Top 10 Elusive Runners

an amoeba like a Paramecium split into T Thames and the defensive people went after all [Music] [Applause] yeah [Music] [Music] when you think of elusive runners the first players who come to mind are running back while a majority of the game slippery runners come out of the backfield this countdown isn't limited to running backs alone that's insane that is when making our list we considered players from all offensive positions the only requirement was that a player met our definition of an elusive runner when you're talking about the great elusive runners you're talking about speed and quickness but you're also talking about a sense of invention and creativity the woods are full of spring runners we see them every day it's not the straight runner that's a great football player you'd be amazed at some of the things they could do when you think the linebacker was going to make an easy tackle all of a sudden comes up for their this is poetry where the moves and the grace count as much as the yards for 10 most elusive runner of all time Willie Gallimore he was without a doubt the fastest human human being on a football field he got loose goodbye from 1957 to 1963 Willie the wisp blazed across the gridiron like a comet on a collision course with football immortality Willie Gallimore was at work he was the first guy that I ever saw that had that speed boom Willie's top speed is too fast for the Colt gallon ball gets into the open and turns in an 84 yard touchdown gallon cut on the diamond and then accelerate a lot of backs can't do that he had that success not only of what's coming up from behind him but being able to looking straight on and make that Juke that sudden move and then that sudden burst buddy Parker who coached the Lions said in the open field Willie Gallimore would be hard to hit with a handful of rice so many of his great runs would come where he wouldn't follow the design pattern the play and Willie's answer to that was anyone can run where the blockers are but a great runner flies his own holes he was one of those guys as a cult fan the last thing in the world you wanted to ever see was his hands with the ball because something's gonna add versus it feels [Applause] Jacob character as the jacket on [Applause] he would be a guy who was better remembered today a problem we ran into was it broke down he had some injuries his crime was not that long and then he had the tragedy of being in a car accident in 1964 Gallimore and a teammate were killed in a car accident returning the Bears training camp despite never gaining more than a thousand yards in a season this shooting stars legacy still burns bright other than Gale Sayers there is not a more thrilling or extraordinary piece of footage than Willie Gallimore in the open field [Applause] coming up on top ten which of these elusive runners looked like a cartoon character in those days the running backs took a tremendous feat Sarge really beats up Beetle Bailey and these have been a big mess and that's what he looked like in the 1960s the wide open AFL had plenty of elusive runners Paul Lowe of the Chargers Paul Robinson of the Bengals and Mike Garrett from the Chiefs just ask Hank Stram 65 but none of these AFL stars slice through a defense like the next player on our list 9 most elusive runner of all time close once upon a time this hardscrabble horseman was one of the fastest thoroughbreds and pro football dickie post is one of the Forgotten players which is too bad because he was exciting I mean he was fun to watch hundred ninety pounds his teammates call him love Tiger the open field was the open seas for Dickie post and the 1967 AFL Rookie of the Year shorted courses only he didn't Avigail then he post had great traffic bursts he could be in a glut of defenders and in an instant he could go from second gear to fit here and he threw it by the time I was that step and a half house that won't full feed then you're starting to look to where wherever the daylight is some of these runs you just sat back and you know run that again or would you want to see the buck you made mix no but I see Dickie Dickie posed what's like a little mad and you can't get the son of a gun he is just all over the place it was almost like watching a crab sort of scuttling from one side of the field to the other our number nine elusive runner never flashed his claws in fact this Frightened Rabbit of a runner wanted to avoid contact altogether I was nervous runner paranoid it's it's not a style that anybody would want to copy if you can find somebody else it consumes too much energy by the half I was totally exhausted he came into San Diego and was an immediate success and he decided to try to capitalize on it open a clothing store this shirt was a tide you got to be kidding really the guy came in about an hour ago and I don't Stars and Stripes developed no Indian here straight from the reservation Oklahoma Ben from Bhopal originally I never felt comfortable in California I tried this the kind of thing that they enjoy doing down there I had a good time and when they'll get me wrong it was a nice party it seemed the hounds would never catch this hair but they