ESPN says OJ one of the Top 10 overrated of all time

[Voltron]

ESPN just had a segment on SC about the top 10 overated players of all time and OJ was on the list. I missed most of it but I did catch this. If any one else saw the whole thing fill us in. I am a little pissed about this. His sad attempt at life after football should not take away from what he did on the field. :angry:

[Voltron]

Link to the story (http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/alltimeoverrated.html)

Just found this on ESPN.

[ublinkwescore]

Did you guys know that James Cameron was at first considering OJ for the Role of the Terminator in the First Terminator film, but came to the conclusion that OJ "was just too nice of a guy to play such a villain".

Arnold was also initially cast as the films hero, but after reading the script, he demanded to play the Terminator instead of Sarah Connor's protector.

[casdhf]

He had a killer burst though.

[Jan Reimers]

He was a great running back and a terrible person.

[mikemac2001]

Originally posted by casdhf
He had a killer burst though.

:rofl:

[mikemac2001]

He is still searching for the killer, everyday.

[MDFINFAN]

OJ was not overrated, I totally disagree with this assessment. He was the real deal, and if it wasn't for the Nicole thing, it wasn't even be a question.

[Demon]

I can't comment too much on those players since i didn't live in their era, just read some about them and saw videos, but some of those profiles are pretty cool. Esspicially Lynn Swann.

I do disagree with Deion Sanders though. I saw him play and he shutdown any WR he faced. Sure he wasn't the best tackler but did that weakness ever hurt him?? ESPN makes it look like he sucks because he hurt Dallas' salery cap. It's not Deion's foult Dallas paid him, thats Jerry Jones fault.

[Tatonka]

stats say it pretty clearly.. 3 really good seasons.. 6 hohum seasons.. what makes him so good?

[ublinkwescore]

Are you talking about OJ Tatonka?

Wys must be starting to rub off on you.

[ublinkwescore]

Plus if you take away his 12 longest runs - he really didn't do crap.

[SABURZFAN]

it's obvious that none of those clowns were on the field to make an attempt to tackle OJ.

[Historian]

Ok, I watched this guy from the time he got off the plane in Buffalo, and I can tell you...he was the real deal. He was an extrordinary talent that was a threat to go all the way EVERY TIME HE TOUCHED THE BALL. I personally cannot say that about any other back I have seen since. Keep this in mind too...Of his nine years in a Bills uniform, the Bills were below .500 six of them. In 1971 they only won once. They only played 14 games a season back then too. In his 2003 season of 1973, he averaged 6.0 yards per carry. Think about that. That's a first down every two plays. All they had to do was hand off to him to score. In 1976, the Bills were a lowly 2-12, and despite Saban resigning, Ferguson and Braxton missing most of the season due to injuries, OJ responded with an 1800+ yard year, as well as the single game rushing mark on Thanksgiving. That takes talent.
OJ's gifts came from the fact that he was dirt poor as a kid. Often times his mother didnt have the money to feed him, causing him to contract rickets as a kid. That's a softening of the bone due to lack of nutrition. His legs sagged, lowering his center of gravity. That translated to some amazing moves on the field.

Is he a scumbag? Yea. A Murderer? Probably. Overrated? I'm afraid not. Emmett Smith is overrated. My Grandmother could have run behind Dallas' line.

[Cntrygal]

Originally posted by Billsology
Ok, I watched this guy from the time he got off the plane in Buffalo, and I can tell you...he was the real deal. He was an extrordinary talent that was a threat to go all the way EVERY TIME HE TOUCHED THE BALL. I personally cannot say that about any other back I have seen since. Keep this in mind too...Of his nine years in a Bills uniform, the Bills were below .500 six of them. In 1971 they only won once. They only played 14 games a season back then too. In his 2003 season of 1973, he averaged 6.0 yards per carry. Think about that. That's a first down every two plays. All they had to do was hand off to him to score. In 1976, the Bills were a lowly 2-12, and despite Saban resigning, Ferguson and Braxton missing most of the season due to injuries, OJ responded with an 1800+ yard year, as well as the single game rushing mark on Thanksgiving. That takes talent.
OJ's gifts came from the fact that he was dirt poor as a kid. Often times his mother didnt have the money to feed him, causing him to contract rickets as a kid. That's a softening of the bone due to lack of nutrition. His legs sagged, lowering his center of gravity. That translated to some amazing moves on the field.

