Top 32 Running Backs of All Time

Joe Posnanski's (of SI) list. It's pretty good actually:
1. Jim Brown
2. Walter Payton
3. Emmitt Smith
4. Barry Sanders
5. Earl Campbell
6. Marshall Faulk
7. O.J. Simpson
8. Gale Sayers
9. Bo Jackson
10. Red Grange
11. Eric Dickerson
12. Marion Motley
13. LaDainian Tomlinson
14. Bronko Nagurski
15. Terrell Davis
16. Thurman Thomas
17. Franco Harris
18. Tony Dorsett
19. Marcus Allen
20. Lenny Moore
21. Priest Holmes
22. Jim Taylor
23. Larry Csonka
24. Chris Johnson
25. Joe Perry
26. Ollie Matson
27. Hugh McElhenny
28. Steve Van Buren
29. Edgerrin James
30. Curtis Martin
31. Leroy Kelly
32. Frank Gifford

good list, nice priest holmes mention. but i might actually put barry higher.

I guess I have to look up Marion Motley.

The comments to the article on cnnsi.com seem to agree with you about Sanders. But I wouldnt put him above Payton, i would just flipflop him with Emmit. I too love the Holmes mention. Remember that Posnanski was a KC sportswriter for a long time.

NB-comments on cnnsi.com much more palatable than the shit you will find on espn.com.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Marcus Allen, Thurman Thomas, and LDT were better than this guy:

http://secure.plaind.com/pdphotostore/images/pi_1471.jpeg

Emmitt Smith was great but kind of like Cal Ripken being compared to Willie Mays putting him in front of Barry Sanders. I don't see how you could even compare him to someone like Sanders who would have rushed for 3000 yards in a season behind those Cowboy road graters. Sanders and Payton didn't need any passing game or great OL to get their yards. Criminy just look at the passing stats on some of Payton's clubs...even for the 70s they were pretty yikes. Barry Sanders was pretty much the hardest guy to tackle that I ever saw, dude could move like a freaking ninja. Payton was damn near as elusive on even worse teams, but he also could put his head down and blast the hell out of you.

Bo Jackson had the potential, but is crazy to have him that high on a list with NFL running backs. He shouldn't even be there. Herschel Walker isn't even on that list and he deserves to be there more than Bo based on NFL performance and he had just as weird a career with the USFL. Gayle Sayers had a short career too, but he also was the most explosive guy in football until his knee injuries and won an NFL title to boot. Freaking Eric Dickerson definitely deserves to be above Bo, that dude was one of the most explosive runners I ever saw. Dickerson was like a track sprinter and really graceful, he got an opening and the dude was freaking gone. He also had a couple of the best rushing years EVER. No way he should be below the potential of Bo Jackson.

Motley was a mutant for his day. The dude was huge and pretty much impossible to tackle, kind of like Earl Campbell, who was a total freak his first couple of years in the pros. I was a kid and would get gleeful watching Campbell play.

yeah earl campbell (btw has anyone had his hot links? saw them at the store and was tempted), sayers, and terrell davis i can totally see being where thy are despite brevity of careers but as much as i love bo jackson if this is strictly a running backs list no way he should be ahead of dickerson, that's just absurd. franco harris seems high. i guess i can imagine the argument for edge over curtis martin but curtis martin's a very possible hofer (right? i could be wrong) whereas edge doesn't have a shot really. emmitt over sanders i can't agree w/ (tied w/ biggie vs. pac for big 90s debate though right) but i don't think it's a ripken vs mays argument, i think it's more like frank robinson vs. mays. i'd put barry #3, not sure who i put #1 between payton and brown but it's close enough i'd go w/ payton for pure 'who do i like more as a human being' coin flip reasons. seems like there are names i could imagine being on there that aren't - HERSCHEL, roger craig, eddie george, john riggins, ricky watters -= but i'd have to think about it, look at numbers, etc. seems like (esp w/ rbs) you could totally do two lists also w/ guys who managed to have substantial nfl careers (for a rb at least), and guys who only were in the league for a handful of years before they were wore down so you could have brown and payton at the top of one w/ curtis martin down at twentysomething and campbell and sayers at the top of the other w/ christian okoye or someone down at twentysomething.

Sanders was without a doubt the most exciting football player I ever watched play. No one has ever matched him.

I would agree with that.

Just noticed that Chris Johnson is on there. Really? He's only been an every down back for one year!