began to nip at his heels they took bites out of his legs in those days the running backs took a tremendous lien Wanderers is cold cockin corner from behind I remember a drug we didn't take the cue posters oh we're gonna get up again Adam if you're here see Matt silly cartoon called Beetle Bailey Sarge regularly beats up Beetle Bailey and leaves him in a big mass and that's what deke would look like the beatings eventually took their toll on number 9 elusive runner only lasted five years in the hard-knock life of pro football deke flash bright as long as he could and then he was gone the number eight most elusive runner of all time Joe Washington [Music] three people into the end zone Little Joe Washington bedeviled tacklers for nine seasons with four teams flight Dickey post our number eight most elusive runner was vertically challenged at five nine and a hundred and seventy pounds many thought he was too small to play in the pros that perception would change on a Monday night in 1978 I think Joe Washington to this day the greatest performance ever a Monday night television had a long run for touchdown he caught it touchdown pass he threw a touchdown pass another game in overtime the kickoff return for a down rain I knew I had a special challenge of being able to carry to football and do different things as far as cutting changing direction that only a few can do [Music] Electrify running you have your flashers you have your power guys but no one can go full tilt and just stop and change directions and that's what Joe could do she taught me that the key attributes are linebackers quickness not speed and he was about as quick stop and go as I was ever around Joe was just a heads-up smart very very very smart player and could really open up a game just like that Quindlen Joe arrived in DC Joe Gibbs have the bright idea to pair him with the big diesel stamp and delicious good [Music] you got Riggins in Joe Washington I mean that's the original one-two punch Riggins Thunder and Washington's lightning created a perfect storm in 1983 the Redskins leveled the opposition scoring a then-record 541 points he was used really effectively being brought in so he could create matchups and dictate matchups in the passing game [Applause] he was a weapon and they couldn't use him enough I show people at Hardee's 70-pound you can play full time still the Garmin top-10 elusive owners find out which quarterback to see that smoke coming off a light [Applause] [Music] while sifting through hours of footage we came across plenty of elusive runners who play quarterback here are a few that just missed the cut nowadays Donovan McNabb is more of a pocket passer but early in his career number five knew how to make defenders miss the first is shake like that was Fran Tarkenton widely credited for inventing the scramble Parkinson's paved the way for today's mobile past chuckers many people have asked me how I got started scrambling Tennessee's number 10 Vince Young might be the next Fran Tarkenton just asked Mario Lou MVP's Super Bowl titles and the Hall of Fame Steve Young could do it all including making tacklers look silly [Music] [Applause] [Applause] while all these cue bees were elusive none was a shifty as the next player on our countdown number seven most elusive runner of all time Randall Cunningham I don't think I've ever seen a quarterback who had as much basic physical talent Randall Cunningham absolutely belongs on a list of elusive runners he had that real cat-like sense of people around them the old philosophy he keeps somebody in the spot that this bag I couldn't catch him anyways he did it differently than anybody else and he could just flat-out fly [Applause] some of the things I did on the field I don't know how I did him it was almost like he was made of rubber the guy had a body like Gumby the thing could Bend in any direction Plastic Man you know I could have had probably another 15 sacks on my career total if it wasn't for that dog one guy [Music] in 1919 elusive runner scrambled for 942 yards 26 shy of Bobby Douglass's then NFL record the rambling Randle show was at its peak if you wanted to highlight film every week around laconian you could have it win or lose you could have it and I think there was too many times you got caught up in there people called me and they always say why do you think you can fly I said eagle I mean the play that people will always remember was the play in Buffalo [Applause] he's eating it in a lot of ways I mean that play is really kind of Randall's career in a microcosm one of a kind and yet didn't win although our number seven most elusive runner never won a championship with his legs his ability impacted NFL history I think he helped to change the game of football I think a running quarterback became something that teams would look for and we've seen quarterbacks that are close but I don't think we've seen another Randall Cunningham sit the number six most elusive runner of all time read range in the fall of 1924 the public's interest in football was awakened by the sensational breakaway running of the University of Illinois halfback named Red Grange for now no the people just hadn't