Dallas Cowboys Fans Have a Favorite Debate
Jul 13th, 2013 at 7:00 am by Mike Burke
Happen upon a Dallas Cowboys forum, and at some point you are likely to find a spirited debate about who was better, Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders. Last week in my article I made an off handed comment laughing at the idea of Barry being a better player than Emmitt. I felt it would be fun this week before players report to Training Camp in Oxnard, California to defend my “Pfft.” I won’t have an opportunity to do so once football is real again.
Let me begin by saying that I am possibly Barry Sanders’ harshest critic. I am not delusional. He was an exciting player, perhaps one of the most exciting to ever play the game. However, I am being serious when I tell you, that under no circumstance would I ever want Barry Sanders on my football team. In fact, I often say there are at least twenty Running Backs I would take over Barry Sanders. Is that silly of me? In the minds of some people I am sure it is. Allow me to defend my position.
There is no denying Barry Sanders’ big play ability. He was capable of things other RBs simply cannot do, except maybe Gale Sayers. My problem with Barry Sanders lies in the fact that he tried to do those big plays so often that he far too often handicapped his team.
I was a Fullback, and there is no greater feeling for a FB than having your lead block open a hole for the RB to hit. The Detroit Lions rarely used a FB. The main reason for this was Barry did not hit holes. He danced around, making people miss until he could break free. Not going to lie, that drove me crazy. It was exciting, no doubt, but it drove me nuts. Give me a RB who is going to try to move forward over a ballerina any day of the week.
I once heard something about Marcus Allen, that if it is true I consider it to be one of the greatest accomplishments in the History of the game. I heard that in his illustrious career Marcus Allen was never tackled for a loss of yardage. He was stopped for no gain, but never for a loss. If true, that is not just amazing, it is warrior like. The object of the game is to move the football forward. Barry Sanders lost more yardage on negative runs than any RB in the History of the game, because of his dancing around.
Do you know why every Lions Head Coach took him out in goal line situations? One Lions fan once told me Barry wanted his teammates to get the score. No, his coaches wanted to score. For one minute pretend you are the Lions Head Coach. Your career hinges on wins and losses. Wins are secured by scoring. Are you, in all honesty, going to pull your best player to give other guys a chance to score if he can do it better than they can? Barry was never going to throw his body in there and hit the hole to get the hard yard. That is what separates him from the RBs I would prefer to have on my team. The willingness to sacrifice. To absorb a blow in order to deliver a bigger one.
The epitome of this concept happened in the last game of the 1993 season. Dallas and the New York Giants were both 11-4 going into the final game of the season. The winner of that game was guaranteed home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The loser of that game was relegated to the Wildcards. The game was at New York, but Dallas was the heavy favorite. In the first half they lived up to their status and went into halftime with a 13-0 lead.
They also went into halftime uncertain if their star RB was coming back. Late in the 2nd quarter Emmitt took off on a 46 yard run. As he was tackled he remained on the ground with what turned out to be a separated shoulder. He was given two options; park it for the rest of the game, or play hurt, perhaps even be a decoy. Emmitt Smith didn’t even hesitate in making his decision, and what followed is to this day the greatest show of heart on a football field that I have ever seen. The second half began with Emmitt indeed being a decoy, and this caused him to yell at Head Coach Jimmy Johnson.
The Giants were a hard hitting team. When they realized Emmitt was hurt, they brought the lumber on every Emmitt carry. I still remember the agony on his face as he would pick himself up and go back to the huddle and prepare to do it again. With Emmitt clearly hobbled, the Giants crept back into the game. On the final drive of the game for the Giants Head Coach Dan Reeves ran the ball on 3rd down and the Cowboys stopped them. This forced a Field Goal attempt with 10 seconds to play. It was good and the game was headed to overtime.
It is there that the legend of Emmitt Smith was forever etched into time. The Giants got the ball first in OT, but were forced to punt. Play after agonizing play the Cowboys called Emmitt’s number and he moved the chains. The clock was ticking. His shoulder was aching. The Giants were hitting. Dallas was moving. His right arm was useless yet he used it to stiff arm one of the greatest players to ever play Defense, the great Lawrence Taylor.
Finally an Eddie Murray FG ended the agony for Emmitt, and the Cowboys secured home field advantage. That day Pat Summerall and John Madden were calling the game. John Madden did something he had never done before, and would never do again. He went to the Cowboys locker room just to tell Emmitt Smith how incredible his performance was.
