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Mike Singletary, was he the greatest MLB?

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BlizzardX

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After the Jets Buffalo game tonight a documentary came on about Mike Singletary on the NFL network. Perhaps you saw the broadcast? It was a good depiction of Mike on the NFL channel. Many coaches and players beyond Ryan and Ditka praise his acomplishments.. Mike Singletary was all pro 5 times and defensive player of the year. A superbowl champion .He was nick-named Samurai Mike and the Minister of Defense. Was Mike Singletary a product of defensive system that was ahead of the offenses during his day? The 46 defense in 1985.
The reason I asked is I worked a camp with a guy that claimed Mike wasn't that good. Since he told me this, I've always wondered . The coach that claimed this about Mike was a coach in the NFL and was a great center for the Baltimore Colts .He was a great offensive line coach for the Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers. A great offensive lineman who snapped to Johnny Unitas. He destroyed my vision of Mike Singletary as one of the greatest LBers ever. Was he correct? Most football people follow the popular opinion, but this guy did not. What are your thoughts?
 
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I worked with a guy that played for the Ravens, that swears up and down Ray Lewis is gay.

My point being, sometimes that one person, just likes to make people think they know something no one else does..
 
Ray Lewis..17 years, 13 Pro Bowls, 2 Defensive Player Of the Year, 2x SuperBowl champ and 1x SuperBowl MVP. At only 6'1 and 240 he was the fastest meanest SOB to play the position. In his 17th season at age 38 he led everyone in post season tackles with 51. Hands down not the biggest but overall easily the best to defend the middle..
 
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wc3peat said:
Ray Lewis..17 years, 13 Pro Bowls, 2 Defensive Player Of the Year, 2x SuperBowl champ and 1x SuperBowl MVP. At only 6'1 and 240 he was the fastest meanest SOB to play the position. In his 17th season at age 38 he led everyone in post season tackles with 51. Hands down not the biggest but overall easily the best to defend the middle..
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He was also a 10-time all-pro...

Ray Lewis gets my vote for best MLB ever bar-none, and in my mind he's even in the conversation for best defensive player ever, at any position (it's either him or Lawrence Taylor).
 
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Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
IMO maybe the most exciting RB but I don't know if I even rate him ahead of Emmitt Smith and definitely not over Jim Brown.
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Emmitt Smith??? Are you a Cowboys fan? (even among sports media people, you only ever hear Cowboys guys ranking Emmitt ahead of Barry...)

Barry Sanders practically played a different game than everyone else on the field.
 
Mitsurugi san said:
Emmitt Smith??? Are you a Cowboys fan? (even among sports media people, you only ever hear Cowboys guys ranking Emmitt ahead of Barry...)

Barry Sanders practically played a different game than everyone else on the field.
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I am an Emmitt Smith fan. Was second all time in rushing in high school with 8800 yards and 106 tds , first game as a freshman at Florida rushed for 224 yards and beat Alabama, rushed for nearly 4000 yards in an offense at Florida built totally around him, left after his junior year and then had over 21,000 yards from scrimmage in his NFL carreer. In 1993 he won the Super Bowl, Rushing Crown, League MVP and Super Bowl MVP. Emmitt did have a great O-line but he also delivered in the biggest games, often when hurt.

Barry Sanders had as great a season as any college player ever in 1988 but he wasn't even the starting RB at Oklahoma St (Thurman Thomas was) until his junior year. He had a phenomenal NFL career but in the biggest games (postseason he came up short) 6 playoff games averaging 64.3 yards a game with 1 TD total including one game where he had 13 carries for -1 yard. 1-5 in those games.

Both great players but I think the case for Emmitt is a lot stronger than you think.
 
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Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
IMO maybe the most exciting RB but I don't know if I even rate him ahead of Emmitt Smith and definitely not over Jim Brown.
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Maybe not Jim Brown but I would rank him over Emmitt. Emmitt played on some amazing teams. Berry was on some pretty awful teams in Detroit and still put up great numbers. He never quit or gave up either. Stayed with the Lions for his whole career and they stunk a lot of those years. That is something pretty rare for a professional athlete.
 
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Rock Hard Corn Frog said:
I am an Emmitt Smith fan. Was second all time in rushing in high school with 8800 yards and 106 tds , first game as a freshman at Florida rushed for 224 yards and beat Alabama, rushed for nearly 4000 yards in an offense at Florida built totally around him, left after his junior year and then had over 21,000 yards from scrimmage in his NFL carreer. In 1993 he won the Super Bowl, Rushing Crown, League MVP and Super Bowl MVP. Emmitt did have a great O-line but he also delivered in the biggest games, often when hurt.

Barry Sanders had as great a season as any college player ever in 1988 but he wasn't even the starting RB at Oklahoma St (Thurman Thomas was) until his junior year. He had a phenomenal NFL career but in the biggest games (postseason he came up short) 6 playoff games averaging 64.3 yards a game with 1 TD total including one game where he had 13 carries for -1 yard. 1-5 in those games.

Both great players but I think the case for Emmitt is a lot stronger than you think.
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Oh I know all about Emmitt's college stats (have had this debate before); he rushed for 1,300 yards his freshman year, 1,000 his sophomore year, and 1,600 his junior year (not bad...)