heard of Racine before football to that point had been a game of real power players Red Grange was probably the first of his kind in terms of what we would now define as a broken field runner one thing I don't believe a coach can do is teach anybody to carry a football those are instincts you do the thing that comes natural to him football in the mid 1920s the name Red Grange was synonymous with football in the same way that Babe Ruth was synonymous with baseball he was this enormous star and he became an enormous star because of the media that was available that covered his games and that brought his games into American's consciousness the galloping ghosts was a nickname that actually Chicago sportswriter first had come up with while Red was at the University of Illinois but it was grand on rice was much more famous later at the time actually mortalized them referred to him as the gray ghost in a little poem that he wrote after watching him play and eventually became the ghost the galloping ghosts helping obviously be reflecting on his speed and his running style his whole backstory and his personality had a lot to do it working-class kid who delivered I summers to stay in shape and to make money I think a lot of people in related to that anything else baseball so young fella coming out of college our number six most elusive runner used his skills to land a lucrative Pro contract although only credited by NFL record books with 569 yards rushing less than Lawrence Phillips in Kijana Carter Granger's impact on the league was in measurement his first game 36,000 people showed up I mean nobody had drawn those kinds of numbers before he gave the whole idea of pro football validity he made people want to watch it George and myself went to the White House and met the president and we were introduced as George Halas and Red Grange with the Chicago Bears president Calvin Coolidge's remarked he said I always like animal acts were eighty years later and if you mention the name Red Grange people know what you're talking about you look back on his statistics they look pretty ordinary but you measure him by impact and what he did to advance the sport and that's why people remember him coming up on top ten who scored a touchdown on his very first Gary Frankie Albert calls the timeout Albert gets down on the ground and starts drawing the play I swing out and goes 40 yards for a touchdown and why are we talking about steak he was sort of like filet mignon to Jim Brown sirloin [Music] we're counting down the most elusive runners in NFL history let's run through the list so far [Music] Mighty Muggs defenders Vicki Post was like a little math and you can't get the son of a gun Joe Washington beat the odds I show people a pound you know that people just hadn't seen before Bobby was sort of like filet mignon the Jim Brown's server bobby was just served up in smaller portions but they were always very tasty our number five most elusive runner career as Jim Brown's backfield mayor Mitchell's mind-bending open-field running was the perfect complement to Browns power together they were a mouth-watering combination [Music] Michell shows some of his hurdling ability gained as a college track man Bobby Mitchell he was a big 10 sprint champion hurdles champion he had voice her loose ankles almost floppy he could change directions like a fish just everything was quick but not necessarily graceful he was here he was there and he was there and there before you could blink I'd never seen anything like that I mean it was inhuman there's old thing about give him a leg and take it away there would be a leg but when the tackler went for it it was gone the problem that Bobby had is that Paul Broun his coach had tapped him as a fumble Brown eventually traded Bobby to the Redskins come one to the Washington Redskins of all places he plays the gorge bridge to Masha which wasn't posture the blast okay and Mister was highlight the first bag he had on the day in Washington the Redskins move Mitchell from halfback to wide receiver fortunately his dazzling run after the Catskills remained and they were on full display in his return to Cleveland and I'm trying to figure out where is he going you know where is it going when I get at the sideline I immediately made a right turn and I don't do to this day know how I made that turn are they Bobby made 16 people this all ever players was five more twice and the corner man I am still looking in point Brown Jim and then as the turning walking back for the best because they know I'm gone then of course Paul went crazy of all the guys to come back and beat him and let Bobby Mitchell come back or even Wow [Music] I would take these films home you'd be sitting there in midnight and going back and forth you'd be amazed at some of the things they could do when you think the linebacker who did a piece to make an easy tackle and all of a sudden comes up for their live actors hate to miss he was the first one that I ever saw that that perfected that sort of high stepping into the end zone to finish off Franz something that Walter Payton did later in his career Mitchell retired with over 14,000 combined yards this Hall of Famer