Saint John wrote:I am probably the person in the world that hated the 85 Bears the most. Couldn't stand them and just about cried when they won the Superbowl. Hated Ditka and that team because of him. That said, this whole Payton/Sanders argument is absurd. Payton was clearly better all things considered. Crunch your fucking numbers all you want, but what you won't see is that Sanders constantly put his team in 2nd and 13, and 3rd and infinity with his running backwards. His teams constantly sucked because you can't trade a few explosive runs for constantly being in 2nd and 3rd and 10+ yards. The guy never exhibited emotion and most of the time you needed to check the little fuck for a pulse. He was great for 3 to 5 breakout runs per game of 20 to 50 yards. The entire rest of the game he was a useless fuck that couldn't block, catch and had no intangible qualities as a leader. Barry was the games most electrifying runner, but he was a stone cold fucking loser. He never tried to get better at blocking or catching, and no one, and I mean no one, on his team looked at him as a leader. He was a naturally talented runner that was as elusive as anyone that ever played the game, but he was a mime, didn't seem bothered by losing and had zero leadership qualities. Payton was everything that Sanders wasn't with half of the athletic ability. And Dean, Payton never ran out of bounds...ever. And remember, Sanders was all but useless on grass. If football had any balls and would have never allowed these piece of shit domes, Sanders would have been just another back. Obviously his stats count, but that dude was the epitomy of a check casher. He cared as much about improving his all around game just as much as he did winning...he didn't. He retired on top because he had achieved everything he had wanted to...nothing.
See below, compliments of footballdiner.com.
Myth 1 – Barry Sanders could not run inside or at the goal line.
This is a favourite of Barry Sanders critics. They point to his lack of TDs compared to other backs at the top of all-time lists, and the fact that his coaches took him out down at the goal line as evidence for a huge hole in his game. However, in the first 3 years of his career, Sanders scored 47 TDs, 21 of which came from within 4 yards, and 8 of which were from 1 yard out. The Detroit Lions coaching staff from 1992 onwards preferred having a bigger, power-back in on these situations, and took Sanders out of the game. Does that mean that Sanders became a bad goal-line back when that happened? The evidence of Sanders career, both college and pro, shows that Sanders could run as well as anybody around the goal line, but his numbers suffered because the Detroit Lions coaches preferred their own philosophy of using a heavy back in those situations.
Myth 2 – Barry Sanders couldn't catch.
The proponents of Walter Payton use this one a lot. 'Barry Sanders was only a runner, he couldn't do the other things that a RB has to be able to do, Walter Payton could do it all.' Well, Barry Sanders finished his career with 352 catches over his 10 years – he averaged 35 catches a year. Walter Payton finished with 492 catches over his 13 years – he averaged 38 catches a year. Walter Payton scored 15 receiving TDs, Barry Sanders scored 10. Payton averaged 9.2 yards per catch, and Sanders averaged 8.3. The statistics do indeed show that Payton edged Sanders in each category, but enough to rank one as an accomplished receiver, and the other as a guy who couldn't catch?
Myth 3 – Barry Sanders lost too much yardage to be the greatest.
Another myth brought up a lot is that for every one of Barry Sanders' great runs, he lost a ton of yardage, so much so that he is the NFL's all-time leader in negative yardage from scrimmage. Whilst it's true that Sanders is the all-time leader in negative yards, he averaged only 46 yards a year more than Walter Payton did. Walter Payton, the man who always fell forward, who never said die. Despite the vast differences in perception between Sanders as a runner and Payton in a runner, the statistics amount to a difference in less than 3 yards a game.
Myth 4 – Barry Sanders could only run on turf, in the dome.
This one's the best myth of all. People will try and claim that Barry Sanders could only run on turf – 'just look at his running style, it just wouldn't work on grass!' Unfortunately, these people have clearly never checked that out. During his career Barry Sanders averaged 5.0 yards per carry both indoors and outdoors, on turf and on grass, at home and away. Sanders was the definition of consistency, averaging higher than 96 yards per game on any surface whether it was home or away.
Myth 5 - Barry Sanders couldn't perform in the playoffs.
Well, whilst its true that Sanders didn't perform outstandingly in the playoffs, he only played in 6 playoff games. The sample just isn't enough. that being said, the people who use this criticism never have a bad word to say about Payton in the same regard, yet Payton had only a lone 100 yard performance in 9 playoff games. Barry Sanders had only the one as well, but from only 6 games, at a 4.2 average (as opposed to Walter Payton's 3.5 yard per carry average. If this is a great flaw in Barry Sanders' game, then we need to apply the same criticism to Walter Payton.
