Nominate the Greatest Falcon RB of All Time

by tlozwarlock on Jun 22, 2009 8:00 AM EDT Comment 38 comments

It's time to unearth some stat sheets from the bowels of the interwebs, Falcoholics. Nominate the player you think is the greatest Falcon running back of all time. Here are the guidelines:

Any tailback counts, be they full, half, or all around.
The player has to have spent at least four years in a Falcon uniform (running backs don't last as long)
Michael Turner is not eligible.
Neither is Vick.

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William Andrews
Gerald Riggs
Jamal Anderson
Warrick Dunn

Anyone else?

by Jon Cushman on Jun 22, 2009 8:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well,

I think those 4 (in some order) are the serious names for consideration. But I want to mention somebody else just for fun:

Cannonball Butler

That’s right – a 5’9" 194 lb “cannonball”. And he was listed as a fullback for his years in Atlanta. For comparison, that’s the same height and 14 pounds more than Warrick Dunn…

by orang3b on Jun 22, 2009 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jamal Anderson

In Dimitroff we trust

by Bonhoffer on Jun 22, 2009 9:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

okay

William Andrews
Gerald Riggs
Jamal Anderson

Warrick Dunn a very distant 4th… Very distant.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 22, 2009 9:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

for kicks

Harmon Wages… lol!

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 22, 2009 9:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fullback

Bob Christian

by NCFalconFan on Jun 22, 2009 9:59 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I loved that guy

by Dave the Falconer on Jun 22, 2009 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"If Woody were Captain of the Titanic, he'd argue the boat sinking speaks to how effectively they put rich people in life boats and lock the poor folks below."
-jrauch commenting at Hoopinion on Woody's (non)logic in his post-game comments

by Jesse28 on Jun 22, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Probably the best FB we ever had

"When I played pro football, I never set out to hurt anyone deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something"

-Dick Butkus

by zooker on Jun 22, 2009 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jerious Norwood ;)

go hard or go home

by TO falcon on Jun 22, 2009 10:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dave Hampton

by Dave the Falconer on Jun 22, 2009 10:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

And I know his numbers and years don't stack up

But his three years were all 1,000 yards or just shy in a time when that really meant something, and he was a chronically upbeat and generally excellent teammate. He won’t win, but I can’t see us doing this without mentioning him.

by Dave the Falconer on Jun 22, 2009 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Iron head!!!!

As I used to say “Put the head in!” the women who sat around me always loved that one…

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 22, 2009 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Haha

Mind if I axe the second comment, since it’s the same as the first?

by Dave the Falconer on Jun 22, 2009 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

fine

my system froze up on me while posting that. didnt even do it twice. it was the ghost in the machine I supose.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 22, 2009 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funny

I love the fact that they gave him a trophy for being the first Falcons back to gain 1,000 in the middle of the last game of the season, he then lost 7 yards on the next rush and didn’t carry the rest of the game. I heard he had to give back the trophy.

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.

by runningback on Jun 22, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

About Hampton

I doubt that many remember how Hampton and Malone almost took the Falcons to the playoffs in 1972. In December of that year I sat in the Candlestick Park end zone as the Falcons then 7-6 and only a win away from clinching their first playoff berth, trailed the 7-5-1 49ers 6-zip.

In the second half starting deep in their own territory, the Falcons gouged holes in the 49 line as Dave Hampton and Art Malone gained chunks of yardage on almost every play, taking time off the clock and dominating that portion of the game. It seemed that the birds were fired up and headed to the playoffs as they rushed down the field, almost every play going between the tackles. San Francisco was beaten. All the Falcons had to do was continue to run the ball with Hampton and Malone.

On fourth and one at the San Francisco one yard line, after Atlanta had gained positive yardage on each play of the drive—virtually all of which were running plays by Hampton and Malone—QB Bob Berry ran a roll out to the right for a loss of a yard, ball and momentum. What would have been a 7-6 Falcon lead turned into a 20-0 loss as San Fran went on to capitalize on Atlanta’s 3 fumbles and an intercepted pass to score two touchdowns for a trip to the playoffs.

by striped shirt on Jun 22, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Nice!

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 23, 2009 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My vote...

…would go to Andrews, of course. Riggs, Anderson and Butler are #’s 2,3,4 in my book.

To the list of honorable mentions, though, here are a couple of names: Bubba Bean and Lynn Cain. And Mike Rozier! And while he certainly wasn’t the greatest by the time he landed in the ATL, Eric Dickerson!

by johnnybacardi on Jun 22, 2009 11:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Lynn Cain—-forgot about him. He was a fav.

by Jon Cushman on Jun 22, 2009 1:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

All purpose

Cain was a great all purpose type back for a spell.

