I was just making a tongue-in-cheek observation, a reverse of what a DWF would say if a white player was given accolades. This Terrell Davis infatuation that you have suddenly is very interesting. Perhaps you've been hanging out with Deadlift a bit too much.
The Hogs were great but not on the same level as the efficient zbs that Davis ran behind, the same scheme that has produced multiple no name 1k rushers.
Elway was a better qb than Theisman, yeah he didn't win the big one until Davis, but Marino never won any, so we are going to discredit him as well?
Yeah they lined up Riggins in the "deep i" although when looking at footage its lots of single back sets with him around 5 yards behind the line on a good deal of plays, with modern backs closer to 7 yards back which helps them with their vision and choosing a hole.
Not saying that was the case on every single play but they did mix it up. Not sure why he wasn't in the i more, because every play they put him in there he seems to gain a huge chunk (it seems like these are the main ones in highlights of him), with getting like 3 to 5 yards on most plays in the single back set, not to mention the fact they weren't the only team running these concepts.
Running was much harder in the 80's, you didnt' see linemen getting pushed around like ragdolls constantly like you see these guys today (mostly black sumos), guys could tackle better as well, better form etc, not afraid to try and take someone down.
Not to mention Riggins wasn't even in his prime with those teams, he was in his 30's (almost a decade older than Davis during the playoff runs) after knee injuries, yet he performed great and its not like he was some workout warrior that stayed in peak physical condition. But we can't just use the fact that he happened to be on a better team with his skillset being used closer to its fullest at such an old age so we have to look at other things.'
So excuses aside most of the plays designed for him were power plays, designed to pick up a few yards, hell the big run in the Superbowl was a play designed to get short yardage, they were looking for one, he did what his offense asked him to do and he did it extremely well.
With the zbs you have backs not getting touched until 4 to 5 yards for many plays which is why guys like Alfred Morris can look decent. I mean where is Steve Slaton? 1k runner and just disappeared.. (Kubiak was a coach on those Denver teams). Shanahan knows the guys he has now are expendable as well. I mean the offfense is pretty much plug and play, although I don't think anyone at that time could have came in and put up the stats Davis did during the postseason, they still probably could have remained effecient enough to keep things rolling which seperates him from the others.
Another thing that separates Davis is the fact that he ran for 2k behind that kind of line but I can't put him above Riggins either.
I agree that you just can't compare from two different eras by stats alone. We have guys averaging 6 like Sproles and Charles (Sproles averaged 6.9 last year and Charles 6.4 in 2010) and I wouldn't put them in the greatest of all time debate because 25+ years ago averaging 6+ ypc just in one season is a different story. Schemes evolve as well as the way the game is played and it always seems to benefit the offense. Pretty much every team uses some zone blocking plays now because they work so well, multiple gaps to choose from, although only a few teams run it very well, like the Texans. Kind of curious how well they do with going mostly sumo. They are one of the few teams that has a top back and a potent passing attack. Most teams go one way or the other now.
Craig James had one good postseason run until the Superbowl. Unfortunately in the Superbowl the Patriots had the only qb to start one without completing a pass, by the time they changed qbs it was a blowout and James didn't get a chance to run, maybe 5 attempts?
but yes we are biased, we do support the White athlete but even with everything considered it could go either way without bias, it can be spun both ways. I just think Riggins is proof that Whites can be featured guys. We have a 30+ year old (The years he was considered dominant) White guy who wasn't in top shape (knee injuries, recovery different than now) doing great in a time when the league started becoming blacker. From what I have read he was never serious about training, reports that he drank heavily, even a rumor about him doing shrooms before a game. For some reason reading about him reminds me of that movie Great White Hype, where supposedly the black heavyweight champion is so great and didn't train to fight the White guy, got fat etc and still won (the movie considered a White heavyweight contender as a joke), except this actually happened in real life. A guy that never took himself seriously, treated the game for what it was, a game. He came to play on Sundays but I dont know exactly what he did during the week, perhaps others know more, the only thing that comes to mind is that he had team meetings in a shed drinking unless I am remembering wrong and still he he had a great career. He could have had a much, much better career, those early years he could have done much better imo, but it is what it is and he is still one of the greatest with one of the best postseason performances, imo the best but you have a valid argument for Davis, however he did fail to score a td in the 2nd Superbowl, Riggins scored in both, and it was his team's only td in that loss and then the only tds in their playoff loss the next year.
The Broncos' scored 34 points in the 2nd Superbowl, Davis contributed 0 of those points. Its a team game (your words were "no one can win it by themselves) but then quote the 1-1 vs 2-0 as if he had the upper hand, the 9th postseason game he still scored 2 touchdowns and was 35, Theisman was 35, both would decline the following seasons, yes Joe got injured but threw like the double the interceptions.
