Emmitt Smith, the man who owns the NFL all-time rushing record now and for the foreseeable future, has a Super Bowl MVP to his credit. So does a roll call of Hall of Famers — the Raiders’ Marcus Allen, Redskins’ John Riggins, Dolphins’ Larry Csonka and the Steelers’ Franco Harris.
But not since Denver’s Terrell Davis basically led John Elway to his first Super Bowl ring after the 1997 season has a running back been named Super Bowl MVP. The 49ers’ Frank Gore and the Ravens’ Ray Rice are hoping to restore some respect to the position Sunday night in the Superdome.
What has happened to this once honorable position in the National Football League? It’s amazing how far the mighty have fallen.
The last 1,000-yard rusher to win a Super Bowl ring was (close your eyes, 49er fans) Brandon Jacobs of the ’07 Giants. Yes, the same back cast aside by New York after last year’s Super Bowl triumph, the same guy picked up by San Francisco and then dumped before this postseason began. That Jacobs.
And if I gave you three guesses as to the identity of the back with the most regular-season rushing yards among the last four Super Bowl winners, could you get it?
I would say no. Not unless your NFL knowledge is so encyclopedic than you can blurt out: “Oh yeah, that’s the Saints’ Pierre Thomas with 793 yards.”
We haven’t so much as an 800-yard rusher (that’s a paltry 50 rushing yards per game) on the last four champions.
The Packers were so dismissive of the position that they turned it over to James Starks for the postseason in 2010. He had rushed for all of 101 yards that season. Did it really matter? Aaron Rodgers was throwing darts. Green Bay might have been crowned in Cowboys Stadium with John Starks in its backfield.
rest of article http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/co...ece?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
But not since Denver’s Terrell Davis basically led John Elway to his first Super Bowl ring after the 1997 season has a running back been named Super Bowl MVP. The 49ers’ Frank Gore and the Ravens’ Ray Rice are hoping to restore some respect to the position Sunday night in the Superdome.
What has happened to this once honorable position in the National Football League? It’s amazing how far the mighty have fallen.
The last 1,000-yard rusher to win a Super Bowl ring was (close your eyes, 49er fans) Brandon Jacobs of the ’07 Giants. Yes, the same back cast aside by New York after last year’s Super Bowl triumph, the same guy picked up by San Francisco and then dumped before this postseason began. That Jacobs.
And if I gave you three guesses as to the identity of the back with the most regular-season rushing yards among the last four Super Bowl winners, could you get it?
I would say no. Not unless your NFL knowledge is so encyclopedic than you can blurt out: “Oh yeah, that’s the Saints’ Pierre Thomas with 793 yards.”
We haven’t so much as an 800-yard rusher (that’s a paltry 50 rushing yards per game) on the last four champions.
The Packers were so dismissive of the position that they turned it over to James Starks for the postseason in 2010. He had rushed for all of 101 yards that season. Did it really matter? Aaron Rodgers was throwing darts. Green Bay might have been crowned in Cowboys Stadium with John Starks in its backfield.
rest of article http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/co...ece?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
dude should've had a HOF 10+ year career if not for injuries
, are not MVP numbers when you have Dominic Rhodes putting up 21 carries for 113 yards (5.4 ypc) and 1 TD in the game and the BACKUP running back putting up 19 carries for 77 yards and 10 catches for 66 yards.
