With us playing Peterson Sunday somewhat topical ESPN30-30

[Russ Smith]

Next tuesday night 8pm EST the Best That Never Was on ESPN 30-30 it's a feature on Marcus Dupree the ex Oklahoma RB who was sort of Adrian Peterson before AP was, he just didn't have the work ethic and discipline that Adrian has and then of course he blew his knee out in the USFL and was never the same.

To this dad Dupree is the best RB I've ever seen overall. Bo Jackson and herschel were big strong and faster than Dupree but neither of them had his vision or feet. If the hole was there they were gone, but if they had to make a cut or find the hole, they just weren't all that good.

Peterson is really good and a much better cutback runner than those guys were but he's not as big as Dupree was and I'm not sure he's faster.

 

[Buckybird]

Next tuesday night 8pm EST the Best That Never Was on ESPN 30-30 it's a feature on Marcus Dupree the ex Oklahoma RB who was sort of Adrian Peterson before AP was, he just didn't have the work ethic and discipline that Adrian has and then of course he blew his knee out in the USFL and was never the same.

To this dad Dupree is the best RB I've ever seen overall. Bo Jackson and herschel were big strong and faster than Dupree but neither of them had his vision or feet. If the hole was there they were gone, but if they had to make a cut or find the hole, they just weren't all that good.

Peterson is really good and a much better cutback runner than those guys were but he's not as big as Dupree was and I'm not sure he's faster.

I would say still Earl Campbell was better than Dupree. Big, fast & nasty!!! For those who never saw the "Tyler Rose" late in his UT years or the first 3 seasons in Houston, missed something really special!!! The best college back I ever saw with Eric Dickerson a close 2nd.

 

[Russ Smith]

I would say still Earl Campbell was better than Dupree. Big, fast & nasty!!! For those who never saw the "Tyler Rose" late in his UT years or the first 3 seasons in Houston, missed something really special!!! The best college back I ever saw with Eric Dickerson a close 2nd.

Yep for a length of time I'd agree Earl was unreal. With Dupree I mean at his absolute best, which oddly was I think his freshman year at OU, he was the best I ever saw. He was close to 250, and the fastest guy on the field.

Campbell was amazing too.

 

[MadCardDisease]

topical ESPN30-30

Sounds like some kind of medical cream.

 

[JC_AZ]

Before the injury... Gayle Sayers was the best I have ever seen

 

[Pariah]

For a complete RB, I'll take Payton every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Fastest? No. Quickest? No. Strongest? No. But damned if he didn't bring it every play and make the most of what was in front if him.

 

[Sandan]

Barry Sanders ?

He would have owned every record had he not retired early

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Earl Campbell is my favorite RB of all time. Didn't Dupree also get messed up by drugs?

 

[Red Dawn]

Barry Sanders ?

He would have owned every record had he not retired early

He wasn't a bruiser like the others mentioned in this thread, but Sanders is the only player who could entice me into watching his team's game solely to see him play. I miss watching him play every year on Thanksgiving.

I loved watching Earl play too, in his prime he was awesome; I don't think I ever saw Dupree play, I'll have to check that show out.

 

[Russ Smith]

Earl Campbell is my favorite RB of all time. Didn't Dupree also get messed up by drugs?

I don't recall that from the book I read about him but it's been awhile. He might have after the knee injury.

The thing with him is if he'd had the same injury even 5 years later he would have likely recovered to near 100%. It was just his bad luck that at the time that injury was career ending often.

 

[Buckybird]

I don't recall that from the book I read about him but it's been awhile. He might have after the knee injury.

The thing with him is if he'd had the same injury even 5 years later he would have likely recovered to near 100%. It was just his bad luck that at the time that injury was career ending often.

Billy Sims had the same kind of career ending knee injury early in his career. As you say Russ, both had bad timing.

 

[Feeble Mcjackson]

AD is the best cfb back I have ever seen live. Guy was a man among boys.

 

[az jam]

Sorry but there was only one Jim Brown, he was the best all time running back by far.