Meanwhile, Barry Sanders sat behind a future NFL hall of famer in Thurman Thomas for two years before having the greatest individual single season in college football history the year after Thomas graduated. In 1988 (Sanders' junior and final year in college), he rushed for 2,600 yards, racked up a total of 3,200 yards from scrimmage, scored 39 touchdowns (scoring 234 points), and in the process rushed for more than 200 yards in 5 straight games (all of those are NCAA records, and that's not even all of the records he set that year). He rushed for over 300 yards three times that year, averaged over 200 yards a game and 7.6 yards per carry, and none of these numbers even include his Bowl Game performance in which he rushed for 222 yards and 5 TDs in only three quarters of action (they didn't count Bowl Game stats in your season totals back then...)
 
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(Sorry, it posted before I was done)

As a pro, Sanders had no supporting cast while Emmitt had multiple hall of famers blocking for him, one taking snaps, and yet another catching passes (teams came into games against Detroit preparing for and keying on nothing ohter than Barry...)

...and Barry still retired as one of only two players ever to average at least 5.0 yards a carry for their careers (the other being Jim Brown)
 
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Mitsurugi san said:
(Sorry, it posted before I was done)

As a pro, Sanders had no supporting cast while Emmitt had multiple hall of famers blocking for him, one taking snaps, and yet another catching passes (teams came into games against Detroit preparing for and keying on nothing ohter than Barry...)

...and Barry still retired as one of only two players ever to average at least 5.0 yards a carry for their careers (the other being Jim Brown)
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And soon, Jamaal Charles might be joining them!!!
 
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Just a couple more points on Barty Sanders:

- He was an All-Pro every year of his 10 year NFL career
- He was selected to the Pro Bowl every year of his 10 year NFL career
- He holds the record for most seasons with at least 1,500 yards rushing (he did it five times out of his ten NFL seasons)
- He holds the record for most consecutive 100 yard rushing games with 14 (all coming in in single season)

Emmitt only has 1,300 more career rushing yards than Barry, but Emmitt played 15 seasons compared to 10 for Barry.
 
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Mitsurugi san said:
Just a couple more points on Barty Sanders:

- He was an All-Pro every year of his 10 year NFL career
- He was selected to the Pro Bowl every year of his 10 year NFL career
- He holds the record for most seasons with at least 1,500 yards rushing (he did it five times out of his ten NFL seasons)
- He holds the record for most consecutive 100 yard rushing games with 14 (all coming in in single season)

Emmitt only has 1,300 more career rushing yards than Barry, but Emmitt played 15 seasons compared to 10 for Barry.
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Emmitt only has 3 more Super Bowl rings too. :D
 
I think it's funny how it went from best Linebacker to best Player and then Barry Sanders being on that list. Barry may have been the best running back but he quit on his own, his numbers aren't there, Emmits are. I also like my friend Kennys post. "they kept a mountain of lineman in front of Lewis" WTH does that mean, do all the other linebackers play behind tiny little lines? OMG that's funny right there. I think Butkus and two of my favorites Ham and Lambert might have been the meanest along with Randy Gradishar from the Denver Orange Crush era,but athletically, sideline to sideline come on man RAY LEWIS. And sorry Kenny not sure I wouldn't have Junior Seau and quite a few others above your Chicago boy. I also disagree that a running back whom did nothing but running back should could or would be in the convo as best FOOTBALL player ever. With all the talented Dback/kick returners and sometime receivers I would think those guys would be on the shortlist of best FOOTBALL players. Not by position.

And Mitsurgi, come on man Barry has over 3000 less yards than Emmitt and 1500 less than Walter. Curtis Martin in only 10 years is 1100 behind Barry. I'm guessing it's those last few thousand that are the hardest. As far as best running backs, to not have Marcus Allen in the convo is crazy. The weirdo in LA screwed him big time.
 
wc3peat said:
I think it's funny how it went from best Linebacker to best Player and then Barry Sanders being on that list. Barry may have been the best running back but he quit on his own, his numbers aren't there, Emmits are. I also like my friend Kennys post. "they kept a mountain of lineman in front of Lewis" WTH does that mean, do all the other linebackers play behind tiny little lines? OMG that's funny right there. I think Butkus and two of my favorites Ham and Lambert might have been the meanest along with Randy Gradishar from the Denver Orange Crush era,but athletically, sideline to sideline come on man RAY LEWIS. And sorry Kenny not sure I wouldn't have Junior Seau and quite a few others above your Chicago boy. I also disagree that a running back whom did nothing but running back should could or would be in the convo as best FOOTBALL player ever. With all the talented Dback/kick returners and sometime receivers I would think those guys would be on the shortlist of best FOOTBALL players. Not by position.

And Mitsurgi, come on man Barry has over 3000 less yards than Emmitt and 1500 less than Walter. Curtis Martin in only 10 years is 1100 behind Barry. I'm guessing it's those last few thousand that are the hardest. As far as best running backs, to not have Marcus Allen in the convo is crazy. The weirdo in LA screwed him big time.
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Yes I am a huge Chicago fan.

Go back and look at the defense and nose tackles Lewis had while in Baltimore. Can you name another defensive player that Urlacher played with?
 
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