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Big Ben68 said 06/24, 02:26 PM
Smith had good numbers, but when compared to Walter Payton he is next to nothing. It took him THREE extra years to top the all time rushing record established by Sweetness. When it came to Payton's teams, he was really the only weapon until the late eighties and the end of his career. Smith had Hall of Famers Aikman and Irvin; Payton had McMahon and Gault. Not even close when comparing the talent around them. But Payton reached the plateau of running greatness in only 13 NFL seasons. He had 16,726 rushing yards and 110 receiving yards. The man was known for his high stepping, stiff legged running style which helped avoid injury and made defenders unable to tell how fast he was moving. He snagged nearly 500 balls for just over 4,500 yards and 15 TDs. He even threw a 60 yard TD pass against the Minnesota Vikings as well as a passing TD to Jim McMahon in another game. He was known for his contributions to the community hence the naming of the Man of the Year award after him. In the NFL greatness is determined not only by numbers and championships, but by his supporting of the community. Walter "Sweetness" Payton is the greating running back of all time; no one can top him.

Big Ben68 said 06/24, 04:17 PM
Exactly, Payton played for thirteen season; if Smith was the best then why continue to play on a mediocre team? Even having broken the record by his 14th season, it means not, but that he wasn't as good as Payton. Payton was the offense in Chicago for his entire career. The Cowboys, he was a piece to Aikman, Irvin, and Smith. I don't see how him playing for an extra three years without even breaking 1,000 yards with a 3.3 YPC average makes him elite. He had 10 1,000 yard seasons in 13 years compared to Smith???s 11 1,000 yard seasons in 15 seasons. Sweetness tops Smith in every category no matter what stats say. He was more dominant during his tenure in Chicago than Smith was in Dallas. Payton held the single game rushing record of 275 against the Vikings in 1977 during the infamous Purple People Eaters defense of the Vikings. The record was broken by Jamal Lewis against the Cleveland Browns. I???d have to say the Payton still owns that record because he actually played against a team. Allow me to correct a mistake I made in my first argument: Payton passed Brown in his ninth season in the sixth week of the season. He finished the day with 12, 400 yards. Payton is the greatest all time

Big Ben68 said 06/24, 05:00 PM
You want to say that Payton wasn't durable? He missed one game his rookie season and then played in 186 consecutive games after that. THAT is durability. LenDale White has nothing to do with Smith to even compare the two shows how much of 'greatnes' Smith DOESN'T have. No one would compare Payton to anyone but Sanders, Brown, and the like. Payton had much more durability than Smith did and his team didn't win quite as conistently because of the surrounding talent. It was pretty much him and his offensive line whereas Smith had Irvin and Aikman to pull the defense away from concentrating on him. Payton didn???t have that kind of support until the last few years of his career and people STILL knew the Bears were going to pretty much run it down their throats the whole game. I don???t ignore Smith, he is a great, but definitely NOT the greatest that title belongs to the one and only Sweetness. You want to talk vision and durability. Payton never shied away from contact, he looked for it and relished destroying defenders, yet still never missed a game. He could leap gargantuan lineman in a single bound it seemed. Once again, Walter ???Sweetness??? Payton is the greatest back of all time.