How incredible was it? Emmitt Smith carried the ball 32 times for 168 yards, and earned his third straight rushing title, despite missing the first two games of that season in a contract holdout. He also caught the ball, with one arm, another 10 times for an additional 61 yards.
Allow me to put this in perspective for you. Dallas gained 182 yards rushing that day. Only 14 yards and 4 carries were not Emmitt Smith. Troy Aikman completed 24 passes; 10 of them were to his star RB. The next closest receiver was Daryl Johnston with 6. Michael Ivin only managed 3. Troy’s only TD pass was to Emmitt. Dallas had 339 total yards gained in the game, and 229 of those yards belonged to Emmitt Smith. In other words, Emmitt Smith put that team on his back and carried them not only into the playoffs, but to a second straight Super Bowl title. On the way he not only earned another rushing title, but was also named League MVP and Super Bowl MVP.
With all apologies to Barry Sanders, nothing he did ever impressed me as much as what Emmitt did that day. No jaw dropping run he ever made can compare to pure heart. Barry was no relation to fellow 1989 Draft alum Deion Sanders, but much like Deion he seemed to have a fear of being hit. Okay, in fairness Deion was afraid of hitting, and that is worse. It just isn’t what I want from a RB.
I want a guy carrying the ball who wants it to be 3rd and short. If you are a Defensive Coordinator would you rather see 3rd and 3, or 3rd and 12? It isn’t even close is it? You would much rather see the other team 3rd and long so you can send a blitz and raise your chances for a positive outcome. On 3rd and 3, a blitz is riskier because of not only the chance of a run, but also a dump off pass. Barry Sanders, caused the Lions too many 3rd and long situations for them to ever succeed in my opinion.
In the post season, where games matter the most, Emmitt Smith was not only the heart and soul of his team, he was productive. In his career he scored 21 post season Touchdowns, including at least one in each Super Bowl he played in. The Cowboys were 12-5 in Emmitt’s post season career, and he failed to score only twice in that span of games. Scoring, that is what sets Emmitt apart to me more than anything else over Barry Sanders. I will come back to that topic later.
In his post season career Emmitt gained another 1586 yards rushing in addition to his receiving numbers. You just can’t say the same for Barry Sanders. For all his God given ability, and there was a lot of it to be sure, in the post season, when his team needed him the most, Barry was a liability. He scored 1 TD in his 6 game post season career, sadly that was against Dallas in the 1991 post season.
In Barry’s illustrious career the Lions were 1-5 in the post season. Does that sound to you like a man who could carry his team? What about the single post season TD in 7 games. Perhaps the biggest red flag of all happened in the 1994 post season where Barry carried the ball 13 times and gained -1 yards. That’s right, he went backwards on the biggest stage of them all when his team needed him. You can understand that if it is at the end of a player’s career, but not in his prime. That season Barry Sanders led the NFL in rushing with 1883 yards. Then in the playoffs he manages -1?
I’ve heard all the lame excuses about Barry’s team and especially his Offensive Line. That’s right, they are lame. Lomas Brown was only the best Left tackle in the NFL in that era. Kevin Glover has more All Pro seasons than any Dallas Cowboys Center ever. If you want to talk about a RB who had sub par O-lines that needs to be Walter Payton, not Barry Sanders. The fact of the matter is Barry played on some great Offensive teams that had WRs going over 1000 yards receiving in addition to his rushing abilities. The problem wasn’t his lack of a team, it was his lack of heart.
I have long maintained that if you put Barry Sanders on the 1994 San Francisco 49ers that they would not only not won that Super Bowl, they might not have even made the playoffs. Not many people will agree with me, and that is fine. But I will always maintain until my last quivering breath that leaving your team 2nd and long and then 3rd and long by failing to simply hit the holes opened by the O-line doomed the Lions, and it would have doomed the 49ers too. You simply cannot give Defenses the advantage of pinning their ears back and coming hell bent for leather as often as the Lions had to overcome.
In 1998 the Detroit Lions were 5-11. On the cusp of the 1999 season Barry Sanders abandoned his football team and retired. In one of the most cowardly acts I can imagine by a football player, he faxed them his retirement notice. It shocked the world. Mostly the Lions who could have drafted someone had they known he was considering it. Barry Sanders never cared about the Lions. This is evidenced by his desire to come back from retirement for another team. He owed them money from his contract and he offered to pay it all back in exchange for a trade. He really felt like he was the lone warrior on his teams in Detroit. Someone please explain to me how the Lions improved in 1999 to 8-8 with no Barry Sanders, and a rookie Quarterback that Sanders didn’t want to play with, and openly said so.
