Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris come to mind. Franco Harris and Rocky Blier and also Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner come to mind. _
Always loved the photo of Csonka giving the finger on the cover of SI. Wonder if an editor got fired for that. _
1948 Cardinals had a great committee of Trippi, Angsman, Harder and Yablonski. The 1948 49ers gained 3653 yards on the ground. That tops the NFL record (1978 Patriots) by almost 500 yards. The 49ers had 7 runners with over 250 yards. The QB Frankie Albert had 349. Strzykalski had 915, Perry 562, Hall 413, Lillywhite 340, Eshmont 296 and Standlee 261. Now an NFL team, the 1954 49ers were one of the top rushing attacks of all time. McElhenny was leading the league in rushing with 515 yards when he was lost for the season halfway through. The other two RBs finished 1 and 2 on the rushing chart. Perry had 1049 yards and Johnson had 681. The Rams of 1954 also had multiple talented runners (Younger 610, Towler 599, Quinlan 490). You noted the Miami backfield. Their best team was the 1973 version (not talking about the running, just in general). That year they had four backs over 250 yards. 1973 also saw the Bills with three guys over 400, the Steelers with three over 450, the Bengals with two just under 1000, the Browns with four over 360, the Raiders with three over 600, the Broncos with two over 700, the Chiefs with three over 350, the Rams with two over 850, the Lions with three over 370, the Cards with two over 600, and the Cowboys with three over 400. Such a great topic to discuss
Yes -- The Freeman/Harper Duo gave us a real threat throwing out of the backfield as well. Harper gave you close to 400 yds rushing and receiving. While I love Curtis and hes deserves to be in the HOF -- I think a lot of the poster who name him the best "hands down" never really saw McNeil play. Freeman was a better talent, he just didn't have a better career because of several factors.
I used to LOVE the combo of Terry Metcalf and Jim Otis back in the mid 70s. Man, Metcalf was one of my favorite players back then. What an electric player. _
Piccolo did not see regular playing time until his 2nd season which was Sayers' 3rd year. That year, 1967, saw Sayers get 186 carries and Piccolo 87. Ronnie Bull had 61. In 1968, the carries were more evenly distributed but mainly because Sayers missed 5 full games. Sayers had 138, Piccolo had 123 and Bull had 107 attempts. In 1969, Sayers played the full year and had 236 attempts. Piccolo had 45 and Bull had 44. This was a rare team for the time in that one player did the bulk of the rushing. Douglass had the 2nd most attempts with 51 but he was a quarterback. That year Sayers had lost his electricity. He was more ordinary by then but was still effective enough to be All-Pro. Sayers hung around for two more injury-riddled seasons. The Bears had a putrid rushing attack in 1970 and it was a true committee. Ross Montgomery led the team with 229 yards on the ground and Don Shy led in attempts with 79.
I have the Game of the Week film of the 49ers at Cardinals from Halloween 1976. Metcalf was bottled up the whole game except for a touchdown reception in the 3rd quarter. Mel Gray caught a 77-yard bomb late in the 4th quarter. The 49ers missed a chip shot field goal at the end of regulation. The Cardinals won in OT on the strength of Otis's running. 10 of the 11 St. Louis overtime plays were Otis runs. The 1976 49ers had arguably the greatest pass rush of all time. Jim Hart was dumped four times in the game. The Cardinals allowed only 13 sacks in their other 13 games. Anyway, Don Coryell had 3 great St. Louis teams. In 1974, Metcalf had 152 carries, Otis 158 and Donny Anderson 90. Steve Jones takes over as the #3 ball carrier in 1975. He had 54 attempts, Metcalf 165 and Otis 269. In 1976, Jones led the team in rushing touchdowns with 8. He was like John Kuhn. Metcalf had 134 carries and Otis had 233.
All I remember seeing as a kid was Calvin Hill and Walt Garrison it seems like they were ALWAYS on the tube. _
Yeah, that was from 1990-92. They both had over 200 carries in 1990. Harvey Williams in 1991 cut into their numbers. In 1992, Okoye was at the end of the road. I think the Rams may have had him during the next off-season at one point, but he never played again. Word went to Minnesota for 1993, had a couple good games and then played briefly in 1994. I think he got in trouble with drugs again when his career was winding down. Marcus Allen and Kimble Anders (a terrific player who is very underrated) took over in 1993.
To early to tell. I was a big fan of the Thomas Jones/Shonn Green and LT/Shonn Greene committees we had in 09 and 10. Shonn Greene didnt pan out as a starter but I always liked him as a split back and finisher late in games. Especially during those 09/10 playoff runs.
I remember Okoye breaking free down the middle and absolutely BLASTING one of our DBs who came up to 'try' and tackle him
I think the best running back group we ever had was when I was a little boy in the early '70's...John Riggins and Emerson Boozer tore it up
Another team that should be mentioned is the 1936 Lions. They ran for 2885 yards in 12 games. They hold the record for most rushing yards per game. Six guys ran for more than 200 yards. Gutowksy 827, Clark 628, Caddel 580, Shepherd 292, Peterson 276, Presnell 201
McNeil and Hector were best pairing I've ever seen the Jets have -- although I missed the Snell/Boozer/Riggins era. McNeil is my all-time favorite because of childhood nostalgia -- I still think of him, not Revis, as the Jets' "real" #24 -- but even I have to admit that healthy McNeil in his prime wasn't as good as Martin in his prime. Healthy McNeil was better than Martin's last few years when he was in decline, running without knee ligaments, and only still playing b/c of his legendary toughness & pain threshold.