Is he a scumbag? Yea. A Murderer? Probably. Overrated? I'm afraid not. Emmett Smith is overrated. My Grandmother could have run behind Dallas' line.

Nice Post!

[Dozerdog]

Originally posted by Tatonka
stats say it pretty clearly.. 3 really good seasons.. 6 hohum seasons.. what makes him so good?

You would be very hard pressed to find ANYBODY who watched pro football before 1976 to argue othwerwise. He was the consensus greatest player in the game in the early part of the decade.


Simpson's incredible numbers are more amazing when you consider all the crap he put up with throughout his career. In his first 2 seasons you had a coach who REFUSED to use him properly. When John Rauch quit 2 months before the season opener, the Bills had no time time to find a suitable replacement- thus they went back to Harvey Johnson who was dismal his first time around (He wasn't even a coach- but a scout)

Imagine if Hank Bullough had been Jim Kelly's coach for 4-5 seasons. Kelly would barely be a blip on the radar screen, let alone a HoF player.

It's astonishing what he did in his 2000 yard '73 season. The Bills passed for 100+ yards only TWICE in 14 games! (And I think the season high was 160 yards) and with 9 guys all keying in on one man, he still managed to do what was then an impossible record.

This writer obviously never saw him, or some of the others on his list play.

[Throne Logic]

Just a sporting dead-zone this time of year. It's just another publicity stunt. See it all the time this part of the year.

[Voltron]

Look at Merron try and explain himself! (http://espn.go.com/page2/s/merron/overrated.html)

He tries to fix things by saying there was brainstorming and drafts. This guy is full of it!

[eyedog]

Although I think his whole list is bs, the three names that really stick out to me are OJ, Rose, Deion. OJ what can I say. Only an imbecile who didn't watch him play could put him on that list. I think he has an obvious bias towards him over his off the field escapades. Deion, although he wasn't a very good tackler, was a dominant corner. Teams wouldn't even try to throw to his side of the field in his prime. He would take the oppositions best reciever out of the game. Thats called domination not overrated. Rose has the most hits in the history of baseball. Think about that. He is #1 of all the players over approx the last 120 yrs. I don't care how you do something, if you can say your at the top of any list of that long of a time span you are not overrated.

[Dozerdog]

If you swapped OJ with Csonka/Morriss- the Bills would have the same if not much worse record, and the Dolphins would have had another couple of Super Bowls.

And OJ would have had 15,000 yards easy.

Or put OJ on the Rams/Vikes/Cowboys/Steelers and his numbers would have been phenominal

[MDFINFAN]

Originally posted by Tatonka
stats say it pretty clearly.. 3 really good seasons.. 6 hohum seasons.. what makes him so good?

Tatonka, this is a pretty weak post to say OJ wasn't good, you had to see the games..The bills were a pretty weak team at the time..This guy put the team on his shoulders and gave them some respectability..People tune in just to see OJ. He was defintely a threat every time he touch the ball. Every fan of every other team still turned to buffalo games to see his guy play..even on a team that wasn't winning..Stats don't always tell the whole story, be careful how you use a post like this, it's very decieving to people who may not have had the chance to see him play. Some time stats don't tell the whole story. And if he was so, so, why would a team keep him for 9 years? Usually if a back wasn't producing they'd let him go, even in those days, the teams were still ran as a business. Produce or begone. Basically you could say OJ was in the same situation that Spikes was in..Do you think Spikes is not a good player? :fight:

[Dozerdog]

He left the game as the league's second alltime rushing leader- and did it in under 10 seasons (see Emmit Smith) and with a 14 game schedule.

