sdog1981":391voe5d said:
hawkfan68":391voe5d said:
You're right. However, your argument works in reverse too. For every Owen Gill there's Zeke Elliott, etc. I could search and find plenty of top backs out of Big 10. That's all I was saying.
No, you will not. Take all the time you need. I was shocked to find out how few big ten running backs are in the hall of fame. Rember the Big Ten conference is older than the NFL so they have been on the ground floor of the NFL and you know when the last time a Big Ten running made the Hall? 1963 no joke Bronko Nagurski who played in the 40's was the last Big Ten running back to make the hall of fame. Now, this was during an era of teams running the ball every down and the big ten could not produce any players on the all-time top rushing lists. You don't find a Big Ten running back on the NFL's all-time rushing list until 27th and That was Eddie George. I was shocked too.
Top 25 NFL Rushers Colleges and Conferences (at the time they played):
1. Emmitt Smith - Florida, SEC
2. Walter Payton - Jackson State, Southwestern Athletic Conference (I-AA)
3. Barry Sanders - Oklahoma State, Big 8
4. Curtis Martin - Pitt, Big East
5. LaDanian Tomlinson - TCU, WAC
6. Jerome Bettis - Notre Dame, Independent
7. Eric Dickerson - SMU, SWC
8. Frank Gore - Miami, Big East/ACC
9. Tony Dorsett - Pitt, Independent
10. Jim Brown - Syracuse, Independent
11. Marshall Faulk - San Diego State, WAC
12. Edgerrin James - Miami, Big East
13. Marcus Allen - USC, Pac-10
14. Franco Harris - Penn State, Independent
15. Thurman Thomas - Oklahoma State, Big 8
16. Adrian Peterson - Oklahoma, Big 12
17. Fred Taylor - Florida, SEC
18. Steven Jackson - Oregon State, Pac-10
19. John Riggins - Kansas, Big 8
20. Corey Dillon - Washington, Pac-10
21. O.J. Simpson - USC, Pac-10
22. Warrick Dunn - Florida State, ACC
23. Ricky Watters - Notre Dame, Independent
24. Jamal Lewis - Tennessee, SEC
25. Thomas Jones - Virginia, ACC
The only current Big Ten team with a running back in the top 25 is Penn State with Franco Harris, who played almost a quarter of a century before Penn State joined the Big Ten in the 1990s.