proved that even elusive runners can play wide receiver most elusive runner of all time you McElhenney for he was my mom's favorite player still is to this day and he a long stride and breakaway speed his style in the 1950s and early 60s Hume Akal Haney was - pro football with Elvis Presley was - rock and roll both were known as the king and each knew how to shake rattle and roll you McIlhenny remain the toughest groan as the king of football broken fieldrunners watching him run a football is almost like a kids game because you get the ball in the open field and it was just no telling where he was gonna go with it he probably had more 120 yard runs that only measured 40 yards than anybody in NFL history he was sort of a hero among all of us cause he looked like on a pro football player that should look like he would walk you in a restaurant they would say there's the king Barry Sanders Gale Sayers all kind of wrapped into one and at the same time himself really great and elusive running backs but also had that great north/south instinct too [Music] the first time our number four most elusive runner touched the ball it was apparent he would be special I'm standing on the sidelines I haven't had a playbook I don't know Frankie Albert calls the timeout comes over the sideline tells Buck Shaw put Mac lining in and but says even though the plate that's ok we get in the huddle Albert gets down on the ground and starts drawing the play I swing out and pitches the ball to MIT and goes 40 yards for a touchdown my very first place mcillhenny played in what became known as a million-dollar backfield in San Francisco for all the famous that white tittle at quarterback dad McIlhenny they had Joe the jet Perry than they had John Henry Johnson from the famous lion Johnson had about it was I'm still looking for the million [Music] in the early 50s a lot of players went both ways by defense and defense and Hugh was just on offense and originally he was criticized as a specialist who couldn't do anything but one but to those critics his head coach read straighter said was chopin criticized because he could only play the piano when Hugh Michael Heine retired they gave him a plaque and the inscription read wouldn't a football be a beautiful game if everyone played it like Hugh McElhenney that is a fitting at the TAF for one of the greatest elusive runners of all time still to come what runner always had players and coaches checking the weather report I always pray for a sunshiny day when we were going against him in today's game there are dozens of elusive runners we've got the stiff arm on our list often overlooked and sometimes forgotten Brian Westbrook is a master at dodging defenders he's in 2006 LaDainian Tomlinson made plenty of players miss on his way to the single-season touchdown devin hester knows a thing or two about scoring records he returned an NFL record five kicks four touchdowns his working year for the 15 of the 20 breaks free the 25 to the outside [Applause] I thought he denied at any time Reggie Bush can also go the distance and his electrifying moves helped the Saints win a division title while Bush had a remarkable season he'll have to have a bunch more to match the Hall of Fame credentials of our next elusive runner the number three most elusive runner of all time Marshall Faulk for five seasons with the Colts Marshall Faulk was one of the game's most evasive backs but when our number three most elusive runner was traded to the Rams he became an all-purpose megastar [Applause] going into the 9090 season we were a very good football team when he got there the horsepower went from like a three her horsepower at the five rollers thought this was a terrific job I am Mike Martz in understanding on Marshall Faulk do recognizing his unique set of attributes that allowed him to become a explosive player with the st. Louis Rams the Rams deployed their new weapon as much as possible and it paid off with a Super Bowl title I don't know how many people know what a super charger is it takes gasoline pours it to the rest of the sellers and all of a sudden that all runs better as Marshall cloth super should have been illegal well he wasn't a physical specimen he didn't look like much when you saw him but when he had that rock in his hand and he was moving around he was a beast he could do it all [Applause] Marshall Fogg had unique receiving abilities Marshall Faulk could have been a top five or ten wide receiver in the National Football League he was an absolute nightmare for defensive coordinator game plan because you didn't know where 28 was gonna lie [Applause] in 1999 our number three most elusive runner joined Roger Craig as the only other back in history to record over a thousand yards rushing and receiving in the same season this MVP also racked up over 2000 multi-purpose yards in four consecutive years there's a set place where the play is supposed to go sometimes it's there sometimes it's not and then from there it's what's inside of you Marshalls one of those guys that could transfer what his eyes see to his feet and respond without even thinking about it plus he was very elusive in a very short area [Applause] [Music] hey