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About LinkBacksThere was production on Sayers' part, but it was like a streak of lightning in that it didn't last long.Originally Posted by Henry Burris
Speaking of Walter Payton, what happened to him in the 1987 season? Was he injured?
There was production on Sayers' part, but it was like a streak of lightning in that it didn't last long.
Speaking of Walter Payton, what happened to him in the 1987 season? Was he injured?
2 very different builds Dagan... Barry had tree trunk thighs, and was a solid muscular 200 despite only 5'8" and sayers was 6'0 and 195, much more slender, and 'wispy".. great for open field running, bit so much for taking a beating or lasting a long time in the NFL, even without the injury, doubt sayers would have been productive later in career and never built for a 25-30 constant pounding like walter or barry.. very different players
and in 1987, payton had told the team after 1986, 1987 would be his last year, so the tem split the carries with is heir apparent , Neal Anderson- knowing he was the future at that point an chomping at the bit for more playing time
Last edited by dabears54; 05-30-2011 at 05:18 AM.
Well what I said was that Sayers wouldn't have put up the kind of numbers that Walter did but it's just as applicable with Sander. Sayers didn't carry the ball as often as Walter or Barry. If he had 20 carries in a game that was a lot whereas Payton and Sanders had games with 30-40 carries more than just every once in a while.
In Sayers day the FB was more than just a blocking back. He was also a principal ball carrier in the backfield of teams in the 50's and 60's so the HB and FB shared the load with the FB actually getting more carries many times. The Bears top rusher before Sayers came along was Rick Casares and he was a FB who paired with Willie Galimore before his death. The same with FB Joe Marconi who paired with HB Jon Arnett before Sayers came along. Ronny Bull played FB with Sayers until Brian Piccolo took that spot in his last season.
Maybe the most productive FB/HB combo of the 60's was the Packers FB Jim Taylor and HB Paul Hornung.
Last edited by soulman; 05-30-2011 at 02:39 PM.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
good point on the Rb/FB splits in the 1960's...which also keeps the carries down, but do not think as said above, saayers body was built for long term lay or pounding , so even if got the carries, never would have lasted the decade +, the top rb's all did
What i was saying by that was, Sayers had the potential to be the greatest ever, but the production of showing they were the greatest clearly belonged to Walter. Walter announced to the team that 87 was his last year, and that's why they drafted Neal Anderson. In his autobiography, he stated he had several years he still could've played, but really wanted to get involved in ownership of an expansion team, and was lead to believe if he left at the time he did, he could've gotten in on it. He was obviously duped. They split running time between Anderson and Payton to get Anderson up to snuff, I belive it said...
Defensive players were smaller than but yeah, he wouldn't have had as long a career as Walter did even had he not been injured. Not many backs lasted ten years or more in those day.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
when looking at Rb's, its the thick thighs/calves and butts that seem to hve the longevity over the thin/quick RB's long term, even if the thinner rb's better in short term, the eric dickerson's or sayers.. over the jim browns/walter and barry thick leg rb's
The Browns also had a productive backfield in the 1950s and 1960s with Jim Brown and Ernie Green. I think they were ranked on the NFL Top 10 Best Backfields of All-Time
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