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.

by runningback on Jun 22, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Frank "I'd kill Flipper for a tuna sandwich" Black...

Best . RB. Ever.

I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.

Elayne Boosler

by NaGaNole on Jun 22, 2009 2:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Where to begin

Running backs in general are my specialty (hence the username).

I have to go with Warrick Dunn here. Sure, he is the second alltime leading rusher in team history, but more for what he brought to the team other than the raw stats. The dude was lightning in a bottle for a few straight years and always seemed to hit the homerun when we needed him to. He also had some pretty decent hands coming out of the backfield. Honestly what I really admired the most about him that I think contributed to his on field success was his off the field nature. Generally soft spoken. Never had a big mouth and of course did some pretty incredible things to help those less fortunate than him through his charity work.

Here is something pretty funny. Check out some of these names on our all time rushing list.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/atl/career-rushing.htm

Why is there no mention of Haskel Stanback in our alltime greats discussion?

PS: I am a little embarrassed at the fact that our all time leading rusher only has 6631 yards. Pretty weak compared to the rest of the league.

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.

by runningback on Jun 22, 2009 2:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

huh?

second all time leading rusher in team history? since when. how the hell did he accomplish that? I dont remeber him doin much of anything. I guess that is why he is under appreciated.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 23, 2009 8:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually,

runningback – you were reading that wrong (the link is sorted by carries). Dunn is the 3rd leading rusher in franchise history (5 yards behind William Andrews, but Andrews did it on 98 fewer carries).

I noticed Haskel Stanback also – anybody watching in the mid 70’s remember anything special about him?? (that was before my time)

by orang3b on Jun 23, 2009 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My bad orang3b

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.

by runningback on Jun 23, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pretty Solid Years

He did have three straight 1,000+ seasons including one with over 1,400 yards. He was overlooked as his prime years were also the Vick years.

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.

by runningback on Jun 23, 2009 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah,

I’d say overlooked is a good description for his whole career… I mean, the guy has almost 11,000 career rushing yards (#19 all-time)!!

by orang3b on Jun 23, 2009 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thoughts

Shouldn’t we really separate fullbacks from tailbacks? I mean, the end-game is to fill a full 53-man roster which I assumed meant that it had to at least make sense. And by make sense, I mean the players picked actually played the position we are picking them for.

So, I suppose the higher arching question really is what kind of offensive system are we running here? Are we going all June Jones Run&Shoot 1-back sets? Or are we looking at running the current Smith system? If the former is the case, then by all means throw FB’s in with RB’s, but if the latter holds true, then I recommend we separate our FB’s from our traditional RB’s because I, personally, would really hate to see a Faclons team without Christian as the FB.

by Jesse28 on Jun 22, 2009 2:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The polls will be separate.

As soon as I figure out how to do that.

You have opinions. Share them.

by tlozwarlock on Jun 22, 2009 4:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Runningback

Jamal Anderson before the knee blowout. Hands down. I would hav picked Eric Dickerson but he didn’t meet the criteria as far as playing for a minimum of 4 years.

by Pharoah_Rah on Jun 23, 2009 9:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

TJ Duckett

for the soul fact we choose him with ed reed still on the board

by gritzblitz on Jun 23, 2009 10:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

DOH!

I was at the GA Dome at the draft day event that the falcons had that year. Me and my buddy were sitting in the stands talking when the announcement was made. It was followed by brief silence, then a streams of boo’s. My reaction was, what did he say? what did he say? then my friend confirmed it and I said who the ^%&* is that? I knew, but the reality is that the Falcons blew that pick and everyone knew it. We all left immediately. It had been a great day up until that point.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 23, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

heh

i actually liked TJ when he played at MIch ST, he ran folks over but i was shocked to say the least

by gritzblitz on Jun 23, 2009 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jamal Anderson

Without a doubt.. he was the mannn!!

by MTB33 on Jun 23, 2009 4:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Certainly worthy

He had some good seasons around one monster year. Set the NFL record for most carries in a season (410 in 1998). Having said that, I still stand by my original candidate.

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face.

by runningback on Jun 23, 2009 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

William Andrews

If you needed the yards he got them. He believed in punishing would-be tacklers by “exploding” into the tackle. He left lots of fine linebackers and defensive backs counting their ribs and thinking how nice it would be to spend Sundays selling insurance or used cars. John Madden said more than once during Andrews’ playing years that if he was starting a team and could pick his players he’d pick William Andrews first.

by striped shirt on Jun 23, 2009 11:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs