Top 10 White Running Backs

[white lightning]

Toby Gerhart is my favorite college RB of all time. He never got a fair shake in the NFL as he was drafted as Adrian Peterson's back up and then screwed over in Jacksonville.[/QUO

Toby Gerhart was my 2nd favorite after Christian McCaffrey. A very close 3rd would be Luke Staley of BYU.


Have anyone of you guys heart of "the Cactus Comet" Art Lupino? He played for the University of Arizona back in the in the 1950's and led the country in rushing. I never hear his name mentioned much. He was incredible and still holds
some school records almost 70 years after he played for the U of A Wildcats. Here is a short bio from Wikepedia.

Arthur Luppino (born c. 1934), also known as "The Cactus Comet", was an American football player. He grew up in La Jolla, California, and played college football for the Arizona Wildcats football team.[1][2][3] He twice led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage with 1,359 rushing yards in 1954 and 1,313 rushing yards in 1955.[4][5] In 1954, he also broke the NCAA modern-era single-season scoring record with 166 points.[6]

 

[Rocky B]

Toby Gerhart is my favorite college RB of all time. He never got a fair shake in the NFL as he was drafted as Adrian Peterson's back up and then screwed over in Jacksonville.

Big Toby fan here, too....Big fan of most mentioned....
Hoping that Shipley, Filkins, McChesney, etc have great college careers and on to the nfl...
And that TJ McDaniel gets his starting spot back next year for SMU

 

[shamrock]

Where did you get the idea that Ohio State's Bob Ferguson won the 1961 Heisman Trophy? It went to Syracuse's Ernie Davis, who was and is a famous winner. There's even a movie about him. There was no dispute that Davis was the best choice for the 1961 Heisman.

Merry Christmas, Sports Historian! Thanks for setting the record straight on my error. That's what I get for relying upon a fading 70-year old memory rather than going to the record book. I still would take Saxton over Ernie, but that may be a subjective view based on my love for Texas and Alabama football, and Southland football in general. I tried to get back to you yesterday, but this dreadful eastern storm put my computer out of commission, along with a couple of fine trees on my land.

 

[shamrock]

Ferguson was the runner up in ‘61 for the Heisman, per my research.....still all significant points.....
Good article Shamrock....I found this site years ago because of my interest in white running backs...
Rooting for the underdog....My friends think it’s a tad racist....bull crap....
People rooting for their own kind is normal....In this limp, cancel culture era, everyone can root for their own kind except whites......

Merry Christmas, Rocky! You're exactly right about Bob Ferguson, and I would have been too if I'd bother to check the record book instead of depending on a graying memory. Your comment about this site being considered "racist" by some is right on the mark. If black people pull for their athletes this cancel culture is perfectly fine with it, but if we whites pull for our own, there's hell to pay from the strident left and even from many moderate voices, including many white people. And the fur really flies in boxing. I've always thought it good sense for blacks to root for blacks, but why such a fuss if we root for a white fighter over a black one? I'm bewildered as to how things have come to such a pass.

 

[sport historian]

Merry Christmas, Sports Historian! Thanks for setting the record straight on my error. That's what I get for relying upon a fading 70-year old memory rather than going to the record book. I still would take Saxton over Ernie, but that may be a subjective view based on my love for Texas and Alabama football, and Southland football in general. I tried to get back to you yesterday, but this dreadful eastern storm put my computer out of commission, along with a couple of fine trees on my land.

No problem. I have to check the internet myself to be sure on these matters. I'm still old school about objectivity. Ernie Davis was the best choice that year and had great years in 1959 and 1960, on TV several times. In those days a player had to have made himself famous in previous seasons before winning the Heisman. As a player, he was more Marcus Allen than Jim Brown. Davis was diagnosed with Leukemia in 1962 and died the next year, never playing pro football.

Bob Ferguson was a big name All America who was a bust with the Steelers.

 

[white lightning]

No one commented about "The Cactus Comet" Art Lupino?

Arthur Luppino (born c. 1934), also known as "The Cactus Comet", was an American football player. He grew up in La Jolla, California, and played college football for the Arizona Wildcats football team.[1][2][3] He twice led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage with 1,359 rushing yards in 1954 and 1,313 rushing yards in 1955.[4][5] In 1954, he also broke the NCAA modern-era single-season scoring record with 166 points.[6]

 

[Rocky B]

No one commented about "The Cactus Comet" Art Lupino?

Arthur Luppino (born c. 1934), also known as "The Cactus Comet", was an American football player. He grew up in La Jolla, California, and played college football for the Arizona Wildcats football team.[1][2][3] He twice led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage with 1,359 rushing yards in 1954 and 1,313 rushing yards in 1955.[4][5] In 1954, he also broke the NCAA modern-era single-season scoring record with 166 points.[6]

I looked up Luppino.....drafted in the 30th round by the Redskins....
30th round??....He was 5’9” 170.....Still, 60 years ago with the numbers he had, you’d think that he would’ve been drafted way higher....Never played in an official nfl game to my research...

 

[Carolina Speed]

How many NFL teams have 3 white RB/FB in their top 7 all time rushing yards list? Probably difficult for you younger men to imagine that. But it's true. I would think there's only one and would be rare if any other team has more than one in their top ten.
The answer is: The Oakland/LA/LV Raiders.
No. 2: Mark van Eeghen with a career total of 6,651 yards had three consecutive 1,000 yard rushing seasons is the fourth all time leading white RB behind Riggins, Taylor and Czonka. Doesn't get much publicity, but is definitely a top 10 all time white RB.

No. 5: Marv Hubbard total: 4,544 yards rushing.
No. 7: Pete Banaszak total: 3,772 yards rushing. Led the league in rushing TD's with 16 in 1975.
Anyway, I thought this was very interesting in terms of what happened to white RB's?
If I'm not mistaken, the Raiders were very white friendly in the 70's.

 

[white is right]

I looked up Luppino.....drafted in the 30th round by the Redskins....
30th round??....He was 5’9” 170.....Still, 60 years ago with the numbers he had, you’d think that he would’ve been drafted way higher....Never played in an official nfl game to my research...

He might have indicated he wasn't interested in going pro for a variety of reasons. You have to remember the NFL was a semi pro league by modern pay standards and many guys who were going to graduate school or eager to enter the workforce to support themselves or a young family didn't want to delay that with the equivalent of CFL to Arena League money. Look up how many Heisman winners never bothered to turn pro.

Gerald Ford is probably the most famous example of that, he was an All American who took a pass on the NFL.

 

[wile]

He might have indicated he wasn't interested in going pro for a variety of reasons. You have to remember the NFL was a semi pro league by modern pay standards and many guys who were going to graduate school or eager to enter the workforce to support themselves or a young family didn't want to delay that with the equivalent of CFL to Arena League money. Look up how many Heisman winners never bothered to turn pro.

Gerald Ford is probably the most famous example of that, he was an All American who took a pass on the NFL.

Jay Berwanger 1st Heisman Trophy winner had to end up dealing with penny pinching George Halas and didn't play a down. I worked with his grandson for a little bit, nice young man but certainly no chip off the block athletically.

 

[La France Blanche]

I like the direction this thread has gone. Something started by a troll got turned into a positive discussion about White running backs, and for us youngsters, a wealth of information about the great White running backs of past decades. #LoveTrumpsHate (We're Love, They're Hate)