I’ll tell you exactly how. They didn’t have to face 2nd and long and 3rd and long all the time because Barry Sanders wasn’t back there dancing, trying to be incredible. He was incredible. I’m not saying he wasn’t. I’ve never seen anyone quite like him, and that includes Gale Sayers, Mercury Morris, and Terry Metcalf, all of whom were capable of some amazing moves with their mystifying footwork. Eric Metcalf, Terry’s son, had some amazing moves too, but none of them were the equal of Sanders and his ankle breaking ability. No one has been. No one likely ever will be.
I honestly think I would love the guy if he simply had been someone who would run between the Tackles, but he wasn’t. For that very reason I am an outspoken critic of his. I said before I can name twenty RBs I’d rather have than Barry Sanders; here you go. In addition to Emmitt Smith, in no particular order, I’d rather have, Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, John Riggins, Larry Csonka, Terrell Davis, Gale Sayers, Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Bo Jackson, LaDanian Tomlinson, Jerome Bettis, Marshall Faulk, Thurman Thomas, OJ Simpson, Curtis Martin, Franco Harris, and Adrian Peterson.
That is off the top of my head. I am sure there are other RBs I’d rather have, and in fact I know there are because I would go homer and take Don Perkins over him too even though Perkins never had a 1000 yard season. But Don Perkins had heart, and that means more to me than raw ability. Emmitt or Barry? Oh my gosh, for me the discussion isn’t even close. I would take Emmitt Smith in a heartbeat. In fact, if you put Emmitt on the Lions they win some playoff games. Unlike Barry he could carry a team. Put Barry on the Cowboys and I don’t think we win Super Bowls in the 1990′s. I am that opposed to his style over substance abilities.
I’ve often wondered how Lomas Brown and Kevin Glover feel to hear that Barry Sanders had no O-Line. If it were me it would piss me the hell off. Were the Lions as good as the Cowboys? No, of course not. Only a fool would even entertain the thought that they might be. To magnify Barry’s legend however, you have to make the Lions feeble, even pathetic.
To magnify Emmitt’s legend all you have to do is mention one game. A game where he showed more heart than Barry’s entire magnificent career. Yes, I am a harsh critic of Barry Sanders, but I absolutely know and admit that few players ever have possessed the natural ability he had. I’m not saying the guy sucked when I say he wasn’t as good as Emmitt Smith. I’m simply saying give me the guys with heart over him. Give me the RB who isn’t afraid of gaining the hard yard for the good of his team. Give me 3rd and 3. Give me the guy who actually was better when the game was biggest.
That was Emmitt Smith. He is best known for the career rushing record, and rightfully so. Emmitt also holds the record for most career rushing TDs. Barry Sanders isn’t even close in that category. I’ll take scores over yards any day of the week, and that means Emmitt over Barry. Emmitt’s efforts in the post season and big games are the clincher for me though. Side by side with Barry in that category is the starkest contrast of all. On the big stage, Barry was a disappointment.
I will also say that Emmitt was a better receiver and a far better blocker, both of which make him the better player in my eyes. You don’t have to agree with me; many don’t. I am fine with the disagreement because ultimately when you put the numbers side by side one name is always above the other, and that name is Emmitt Smith’s. Barry was a dancer. Put him on “Dancing With the Stars” and let’s see if his incredible football moves could translate into incredible dance moves. I don’t think they would, because even if I find the show silly, I have to admit the discipline it takes to do what Emmitt did there takes heart.
There’s that word again. The word that for me is key to the entire discussion. The date was January 2, 1994. The place was The Meadowlands. The opponents were the New York Giants. The stumbling block was a right shoulder separation that caused the man so much pain that he says he thought he would pass out from it several times. He missed exactly 2 plays despite that injury. Emmitt Smith remembered the words of a cousin from games played as a child where he was told, “You can’t play this game if you can’t play with pain.” Emmitt says he kept telling himself, “I can do this.”
Oh my how he could do it. Heart.
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I am. Disappoint.
All that shit and only one personal anecdote about him being a fullback. No tall tale of how he got named Too Hostile. Nothing.
