Top 30 NFL Players of the 1900s

6. Barry Sanders

Yes, there are running backs that we have already discussed that had better numbers than Sanders, but none matched his ability of turning nothing into something. That’s not said to slight Emmitt Smith or Walter Payton, but look what they had around them.

Smith had Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, a great offensive line and consistently great defenses. Payton had a stable quarterback situation and a phenomenal defense. Sanders had *checks notes* Rodney Pete… and Scott Mitchell… and Andre Ware… and, look you get the point- the Lions were bad.

Even with all of that dysfunction, Sanders thrived. He ran for 2,000 yards in 1997 en route to winning the league MVP and led the NFL in rushing four times.

Sanders retired at just the age of 30, leaving fans wanting more. He retired just over 1,500 yards shy of the all-time rushing record. If he had kept playing, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that he would have broken Walter Payton’s record.

That is part of the lure of Barry Sanders, though. He left with a ton of gas still in the tank, meaning we never saw a steep drop off like we did with other legendary players at the position.