The beauty of NFL Football is that it doesn’t really end. The game has such a long and rich history, so even as we go into the off-season there’s still plenty to talk about. A topic of particular interest to me is running backs. It’s long been my favorite position, so I was particularly pleased to see it’s resurgence in 2024. Despite conventional wisdom suggesting that running backs were becoming obsolete I knew their return to prominence was on its way.
And return to prominence they did. Of note was Saquon Barkley’s 2005 rushing season. It’s the 9th time in league history that the 2000-yard mark has been crossed by a ball carrier. Many believe this achievement should have earned him the MVP. Afterall, the last time a running back was given that award he also had a 2000-yard season. It was Adrian Peterson in 2012, when he gained 2097 yards (the second most behind record holder Eric Dickerson, by only 8 yards).
That said, the last running back before Barkley to gain over 2000 yards in a season was Derrick Henry in 2020. He didn’t win the MVP that year because the “passing centricity” of the NFL was in full swing. As a matter of fact, he didn’t get a single MVP vote. 88% of the vote went to Aaron Rodgers, while the leftovers went to Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.
Henry did receive the Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY) Award. For his effort, that’s how things ended up for Saquon Barkley as well. Overall, joining the exclusive 2k club doesn’t guarantee that the running back will be awarded the MVP. When Eric Dickerson set the record back in 1984, he was also passed over having to settle for the OPOY. Of course, that was the year Dan Marino became the first quarterback in the history to throw over 5000 yards in a season… so that’s just the way it goes. At least Dickerson received 21% of the MVP vote at the time.
A special note… Saquon Barkley and Terrell Davis are the only Running Backs in the 2k club to win the Super Bowl in the same season they gained 2000 yards. Those are truly historic accomplishments.
From Saquon Barkley to the All-Time Great Running Backs
All that said, in the spirit of “Return of the Back” or “The Running Back is Back” (working on the catch phrase), I’m taking a look ‘back’ 😉 into the history of the game to see which running back is the most accomplished of all time. Who compiled the most awards and achievements like the ones we’ve been talking about with Saquon… MVP, OPOY, 2000 yards seasons or at least Rushing Titles, Super Bowls / Championship rings, as well as All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections. These are the awards that a running back is eligible for every season:
A detailed analysis of NFL history and a quick tabulation gives us our answer. The running back with the most accomplishments throughout his career is the late, great Jim Brown!!!
His entire career was packed with achievements.
- He went to the Pro Bowl in every season of his career (9 times)
- Was named 1st team All-Pro 8 times (the most among running backs)
- He was voted MVP 3 times
- Making him the only non-quarter back to win the award more than once
- He’s the only rookie in history to win the MVP… as a matter of fact, his rookie year was the first time the Associated Press MVP was established
- His final MVP was awarded in his final season, showing that he was still playing at an absolute peak when he chose to retire
- He won 8 rushing titles, the most ever in league history leading to the accolade being named after him as the Jim Brown Award
- And finally, in 1964 he and the Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship
Jim Brown also received significant MVP voting shares in 3 other seasons (twice with the 2nd most and once with the 3rd), giving him the most MVP voting shares among running backs, ever.
He was the most dominant running back of his era and perhaps of any era. To match his sheer volume of accomplishments you’d have to take the guy with the 2nd most, Barry Sanders, and combine him with MVP running back Shaun Alexander. You need the Bears’ top two running backs of all-time, Walter Payton and Gale Sayers, to compare to Brown. Putting LaDainian Tomlinson’s and Adrian Peterson’s accomplishments together doesn’t stack up to Jim Brown’s total. For good measure, the OPOY Award wasn’t established yet in his era, so he could have gained at least 3 more accomplishments in all.
More History to be Made for Running Backs
Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry are not likely to catch Jim Brown in accomplishments… I doubt anyone ever will. But the resurgence of the running back position that they are helping to usher in is setting them up as well as future running backs to get the usage and opportunities needed to keep adding to that long and rich history. The work they are doing now will lead them into the all-time conversations, placing them in the pantheon of all-time greats in NFL history… says me 😉.
