Emmitt Smith broke the NFL rushing record in 2002, passing Walter Payton's career rushing record in his 12th season in the NFL. While it might be argued that Emmitt Smith eclipsed the record thanks to the offensive line he played behind, numbers don't lie. Emmitt Smith finished his 15-year career with 18,355 yards. He ranks only second behind Jerry Rice with 175 total touchdowns. He is also one of only four players to surpass 21,000 all-purpose yards in a career.
Barry Sanders was a special talent ever since his days at Oklahoma State University. Sanders played his entire professional career for the Detroit Lions and retired at the young age of 30, a season where he still ran for 1,491 yards. Sanders finished his career with 15,269 yards rushing, only 1,457 yards away from breaking Walter Payton's rushing record.
The debate still rages on about which of these running backs is the better NFL player. Go to Yahoo! Sports Grudge Judge now to cast your vote on who the better NFL running back was, Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders.
The Numbers
When comparing the numbers of Emmitt Smith to Barry Sanders, there are more variables than just looking at the total rushing yards. If total yards was all that mattered, Emmitt Smith would win in a landslide. Emmitt Smith finished his 15-year NFL career with 18,355 rushing yards and 21,564 yards from scrimmage. Barry Sanders finished his career with 15,269 rushing yards and 18,190 yards from scrimmage, spanning a 10-year career.
Those averages weight in the favor of Barry Sanders, who finished his career averaging 1,526 rushing yards a season and 1,819 all-purpose yards. Emmitt Smith, on the other hand, finished his career averaging 1,223 rushing yards a season and 1,437 all-purpose yards.
Of course, to be completely fair, comparisons should be made of the same time-frame. Who knows how much Barry Sanders would have slipped in his later years. LaDainian Tomlinson is evidence of that conundrum. So, looking only at Emmitt Smith's first ten seasons, he averaged 1,396 rushing yards and 1,668 all-purpose yards, making Barry Sanders stand out even more.
Emmitt, over the first ten years of his 15-year career carried the ball an average of 324.3 times a season, averaging 4.3 yards a carry. Barry Sanders averaged 306 carries a season, with 5.0 yards a carry, once again a win for Barry Sanders. Sanders finished his career with 109 touchdowns while Emmitt Smith scored 147 touchdowns in his first ten years, giving the scoring advantage to Emmitt Smith.
Accolades
Emmitt Smith has one thing that Barry Sanders never accomplished - a Super Bowl MVP. Emmitt Smith played for a very successful Dallas Cowboys franchise that has led to many people discounting his numbers. Barry Sanders made it to the playoffs five times in his career with the Detroit Lions but the team only won one of those playoff appearances, ironically over the Dallas Cowboys. Emmitt Smith helped lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowls in four seasons and was named the best overall player in one of them.
People point to the Dallas Cowboys offensive line and say it is the reason that Emmitt Smith was so good, but that same offensive line only won one game the year before Emmitt Smith arrived and no other Dallas Cowboys running back gained the kind of yardage or scored the touchdowns that Emmitt Smith did behind that offensive line.
The final thing that stands in Emmitt Smith's favor is his persistence and competitive nature. Barry Sanders quit on the Detroit Lions when he came within striking distance of the rushing title. He had recently signed a new contract and took a large signing bonus and then quit on his team. The Lions had to sue Sanders to get the money back. Does that mean anything when it comes to his on field ability? It does not but it goes a long way to showing what kind of NFL player Barry Sanders truly was.
Emmitt Smith played hard his entire career and owns the NFL rushing title to commemorate his outstanding career. Barry Sanders was one of the most exciting running backs to ever play the game but never proved to be a winner or a team player. While Sanders was the more exciting player to watch, Emmitt Smith was the better NFL running back, standing the test of time.
Sources
Emmitt Smith at NFL.COM
Barry Sanders at NFL.COM
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