[Typ0]

This list is a joke. Nolan Ryan? Look at that mans accomplishments. They are *****ing because he struck too many people out and the games were boring because no one could get a hit...yeah that makes him over-rated. Dion Sanders, Pete Rose and OJ were all tremendous athletes and contributors to their games. Phil Rizzuto was a long time contributor to the sport as well. What a joke this is.

[The_Philster]

Most of these types of lists are opinions of writers who don't even follow the sport closely. I'd be interested what someone would say about overrated players in the NFL from an NFL coorespondant...not just an all-purpose sportswriter. Someone who really digs into the nuts and bolts of the game would have a little more knowledge.

[Tatonka]

Originally posted by MDFINFAN
Basically you could say OJ was in the same situation that Spikes was in..Do you think Spikes is not a good player? :fight:

spikes always put up rock solid numbers.. every season..

after looking at oj's numbers closer.. i noticed his yards per carry was always high, until his last two years in SF.. i guess i let my personal feelings about him speak.. i think the guy is a piece of trash.. and i wish his name was never associated with the bills.

http://pro-football-reference.com/players/SimpO.00.htm

[MDFINFAN]

Originally posted by Tatonka


spikes always put up rock solid numbers.. every season..

after looking at oj's numbers closer.. i noticed his yards per carry was always high, until his last two years in SF.. i guess i let my personal feelings about him speak.. i think the guy is a piece of trash.. and i wish his name was never associated with the bills.

http://pro-football-reference.com/players/SimpO.00.htm

I agree, that's why I said earlier if it wasn't for the wife thing, this wouldn't even be an issue....You have to be doing something right on the field, for Hertz's renta car and others to want you as their spokes person..He had that kind of appeal..plus he got movie deal out this situation also...Believe me the guy was good.

[colin]

Overrated lists are nearly always crap.

They end up being lists of players that are at the top of the game, but that a particular fan does not like.

Fina is an example of an overrated player, he was well paid, picked high, said to be good, and played poorly.

When people talk about Randy Moss or Dieon being overrated, it makes no damn sense at all. They are both outstanding players, top of their position for several seasons, and both game changers. You may not like them, or think some other athlete might have been better, but being in the top 3 in the world does not make you a candidate for overrated.

People often target popular players for calling overrated, but the list that this SI ****** put up included:

Nolan Ryan
Pete Rose
Sandy Koufax
George Mikan
Sugar Ray Leonard
Grant Fuhr

All of these guys were at the top of the freaking heap for years, and dominated games and eras. This guy is a piss poor sports writer, and SI is just mental masturbation by sloppy non athletes blabbing on about stuff they just don't understand.

[eyedog]

OJ wasn't just a good back, he was the best runner of his era and one of the best of all-time. Now how the hell is that overrated ? As good as Thurman was, he wasn't even in OJ's class.

[Tatonka]

he sucks cuz he hacked his wifes head off with a knife and somehow is still walking the streets today.

thats what i think.

i dont give a crap about that POS's running ability.

[eyedog]

We all know he's a piece of scum off the field. We are talking about his on field exploits.

[Halbert]

Everybody's already said it, but OJ played on teams that were usually so bad he was the ONLY real offensive option. Everyone knew he was going to get the ball, including 11 guys on the other side of the field. And yet, he kept cranking out the yards, averaging over 5 per carry in his prime.

BTW - Fina did not play poorly most of his career here. He was rock solid, excellent at pass blocking and good at run blocking. Don't remember him as being bad just because he ran out of gas late and was horribly overpaid at that point.

[colin]

Fina was OK, say top 12 or so LT, for like 2 seasons.

And he played beside Brown, Rueben made him look good.

