SAN DIEGO _ There are so many things I don't know, you know? Simple things, such as how to get home from my driveway.
But I like to think I know something about great running backs. I've been studying them since I first saw Hopalong Cassady hopping in the rain at the Rose Bowl, and Jaguar Jon Arnett's brilliant broken-field running for USC and the Rams.
My favorite positions in teams sports are tailbacks, point guards and center fielders, but backs most fascinate me. People try to compare them, but it's stupid. Every great running back is different. No exceptions.
I've only seen film of the great ones prior to my youth, but I haven't missed one since. On Saturdays, my college football viewing gravitates to games featuring the best backs.
There aren't many great ones. There have been few truly great ones.
The NFL, now a centenarian, is releasing its list of the 100 greatest players of all time. A tough tackle. But The League's first release involved the 12 greatest running backs, so I couldn't wait.
My review is mixed.
The NFL's final list (alphabetically): Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Dutch Clark, Eric Dickerson, Lenny Moore, Marion Motley, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, O.J. Simpson, Emmitt Smith and Steve Van Buren.
The finalists who didn't make it: Marcus Allen, Jerome Bettis, Tony Dorsett, Marshall Faulk, Red Grange, Franco Harris, Hugh McElhenney, Bronco Nagurski, Adrian Peterson, Jim Taylor, Thurman Thomas and LaDainian Tomlinson.
Now, although I have enormous respect for pioneer players, football is the one team sport in which I believe most old guys couldn't play today. Totally different game. There are nose tackles now faster than Dutch Clark and Marion Motley.
Baseball? If Bob Feller could throw 100 mph in the 1940s, why would he slow down now? Joe DiMaggio couldn't play center field? Ted Williams couldn't hit?
The sloppy way "basketball" is played today, I refuse to believe Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and many others could make rosters. I'd like to see one of these athletic stiffs take the ball away from Oscar.
Naturally, it's an honor to be a part of the second 12, but I couldn't possibly do this without including Faulk, Tomlinson and Allen.
My top 10 backs: Simpson, Brown, Sayers, Campbell, Payton, Sanders, Faulk, Tomlinson, Dickerson and Allen (we have known few better all-around players than Marcus). And my 12 probably would include Moore and Thomas.
Emmitt Smith was fine and he gained more yards than anyone, but, to me, he wasn't as good as Zeke Elliott is now. He ran behind the best offensive line in history and didn't thrill. Early on, Simpson had a horrible line in Buffalo (check his stats), and LT's first San Diego O lines weren't historic. If they worked behind that Dallas line, defenses would have had to call in the real Texas Rangers.
I never have been a Bettis guy, although you can't argue with his production _ and Franco, as with receivers Lynn Swann and James Stallworth, benefited from remarkable teams.
I can see the NFL couldn't go thoroughly modern with its list. And that's OK. But mine is better.
