Hate me if you want, but when I think of a Hall of Famer I think of a guy who altered the game, and Bettis hasn't done that for 9 years and never did it on a consistent basis.

[tk13]

I think the RB position is maybe the best position to reward longitivity, because RB's generally don't last long. To be able to put up those numbers to pass those guys is quite an accomplishment... you can say it's no big deal because he lasted so long, but if it was so common to last that long, there'd be more than 4 people ahead of him in all-time yardage.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by tk13

I think the RB position is maybe the best position to reward longetivity, because RB's generally don't last long. To be able to put up those numbers to pass those guys is quite an accomplishment... you can say it's no big deal because he lasted so long, but if it was so common to last that long, there'd be more than 4 people ahead of him in all-time yardage.

A lot of guys could have plodded around averaging 3.3 yards a carry the last 6 years of their career, they just chose to be able to walk when they were fifty. Had he averaged 4 ypc for the rest of his career, then that's a great accomplishment, but why talk about a guy just because he played for so many years with severely diminished skills.

[Mecca]

The only comment I have is this. If Thurman Thomas isn't a first ballot hall of fame player, then Jerome Bettis shouldn't be one either.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Mecca

The only comment I have is this. If Thurman Thomas isn't a first ballot hall of fame player, then Jerome Bettis shouldn't be one either.

Thurman Thomas>Jerome Bettis*3

Bettis was a great short yardage back, yes, but he had 0 receiving skills, and was never on the field on third down. I think that the HOF should reward complete backs who can run, catch, and pass protect, or if they are deficient in one area they should be hellacious in another. Given that Bettis wasn't exactly ripping off chunks of yardage at any point in his career (as 3.9 ypc will attest) I don't see how people can bow down at his throne.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

A lot of guys could have plodded around averaging 3.3 yards a carry the last 6 years of their career, they just chose to be able to walk when they were fifty. Had he averaged 4 ypc for the rest of his career, then that's a great accomplishment, but why talk about a guy just because he played for so many years with severely diminished skills.

I don't know, he averaged 3.8 yds/carry over his last 6 years, and that's including spending lots of time as a goal line and short yardage back. I think he could push 4 yds/carry if he they used him for more than 1 yard runs.

[Mecca]

I honestly wanna know why people think Bettis is a shoe in. Thurman Thomas didn't get in this year......go look at this total yards stats. He held the yards from scrimmage record, and may still hold it, I'm not 100% sure if he does.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

I can't even remember the last time I saw him rip off a run over 15-18 yards, though...I don't think it would have mattered much at all.

[Simplex3]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Look at the response from Mr. Toughass. I'm sorry if I'm appearing to piss and moan about Pittsburgh. I call it like I see it, and that was a horribly officiated game....

No, you're a cronic bitcher. You're located in the "mediocre midwest", yet you don't just f**king move somewhere else. You hate the Steelers, yet you don't just turn off the game. You hate the officials, yet you keep watching. You feel the need to start multiple threads on the same topic.

Face it, it's that time of month for you.

[Rain Man]

I've got nothing against Bettis, and his first few years in the league, he was pretty impressive. Off the field, he seems like a good guy, too.

However, I wouldn't put him among the top 25 running backs of all time. He's durable, but not a lot else.