7 Reasons Why Emmitt Smith is Underrated: Reason #1 Numbers Don't Lie

Posted By Gino Tomaselli on September 9, 2017

Photo by © Jerry Coli Dreamstime.com.LLC

Over the years I have seen many lists compiled from several different sources attempting to rank the greatest running backs in NFL history. While it is difficult, even impossible, to compare players from different eras it is a certainly a cause for great debate among football fans of every generation.

I for one am a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan who idolized a certain All-Time Leading Rusher during his glory years and it never ceases to amaze me how often Emmitt Smith is ranked far lower than I expect him to be on these lists. I will not be so arrogant to presume that I can determine who the greatest running back of all time is but I believe Smith deserves to be in the conversation. With utmost respect to Jim Brown or Gale Sayers, I cannot endorse them as I have never seen either one of those guys play. Equally I only have very limited exposure to guys like Walter Payton and Eric Dickerson and not during their prime years.

I did however grow up watching Barry Sanders , who I often find rated higher than Emmitt Smith on several of these lists. As a Cowboys fan growing up right across the border from Detroit, I can certainly confirm that this is a popular opinion. Countless times when the question is brought up “Who was better, Emmitt or Barry?”, I have had to endure the same old tired arguments….What IF Barry had Emmitt’s offensive line? What IF Barry played on a better team? What IF Barry didn’t retire? Well IF I may be so bold, forget about “IF” and focus on “WHY.” The following is almost entirely based on a comparison of the two legends and “WHY” I believe Emmitt Smith is the better back. No disrespect to Barry Sanders, who I absolutely loved to watch play. He was a magician in the open field who could move in ways that dazzled the eyes and baffled the mind; yet in order to articulate my point I must point out some of his few deficiencies. With that said, here are 7 reasons why Emmitt Smith is underrated.

Reason #1: Numbers don’t lie

How do we measure greatness? Is it statistics, consistency, longevity, championships? Emmitt Smith checks all of these boxes. He is the all-time leader in rushing yards in NFL history. He has rushed for a mind boggling 18,355 yards in his career which is over 1600 yards more than the next highest on the list, Walter Payton. Adrian Peterson , who is now 32 years old and has made it known that his personal goal is to break the rushing record, is currently 6608 yards behind Smith.

There is no need to remind me that Barry Sanders retired at the ripe age of 30 and was just 1457 yards shy of Walter Payton’s record at the time. Currently, he sits 3086 yards behind Emmitt Smith on the all-time list and there are many that believe if Barry did not retire he would have easily passed Payton and be the all-time leading rusher ahead of Emmitt Smith. I am not as confident and this is why.

Barry Sanders’ final season, while still impressive with 1491 rush yards, was his worst in terms of yards/carry and touchdowns/game. If he did opt to play the following season he would be 31 years old. This is a crucial age for running backs as it usually marks a steep decline in performance. In fact, of the top 40 all-time leading rushers that have played beyond 30 years of age 62.5% experienced a decline in rushing yards from age 30 to 31. Of the few that improved at age 31 the vast majority rushed for far less than 1000 yards at age 30. This is because most of those running backs had already experienced a sharp decline in production prior to turning 30.

It is increasingly rare for a running back to excel into their 30’s. In NFL history, running backs 30 years or older have rushed for over 1000 yards only 49 times. That number decreases dramatically for running backs age 31 and older and continues to decrease beyond that. During the modern era (since 1990) the decline is even more prevalent with age. The chart below highlights the number of 1000 yard seasons for running backs ages 30+ to 33+ both all-time and since 1990.

	# of 1000 yard seasons
Rb age	all time	since 1990
30+	49	34
31+	24	13
32+	12	5
33+	6	1

Suffice to say it is difficult for a running back to produce beyond 30 and it is even rarer for a running back to do it consistently. Only 6 running backs in NFL history have rushed for over 1000 yards twice over the age of 31 (Emmitt Smith is one of them) and none have been able to do it 3 times. Barry Sanders would have to do exactly that in order to pass Emmitt on the all-time rushing list.

