[Off-topic]What will you do--a multiple choice

[feej92]

:Cough: First place: Cough ;)

I'm a reformed Angel fan. I was there in 1986 for game 4 against the sox.

Thank god I missed the next one.

I was also there during the Moose Stubing Years. And Cookie Rojas. And Buck Rodgers. and 1995.

Boy, I was a glutton for punishment!

[Milkman]

Oh please! I've got him as maybe the eighth best running back of the era, and that's not including guys like Ricky Williams, Jamal Lewis or LaDainian Tomlinson who might be better than him some day. Here's the seven guys I have ahead of George, in no particular order:

- Emmitt Smith
- Thurman Thomas
- Jerome Bettis
- Marshall Faulk
- Curtis Martin
- Barry Sanders
- Terrell Davis

Out of those, I'll give you that Davis is borderline, due to both the short career and the Broncos system, and I don't have him in the Hall of Fame, but George isn't a Hall of Famer in my book either.

Eddie George is the NFL's 17th leading rusher of all time. Those others, barring Davis, are also on that list and will also be Hall of Famers. Just because you have bias against Ohio State doesn't mean George didn't earn his spot on the list or his place in the Hall someday.

[Bluto11]

gearing up for the first round sweep of the White Sox by whoever they play

[Detlef]

b. Watch the world-cup qualifying games, because at least it's something?
c. Watch football, the american kind?
d. All of a sudden, start caring about the baseball wild card race?


b) watch the USA slap around Mexico on Sept 3 on its way to qualifying for World Cup 2006 :)

c) Come on you Fighting Illini! 6 wins and the Motor City Bowl! ;)
too bad the Bears are done with Grossman's broken ankle :mad: I just hope they beat the Packers at least once....

d) Yes, I care who wins the American League Wild Card so my Whie Sox can beat them, I think :eek:

[Detlef]

not nearly as good as the high-stepping bionic man Eddie George! AKA Eddie George, future Hall of Famer

I still remember his game in 1995 vs. Illinois when he had 315 yards on his way to the Heisman Trophy :(

I also recall his 1992 game vs. Illinois when he fumbled at the goal line, an Illinois DB picked up the ball and ran it back for a TD, helping Illinois win :)

[deaner1971]

Oh please! I've got him as maybe the eighth best running back of the era, and that's not including guys like Ricky Williams, Jamal Lewis or LaDainian Tomlinson who might be better than him some day. Here's the seven guys I have ahead of George, in no particular order:

- Emmitt Smith
- Thurman Thomas
- Jerome Bettis
- Marshall Faulk
- Curtis Martin
- Barry Sanders
- Terrell Davis

Out of those, I'll give you that Davis is borderline, due to both the short career and the Broncos system, and I don't have him in the Hall of Fame, but George isn't a Hall of Famer in my book either.

I don't know that you can say because you can think of seven better backs, the eighth back shouldn't get in. Should a player be penalized for playing in his sports "Golden Age"?

Eddie George is the all-time rushing leader for the Oilers/Titans. In accomplishing that, he racked up 10,000+ yards putting him 600 yards ahead of hall of famer Earl Campbell.

Not saying Eddie is a Hall of Famer but, his stats are as good as many people in the hall and he played on some really bad teams and many people will give him credit for playing with injuries. In fact, before his first injury in his sixth year, he was averaging 1375 yards per season in rushing. During Barry Sanders' first five years, his average was 1358.

Just food for thought.

[jwaldman11]

Take off the red glasses a second (the Ohio State ones, not the Arsenal ones) and seriously tell me if you believe George belongs in the same class as Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Jim Brown, etc. Hey, that's great that George averaged as many yards in his first five seasons as Sanders, but he never had a 2,000 yard season. He also only averaged over 4 yards a carry for a season twice out of nine seasons, and his career mark of 3.6 is pretty pedestrian. That was the lowest YPC out of any of the eight by a wide margin (Bettis was second worst at 3.9). Statistically, he just doesn't measure up. I'm not saying he wasn't a good player, but he certainly isn't Hall of Fame worthy.

[deaner1971]

Take off the red glasses a second (the Ohio State ones, not the Arsenal ones) and seriously tell me if you believe George belongs in the same class as Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Jim Brown, etc. Hey, that's great that George averaged as many yards in his first five seasons as Sanders, but he never had a 2,000 yard season. He also only averaged over 4 yards a carry for a season twice out of nine seasons, and his career mark of 3.6 is pretty pedestrian. That was the lowest YPC out of any of the eight by a wide margin (Bettis was second worst at 3.9). Statistically, he just doesn't measure up. I'm not saying he wasn't a good player, but he certainly isn't Hall of Fame worthy.

I said, "Not saying Eddie George is a Hall of Famer..."

My point also is that Eddie George is a good player. Not saying a great player (except for his college career) just saying that we can't dismiss the idea that he can hold his head up in a room with these other guys.

Your stat of YPC is a good way to measure a back's quality but, again if you isolate this stat before his injuries began to pile up (i.e. his first five seasons) his YPC is a decent 3.9, the same as Bettis who is held out ot be in a different class. Curtis Martin has a YPC of only 4.1, making him about 5% higher. Barry Sanders has a sick 5 YPC which is why he is Barry Sanders. Emmitt weighs in with a 4.2 which is not vastly different and Thurman Thomas has the same 4.2. So, when you look at YPC, Eddie is only different from these surefire hall of famers by about 5% (except for Barry but, if you set the bar that high, good luck getting anyone in).

What makes Eddie George really pale in comparison is glamour. He wasn't a flashy runner (like Sanders), his team wasn't good enough to put him consistently in the spotlight (like Thomas and Smith), he didn't play in a big market (like Payton and Martin). Eddie George was a good back who played on pretty bad teams with a blue collar attitude about doing his job and playing hurt.

Eddie George is not a Hall-of-Famer on paper, no doubt. But, for the first five years of his career, you could have done much worse than having him in the backfield for your team.

[Milkman]

I still remember his game in 1995 vs. Illinois when he had 315 yards on his way to the Heisman Trophy :(

I also recall his 1992 game vs. Illinois when he fumbled at the goal line, an Illinois DB picked up the ball and ran it back for a TD, helping Illinois win :)
I was at that game in 1992... very frustrating to lose that game... Eddie was a true freshman that year.