Who is better Barry sander or Walter Payton?

Answer 1

Both were great but Barry is the Best of all time. Barry did it all and had it all. He was before his time no one since has duplicated his abilities. He also did it without a fullback! And remember Barry retired so he wouldn't break Payton's record it was a respect thing, unlike the glory-seeker-of-fame Emmitt. He may not have had the TDs or the ring but, put any RB in history with the non talent he was with in 10 years and we'd see who can duplicate those numbers. Watch clips and look at the numbers and listen to the old pros, they all say the same Barry. Even Mike Ditka said Barry Sanders was the greatest RB he had ever seen!

Answer 2

They each had their talents. Sanders was more agile, while Payton was stronger. I would take either one of them on my team, but Barry had less of an offense to work with. Some of Barry's best runs were for 1 yard losses. When the majority of the time you have defenders in the backfield as soon as you get the ball, yet you can still make something out of a play, that isn't the sign of a good player, it was the sign of a great player. Look at all the great running backs of all time, every one of them had great blocking except for Barry Sanders. Imagine what Barry could have done running behind a good offensive line on an offense that had other legitimate threats. Here is a decent example, Edgerrin James was a great back with the Colts, where he had blocking and a strong passing game, but now he is with Arizona and he is merely average. Also, the offensive scheme of the Lions was horrible. Barry Sanders usually came out on pass plays to avoid injury. People say he wasn't good at picking up blitzes, but it was mainly the Lions playing conservative football. If Barry was on the field, the odds were farely good that he was getting the ball. But Walter Payton was more versatile. Give me Sanders on first and second down, with Payton on third.

Answer 3

I think Barry Sanders was a great but my choice is Walter Payton. Payton was a better all-around back. He was a better receiver out of the backfield and a devastating blocker. Also he was more effective on the goal line than Sanders. Everybody talks about Sander's open field moves but Sweetness did a lot of that stuff too when he was younger.

Answer 4

Barry Sanders was by far the better running back. His skills were greater than any running back in history including Walter Payton. The problem with Barry is that he played on some of the worse teams in history and never got the support he needed to keep him in the league longer. Even if he had played on a so-so team he would have set all the rushing records and would probably still hold them.

Answer 5

I'd go with Barry Sanders. Walter Payton had an offense to complement his work. He had a line that could block and there was passing game in Chicago as well. Everything Barry did was on his own. He had speed, cutback ability, and an incredible field of vision to see where defenders were coming. It was incredibly rare to see any defender catch Barry head-on; no one ever got in a good lick on him. I've seen him pass up *two* defenders side by each and make look rooted to the spot. It's just sad to think he never was on a decent team.

Answer 6

Walter Payton

Answer 7

WP definitley over Barry sander, but Barry Sanders was a bit better than WP. Payton was a great back but Sanders was simply the best, except maybe for Jim Brown and possibly LaDainian Tomlinson, but it's still too early to compare LT to Barry.

Answer 8

These two guys were similar yet worlds apart. Sanders could have a DB shaking in his boots while Payton could just run them over. Comparing these two is an all time challenge because of the era's when they played. In Payton's day nobody looked for highlight reels while in Sanders' time ESPN was making a name for itself showing the hard hitting and evasive Sanders as often as possible. Barry was in his prime when he left and could have went on to win a title with another team but, out of respect for himself and the game left while almost on top. He left for respect of a coach Payton left because he was old.

If I had to chose between the two of them, I would take Sanders, with a great line. Payton with the Bears' line that went to the Super Bowl and won couldn't even get him into the end zone. If Sanders had made it to the Bowl game, you can bet he would have had highlights that would have had your grandchildrens' jaws drop. Barry Sanders all around was a great back. I remember watching a game when he and Bo Jackson were in it at the same game. It became a battle of Barry and Bo with Barry winning out in yardage but, the Raiders eventually winning late with a run by Bo Jackson.

Barry by far was a better athlete all around he could shake you just by making a head fake, a leg fake etc. He defied gravity with his sudden spins, bursts and movements that to this day have yet to be duplicated although LT in SD could become the next Barry show if given the proper guidance. Barry did it with no line, LT will do it with a solid line.

Barry is better than Payton and Jackson (although he was my fav) and by far this early better than LT right now. In five years or so I might change that opinion.

Answer 9

Exceleration, Barry Sanders had a quicker move to pick up speed. Quickness, Walter Payton was slightly quicker than Sanders to avoid the defense. I would give the slight edge to Sanders because of that explosive exceleration when he saw daylight. Nevertheless, the best running back I have ever seen play the game - O.J. Simpson. Take away all the attention paid to him for the murder trial, there was no quicker running back to get to the hole than O.J. Simpson. Many now forget about how gifted he was on the football field.

Answer 10

Sanders was sooo much better than "sweetness" its not even funny. Barry Sanders never had a good offensive line in front of him all those years in Detroit and he still managed to put up those amazing numbers. The only knock on Sanders is that he was never a short yardage back....Payton was