[Ingtar33]

About OJ,

I was way too young to remember him, but I was always a huge student of the game, and anyone who has seen some o his performances (I remember watching the Jets game he broke 2k fo the season) would know that man was an animal. I've never seen anything like it, the Jets didn't even take a swing at stopping the pass, they just put 9 guys in the box and tried to stop OJ, it never mattered. He was brilliant.

I watched a few of his USC days (games) and the man was a beast in college too. Not many guys like him around anymore, and one o the reasons I loved the McGahee pick was that he runs a lot like OJ did, a treat to break a long one every time he touched the ball.

[Captain gameboy]

There was not then, and I don't think there has ever been a defensive player who could take him down one on one with four yards of seperation at the start.

I saw the guy his entire career, and many times at practice. This assessment is BS.

Here's mine:

OJ was to running backs, like a sniper is to hunters.

[WG]

Originally posted by ublinkwescore
Did you guys know that James Cameron was at first considering OJ for the Role of the Terminator in the First Terminator film, but came to the conclusion that OJ "was just too nice of a guy to play such a villain".

Arnold was also initially cast as the films hero, but after reading the script, he demanded to play the Terminator instead of Sarah Connor's protector.

Hey, who better than a real-life "terminator" to play the role, eh.

[WG]

Originally posted by Tatonka
stats say it pretty clearly.. 3 really good seasons.. 6 hohum seasons.. what makes him so good?

I'd say 3 spectacular seasons, '73, '75, '76, two very good seasons, '72, '74, and then 6 poor to fair ones for a F/T RB.

IN '73, '75, and '76, he had:

2003/73/2076 w/ 12 TDs, 1817/426/2,243 w/ 23 TDs (16/7), 1,503/259/1,762 w/ 9 TDs (8/1).

We must also remember that those were only 14 game seasons! So that 2,003 could have been 2,300 rushing. That 23 TDs could have been 26 or 27.

Simpson also had a 4.7 career YPC. That's fantastic!

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/SimpO.00.htm

[WG]

Originally posted by gameboy
There was not then, and I don't think there has ever been a defensive player who could take him down one on one with four yards of seperation at the start.

I saw the guy his entire career, and many times at practice. This assessment is BS.

Here's mine:

OJ was to running backs, like a sniper is to hunters.

I'd have taken Campbell over OJ any day of the week. Even w/ worse talent at Houston, Campbell did even more in terms of longetivity. His style was totally different tho. He'd just plow over defenders and more defenders until they were all gone. LOL

OJ was outstanding, but his short lived career makes his standing as one of the best overall somewhat sketchy. Like T and I pointed out, 3 great seasons do not a career make. Terrell Davis did about the same in an era where defenders were far tougher, quicker, and faster. Yet is he regarded to be as good as OJ was?

[WG]

Originally posted by Billsology
My Grandmother could have run behind Dallas' line.

Did your grandmother play pro ball Billsology?

:D

I agree. Emmitt was good, but any average RB would have had outstanding numbers behind Dallas OLs. It'll be interesting to see him in AZ this season. I'll say 600 yds.

[Captain gameboy]

I'll take OJ over Earl C any time.

On the longevity thing, I've always wondered what would have happened if Bo Jackson could have lasted. He was the one, single running back that I would ever term scary, and I was forced to watch Jim Brown every Sunday in my early youth in Buffalo-the Browns were on every week. I saw OJ all the time and Walter a lot.

I think Bo Jackson was the best who ever played.

[Dozerdog]

I'd put Bo in the Gayle Sayers category-

woulda-coulda-shoulda-

What if he gave football more than just 8 games a season?

What if he stayed healthy?

What if he didn't split time with a HoF back (Marcus Allen)?

[WG]

What if he ate his Wheaties!

[Historian]

I saw Earl Campbell in a 1983 game Vs the Bills. He was like a bowling ball knocking pins over. On one run he ran out of bounds right in front of us, and I yelled out..."Skoal Earl!!!" (He and Walt Garrison did all those commercialsfor dip back then)

Last season, one of the shows did a feature on him...he now can barely walk due to crippling arthritis. What a terrible shame.