Jim Brown vs Barry Sanders
Goldenage
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Jim Brown 104 yards per game
Barry Sanders 99 yards per game.
#1 and #2 per game all time.
Cleveland Browns were great before, during, and after Brown.
Detroit was horrible.
Is it easy or not easy to say those numbers are reversed if their teams are reversed.
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different ERAs. Brown played when the run dominated to game. Sanders was around when Pass / Run were probably equal with the game moving to passing.
I am a huge Sanders fan. after I looked more closely at browns stats though, It is unquestionable that he dominated his competition at a level that barry did not.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
This horse has been beaten into the ground here so many times.
I will never back down from saying Barry Sanders was better though, no matter how many times it's brought up
Barry dominated against larger, faster and stronger competition and it's not even close, I mean most of the guys Brown played against were part time players as well as part time private sector workers for God sakes.
Brown was elite and could play in today's game for sure but I doubt he would be as dominant and he sure as hell wouldn't be pushing most linebackers out of the way or outrunning most DB's
Pull the other threads that already exist and add to that one instead of creating a new thread to rehash the same old crap. Brown is clearly being penalized for the era in which he played. And for this reason, it is poor form to compare them. There are those that developed and set the trend and those that benefitted from those accomplishments just in terms of how the game progressed. I have tremendous respect for the talent of Barry Sanders... Jim Brown was the trend setter and basically set the modern standard to be followed.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Fascinating subject indeed, I would go with Sanders, he made guys look stupid, you thought you had him in the backfield for a loss, nope, he could turn on a dime, guy had more moves than a octopus in a wrestling match.
I asked a simple question about would Sanders overtake Browns all time yards per game.
That’s all I’m asking.
Forgive me for not reading through 200 posts to find the same exact question from years ago. Perhaps you have more time than I do to do such things.
Would Sanders overtake Brown if he played for those great Brown teams ? Yes or no ? What’s your answer ?
It is NOT a simple question.
The question involves an answer that simply cannot be provided. Sanders had the benefit of what was gained over time through progress that extents to medicine, training and even the size, speed and capability of offensive lines from the days of Jim Brown. You can't take Barry Sanders and drop him off in the 1958-1968 time frame nor can you take Jim Brown and drop him off in Detroit and say " best of luck Jim".
The better question is not about some statistic... It is about who left the greatest impression on the game and that would be Jim Brown.
The better question has been answered.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
It’s simply comparing an elusive back to a power back.
Barry bested all the power backs of his day in yards per game with a bad Detroit team.
Would he have bested Brown in Browns day on a great Browns team.
Just comparing power versus elusive.
That’s the question.
Seems you missed my point.
And I am not going to argue Sanders v Brown
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
These things always tend to end up the same because it isn't really a player vs. player comparison, it's an era vs. era comparison. As coinkat said, those are just impossible to do. We should be content with the fact that both were generational talents and that we got to see them play.
I agree but the problem I have is most people from Browns generation over exaggerate since seeing flashes of greatness or feats are more larger than life since it's a quick visual and stored in the memory bank
I had a guy here swear up and down that he saw Jim Brown play and was absolutely certain that he remembered Jim Brown having the exact same moves as Barry Sanders. Which simply was not true.
Don't get me wrong stats and clips of Brown exist and show his immense talent and setting the bar for the position but larger than life back then was less common than now therefore it adds to the mystique. Now you get amazing plays week in and week out from players and they get forgotten about as soon as the next highlight is shown
The bigger problem... as reflected in the last post... is NOT with those that witnessed Jim Brown or even Red Grange for that matter. It's more about the unwillingness to accept that greatness existed in sports that later generations were simply not there to see first hand. Football has changed over time through a progression that has caused the change... Red Grange is one... Jim Brown is another and so is Barry Sanders.
Why is there such a neurotic obsession of trying to argue who is better based on statistics that simply do not translate well given how the game has changed?
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
@perkdog wrote:
Brown was elite and could play in today's game for sure but I doubt he would be as dominant and he sure as hell wouldn't be pushing most linebackers out of the way or outrunning most DB's
I really am stunned into silence that you simply write Brown off... How can you write this when you simply have no idea what benefits Brown would physically have gained from modern training and conditioning?
One just cannot penalize Brown and lock him into his era whereby those that followed enjoyed the benefit of the progression associated with the game... training and conditioning , sports medicine, and all the things that are now part of the norm for the NFL.
Can we just agree to disagree and move on?
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
An interesting thing to ponder based on what coinkat posted: How would Barry Sanders be physically in 1960 had he lived during that time?? How would Jim Brown be physically in 1980 if the same was true?? In the "era fantasy" that gets engaged in, both players transport to the time in the same physical state that they played in and such would not be the case.
I would imagine Barry Sanders a little bit smaller and Jim Brown a little bit bigger, but we'll never know.
Comparing Jim Brown to Barry Sanders is meaningless. Apples to oranges.
Brown played in conditions just like this....all the time
Sanders?.....
Different Time..... Different Game...Apples To Oranges.
I didn't start the thread, I'm just responding and honestly I wasn't refuting what you said let alone "writing Jim Brown off" that is confusing to me that you would say that especially since I labeled him elite.
We can agree to disagree, I have no problems with anyone not agreeing with me but if my opinion on this triggers you then get out of the thread and don't respond further. It's not a big deal.
Simmer Down Boys.....It ain't worth it!
I'm totally fine, I respect everyone's opinion on this unless they are going to tell me Brown had the same moves as Sanders like Keets did.
If some guys think Brown was better it's definitely a reasonable argument, but like Coin said the different eras make it impossible to get a definitive answer so we are left with banter which is why we are on CU sports talk
Sorry about O.J., but that's just how I see it.......As an Old Geezer!
Sayers was better.
P.S. I love the game played the way nature intended..... Under an open sky and On God's Green Grass!!!
Sayers was electric, and no shame in saying you enjoyed watching Simpson run, he is a HOF'er for his skills not his integrity
One of my all time favorites was Earl Campbell, I remember watching him in the 70's and his jersey getting ripped off
I never saw Brown play but my father swore he was the best ever. When he retired he was the only rusher with over 10,000 yds rushing with 12,312. joe Perry was second with 9723. The best runner I ever saw for a career was Sanders. Best season was Simpson. I would say that Brown was more dominant over his career as compared to other runners, but Sanders was more electrifying. Did Sanders ever have a Pro Bowl off lineman let alone All Pro? I think most of us will have to agree to disagree, but I don't think any of us are wrong per se.
Matt
There are only 8 backs who gained over 2000 yards in one season.
The vast majority of them played outdoors.
Simple question. Would Sanders gain the extra 5+ yards per game playing with the great Cleveland Browns to pass Browns all time yards per game record.
OJ rushed over 2000 yards one year in conditions like this.
when comparing eras, you can only compare how players competed against their peers. as much as I love barry, JB dominated his era to a degree no RB ever has.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Why is this ?
Bobby Orr has completely dominated every other offensive defenseman from any era in points per game. From his own era and every other era.
In 1887 Hugh Nicol stole more bases in one season than Rickey’s best season in just half the games as Rickey.
Someone explain this.
He dominated his peers and everyone else, so he must be the greatest according to your thinking ?
Jim Brown would have made it once if he had the extra two games, but no one equals OJs season
You don't even wanna know about Barry Sanders, man!...
https://youtu.be/KVsJ8z04mME
Sanders
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I know the number is wrong...... But, hey!.....She could rip my jersey off anytime....... Right or wrong number!
