Sanders entered the NFL a year before Smith, and was an instant success. As a rookie, Sanders and Christian Okoye were the  top running backs in the NFL, with Thurman Thomas, Neal Anderson, and Dalton Hilliard rounding out the top five.  Here was the voting by the Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, Sporting News, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Pro Football Weekly, and the UPI.  I have noted whether each award was a 1st-team All-Pro honor, a 1st-team All-Conference honor, or a 2nd-team All-Pro honor.

In 1990, Smith entered the league, and while he earned the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award, he couldn’t compete for honors on a larger scale.  This was the start of a two-year period where the former Oklahoma State Cowboys, Sanders and Thomas, were the clear top two running backs in the NFL, with Anderson and Marion Butts also picking up some honors.

In 1991, Thurman Thomas was the MVP of the league according to the AP, PFWA, and the NEA, and he also picked up the AP Offensive Player of the Year award. Sanders, however, also won his first MVP this season, snagging the Bert Bell Award.  Smith started to get some honors, and was the media’s choice as the third best running back in the NFL this season.

In ’92,  Steve Young was outstanding and won most of the major MVP awards, but Smith earned his first MVP honors this season, being selected by the NEA as the best player in the NFL.  Barry Foster had a career season, and it was he — and not Sanders — who shared the first-team All-Pro awards.   Pro Football Weekly also made All-Conference choices this season.

The next season, 1993, Smith swept all the major awards, winning the AP, NEA, PFWA, and Bert Bell MVP honors.  Jerome Bettis (on the Rams) was probably the second-best RB this season, with Thomas the best running back in the AFC and fighting with Sanders for the title of third best running back in the NFL.

The 1994 season was when Smith held out to start the first two games of the season. And while Smith was great, Sanders was named the Offensive Player of the Year by the AP, while a dominant Steve Young would sweep all the major MVP awards.  These two swept the first-team All-Pro honors this season.

Finally, 1995 was peak Emmitt, as he led the NFL with 1,773 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns.  Brett Favre was the MVP choice by all the major organizations (he led the league in passing yards, TDs, and ANY/A), and Jerry Rice had a record-breaking season; Smith was third in the MVP voting.  From the All-Pro voting perspective, Smith and Sanders swept the 1st-team honors.

By 1996, Smith was no longer an inner circle Hall of Fame caliber back. Over the next 7 seasons, Smith would average 1,172 yards with 8 touchdowns and about 25 catches, which is a pretty remarkable average for a player from ages 27 to 33.  But he had no more legendary seasons, and only a few excellent ones. Sanders, of course, had a longer peak: he edged out Bettis (now with the Steelers) for the title of second best running back in the NFL, with both behind an emerging Terrell Davis.

In 1997, Sanders had his MVP season, sharing AP honors with Favre but winning the others (along with the AP OPOY award). He was the clear best running back in the NFL, with Davis as the clear second-best back.

Finally, 1998 was Sanders’ final season. This year, Davis had re-emerged as the best running back in the NFL, but Sanders was still a second-team AP All-Pro (this would be the first time since ’93 that he wasn’t a PFW All-Conference choice, however).

From a longevity perspective, Smith obviously edges out Sanders overall. But when it comes to awards, Sanders’ longevity looks much more impressive than Smith’s: he picked up some honor every year for ten years, with Smith’s honors really limited from ’91 to ’95. That said, during Smith’s peak, he was arguably even more impressive than Sanders.

What do you think?

Emmitt Smith was a product of the system, the one where they gave him the ball.

With greatness comes backlash, and every great player has collected his share of detractors. And while Football Perspective readers don’t underrate him, it feels as though Emmitt Smith has been remembered by a significant number of football fans as a less-than-special running back.  He played with Hall of Famers at quarterback and wide receiver, with Pro Bowlers at fullback, tight end, and several spots on the offensive line. As a result, it’s understandable that some diminish the peak numbers he produced during his prime.

And yes, he did put up some monster numbers during his prime.  From 1991 to 1995, Smith was historically dominant. Consider that among all running backs during their ages 22 through 26 seasons (i.e., Smith from ’91 to ’95), he rushed for 8,019 yards; the next closest player during those ages was LaDainian Tomlinson with 7,361.  Smith also rushed for 85 touchdowns: Tomlinson (72) is the only other player within 20 rushing touchdowns of Smith during those ages.

But let’s say you don’t want to give Smith “full credit” for those years.  What about what he did from 1998 to 2001? During those years, Chan Gailey and Dave Campo coached the team for two seasons each. Dallas went 28-36 during those years, and the passing attack ranked 17th in Net Yards per Attempt. In other words, these weren’t the Troy Aikman/Michael Irvin Cowboys. And while Larry Allen was still around, the offensive line was more name than substance at this point.

At the start of this four-year period, Smith was 29 years old. Through age 28, Smith had recorded 2,595 carries in the regular season, ^[1]In addition to 318 more in the playoffs. the most of any player through age 28 in NFL history. So you’ve got a situation where a running back had been worn down to an absurd degree, stuck on a mediocre team and on a mediocre offense. If Smith was not a special back, how would he do?

Consider that the player with the second most carries through age 28 was Edgerrin James, a pretty darn good back in his own right. And from ages 29 to 31 (he was out of football at age 32), he rushed 503 times for 1,861 yards and 10 touchdowns, while averaging 3.7 yards per carry.

Well, from ages 29 to 32, Smith rushed 1,203 times for 4,953 yards and 36 touchdowns, while averaging 4.12 yards per carry. When people wonder how Emmitt Smith would have done if he didn’t play for one of the most talented teams in NFL history, there’s a pretty good response: we don’t need to speculate. He, in fact, played for several mediocre teams in his career, including from ’98 to ’01. And what he did was amass more rushing yards from age 29-32 than any player in NFL history aside from Walter Payton and Tiki Barber. Look instead at rushing yards per game, and only Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, and Priest Holmes were better during those years, and we know that Brown and Holmes played on extremely talented teams during those seasons.

Most good-but-not-great running backs are struggling to hold a job at age 30, based on these age curves. Well, from ages 29 to 32, Smith ranked 5th in the NFL in rushing yards and 2nd in rushing touchdowns, while playing for below-average teams. Smith played on some good teams early in his career, but he also played on some bad teams late in his career. Even if you give more weight to his team’s records during his prime years, Smith’s career weighted winning percentage was nothing special, and identical to those of Tomlinson and Payton.

No one knows how Emmitt’s prime would have looked in a different uniform. I am not going to argue that he would still be the all-time rushing champ had he switched places with Sanders or Payton, or had Brown played more games. Nor am I going to argue that he didn’t benefit from some good fortune. All record holders did. But he was and is one of the very best running backs in history.