Declining athletic ability and increased injuries due to wear and tear are a reality for aging athletes. For this reason, the evidence that running backs typically experience a decline after the age of 30 is not surprising. What is surprising is how sudden that decline can occur. Below is a list of 15 of the all-time leading rushers in NFL history and their production during their final two seasons. The measures include games played (GP) and games started (starts), rushing yards (Yards) and touchdowns (TD). Excluded are current players or players that retired at age 30 or younger.

			Second to last season			Final Season
Rank	Player	Age	GP (starts)	Yards	TD	Age	GP(starts)	Yards	TD
1	E. Smith	34	10 (5)	256	2	35	15(15)	937	9
2	W.Payton	32	16(16)	1333	8	33	12(12)	533	4
4	C.Martin	31	16(16)	1697	12	32	12(12)	735	5
5	L.Tomlinson	31	15(13)	914	6	32	14(1)	280	1
6	J.Bettis	32	15(6)	941	13	33	12(0)	368	9
8	E.Dickerson	32	16(15)	729	2	33	4(2)	91	0
9	T.Dorsett	33	12(6)	456	1	34	16(13)	703	5
11	M.Faulk	31	14(14)	774	3	32	16(1)	292	0
12	E.James	30	13(7)	514	3	31	7(0)	125	0
13	M.Allen	36	16(15)	830	9	37	16(0)	505	11
14	F.Harris	33	16(16)	1007	5	34	8(6)	170	0
15	T.Thomas	33	5(3)	152	0	34	9(0)	136	0
17	F.Taylor	33	6(1)	269	4	34	7(0)	155	0
18	S.Jackson	31	15(15)	707	6	32	2(1)	50	1
19	J.Riggins	35	14(14)	1239	14	36	12(11)	677	8

There is a consistent and dramatic drop in all categories across the board. Only Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett had improved in every measure during their final season. Therefore it is important to consider that if Barry Sanders did continue to play past 30 it is likely that his production would decline and there is no guarantee how many years he would have played or if he would have remained healthy. The only certainty is that Emmitt Smith IS the all-time leading rusher in NFL history!

Being the all-time rushing record holder is a prestigious honour indeed and yet there is another record that I consider even more prestigious that is rarely mentioned in the conversation of greatest of all time. Emmitt Smith is also the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns with 164. When he retired he had 41 more rushing touchdowns than the next closest back Marcus Allen! Since then the great LaDainian Tomlinson came closest to catching Emmitt Smith but still sits 21 TD’s behind him! Let’s even consider if Barry Sanders did play well into his 30’s, stayed healthy and became the all-time leading rusher. With 99 rushing scores he would still not come close to breaking Emmitt’s touchdown record.

Despite being the all-time leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, Smith’s critics often point out that he enjoyed a long career and had the luxury of playing on some great football teams. What about Jerry Rice? Jerry Rice is the all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and TD’s and he is widely considered the greatest wide receiver of all time. Jerry Rice also had a long career and played with both Joe Montana and Steve Young on a San Francisco juggernaut. He also played for a Raiders team that went to a Super Bowl and caught passes from a multiple pro-bowl QB Rich Gannon opposite another Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown.

What about championships? Like Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith is a 3 time Super Bowl champion and a Super Bowl MVP. For some reason, only the greatness of quarterbacks is measured in championships. I have always found this to be extremely unfair since football is the ultimate team game. There are those that argue that the quarterback is the leader of the team and has the ball in their hands more times than any other offensive player, but consider a workhorse back like Emmitt Smith. He was an unquestioned leader on his team and he would be next in line in amount of touches. Consider also that a quarterback’s role is to take the ball and quickly deliver it to a teammate but a running back must keep the ball and run with it. Potentially, he would have the ball in his hands for a longer duration of time then his quarterback in a given game.

So once again how do we measure greatness? Number of yards, touchdowns and championships must count for something and Emmitt Smith is certainly not lacking on any of those measures.

……..Continued with Reason #2: He was a complete player