BEARS BEST RB? Payton or sayers, WHO YA GOT
well today will be the best All time running backs in bears history, Personally go with Payton,sayers and the Bronk!.. disagree about "one touch mcafee" being top 3 over Bronk from mullin
Best Bears running back ever: Payton or Sayers?
Monday, May 23, 2011
Posted: 10:12 p.m.
By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com
With the NFL on indefinite break and the Bulls working on fast breaks, theirs and the Miami Heat’s, CSNChicago.com’s “View from the Moon” is taking this opportunity to bring unprecedented clarity to the Chicago Bears’ past, with some “present” folded in.
Rather than undertake another analysis of the 2011 roster, which necessarily remains in a molten state pending yet-uncertain free agency, training camp and preseason, “View” will establish the franchise depth chart position by position.
Specifically, who are the three greatest Bears of all time at each of the 22 positions, plus special teams?
The difficult part of “Quarterback” was finding three who warranted inclusion in a list. The difficult part of “Running Backs” is a whole lot more complicated.
Working from bottom to top, to save the best for last:
Honorable mention
Neal Anderson: Only Walter Payton rushed for more than Anderson’s 6,166 yards and he had the misfortune of following Walter, so he also needed to survive comparisons. Anderson also caught 302 passes (16th all-time) for 20 TDs and averaged 4.1 per carry. And he jumped in on special teams as a gunner his rookie year waiting his time behind Walter.
Rick Casares: 4.1 yards per carry, third all-time with 5,675 yards, 49 TD’s. At 6-2, 226 pounds, basically Matt Forte 50 years ago.
Matt Forte: The incumbent, could move up onto the “Best” list in time. Forte is on pace to rank among the franchise greats. He is the first player in franchise history with at least 1,400 yards from scrimmage in each of his first three NFL seasons. He’s also one of only five all-time with at least three seasons of 1,000 yards-plus. Only Gale Sayers and Forte accomplished that in their first three seasons as Bears. And his mix of rushing/receiving is in the Walter tradition.
Thomas Jones: For a bright shining couple of years, Jones was Forte. His 2004-2006 seasons were enough combined to place him fifth all-time with 3,493 yards, with yards-per-carry (4.1) and touchdowns (22) topping even Forte. A blocker as well.
And the top three:
3. George McAfee
This is the Ted Williams of professional football. Williams was among the greatest hitters in baseball history, with 521 home runs and a .344 batting average, all the more notable because he gave the core of his prime to his country in not one, but two wars.
McAfee is a member of the college and pro football Halls of Fame, the latter despite missing 1942-44 due to service in the U.S. Navy. He collected 12 TD’s in an 11-game season (1941) and in Sayers fashion, via rushing, receiving and returning. Only Gale and Beattie Feathers averaged more per carry than McAfee’s 4.9 yards and he averaged a TD every 16 times he carried the ball (Walter was once every 35, Gale once every 26).
Project those service years into his results and you have football’s equivalent of Williams.
Now it gets very difficult. Gale or Walter?
Let’s go beyond the staggering numbers that each laid on the NFL. Both have the credentials to be the best in the franchise history. Instead, let’s base it on four measures: who was the best for one play, one game, one year and a career?
For this I went outside “View from the Moon” for help: Doug Buffone, who came to the Bears the year after Gale was drafted and played four years with Walter.
One play: For a single down I leaned toward Walter, tough enough to dive for a yard, versatile enough to swing out of the backfield to catch a pass and talented enough to throw one.
Doug went the other direction: “On every snap Gale had the chance to turn the play into a touchdown. He was tough enough at just short of 200 pounds for taking hits, if anyone could get a clean shot on him.
Decision: Gale
One game: If it’s in the mud, Gale. But for a guy who could take a team on his back and refuse to let it lose, Walter. And for someone to keep my quarterback upright and safe, no question. If Walter doesn’t deliver a block on a blitzing Minnesota linebacker that Thursday night in 1985, Jim McMahon’s night never happens.
Decision: Walter
One season: Walter’s 1977, with 1,852 rushing yards, 14 TD’s and 269 receiving yards – in 14 games – borders on fantasy. But Gale’s 1965 was fantasy, with 2,272 total yards and 22 TDs, and with nowhere near the offensive line help that Walter had in some seasons.
Decision: Gale
One career: Unfortunately, to compare here would be to extrapolate and that’s not really right. No one worked harder to overcome the knee nightmare that Gale went through, but neither did anyone work harder than Walter at becoming the consummate football player.
Decision: Walter
So, “play” and “season” to Gale Sayers, “game” and “career” to Walter Payton.
It comes down, then, to you have first pick in the sandlot Bears game of all-time. It’s not an easy call, but before I think about Dick Butkus, Dan Hampton, Richard Dent or anybody on defense, I take the best running back in franchise history: Gale Sayers.
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