Carson [Applause] anybody I paid I got that much money I understand the game of football I really do we break the huddle they line up I thought to play out already I already have a feeling of what's gonna happen Beck's particularly in the pass game need to understand fronts and blitz is the same as the quarterback Marshall Faulk was outstanding at dad he was the reason that we were the greatest show on turf he allowed a versatility within our offense that I don't know if we could have had if we had anybody else back dick Marshall was the glue for everything he really was we use the term in the NFL great player too often and there's a lot of other very good ones not many that ever compared with him in the total package of what he could do with a football [Music] up next which of these two runners had Bill Cosby seen double I saw him split life and amoeba and the defensive people went at the wrong one through the years the NFL has had plenty of great running backs [Music] graceful anymore scored touchdowns in a record 18 consecutive games mercury Morris helped the Dolphins to a perfect season and Walter Payton became the greatest of all time [Applause] well for 18 seasons anyways man 30 [Applause] but none of those stars move through the football galaxy quite like the Kansas company probably need to live in more than that but I had the quickness and the ability to see a hole and get there I was very very comfortable in a football field I'm the way to god-given talent it was very easy for me have you talked to gal he almost talks in the third person you say gal how did you do that he said well gal went this way yeah it's just like it's another guy out there moves like his could have only come from another planet when sayers snake-charming stumps started pumping it often left tacklers mesmerised the one band that we tried to do the hardest when we played this guy was not watching boy I'd be here and so pretty you could get caught coasting and watching him do it man I mean he was bad at good his accomplishments reflect skills that are his by instinct his moves are dictated by intuition I remember Brian piccolo once saying of Gale Sayers that Gale had such unusual peripheral vision that he could see his own ears sometimes when you watch Gale run you almost think that he also had eyes in the back of his head I saw him an amoeba life well apparently she split into two things and the defensive people one at the wrong one some of these guys that are elusive have great quickness and ability to elude but don't have the lazy speed we can't find out one everybody he outran everybody on the field that was the long snapper for the Packers and I was a rookie sayers had already broken through the first way it was him and me in the open field but I had him ended up on the sidelines and when I went to pump him out of bounds he simply added a gear it was not like anything I had ever seen he's won in 1965 our number two most elusive runner had one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time scoring an NFL rookie record twenty-two touchdowns he only touched the ball rushing receiving returning kicks 232 times that season so he was averaging a touchdown about every ten times he touched the ball just amazing even more remarkable was the six touchdowns he scored against the 49ers at rain-soaked Wrigley Field playing on a muddy field except him it wasn't murder I mean his feet must be that long and he ran flat-footed man and he's the perfect mud he returned punts he returned kickoffs he caught passes four touchdowns he ran four touchdowns nobody could bring him down they were slipping in we weren't slipping probably because you know I knew where I was going and they didn't he could have had seven I think George Halas had held them out I would have to say in the history of football was a great a single game display ever since it's a feat that Dino I well I'll always remember it was just one of those days that you like to relive over and over again always pray for a sunshiny day when we were going against him [Applause] [Music] in 1968 our number two more elusive runner couldn't outrun a knee injury and the Kansas comet soon burned out Sayers career lasted only 68 games if Gale Sayers had had the surgical techniques that exist today he might still be playing there's almost a cult now to try to keep his memory is a great great player to me he's the greatest halfback I ever saw this guy made the Hall of Fame the five years you gotta understand that that's unheard of coming up number one number one number one number one will reveal the number one most elusive runner on our list [Music] before we unveil our most elusive runner let's recap the list number ten Willie Gallimore smokes opposing defenses Dickie posed tunes in and turns on I had a good time and then they'll get me wrong and when it was a nice party Joe Washington plays big Electrify running number seven Randall Cunningham bounces to the top it was almost like he was made of rubber number six the galloping ghosts turns bro 36,000 people showed up nobody had drawn those kinds of numbers before by Bobby Mitchell gets his revenge of course following crazy all the guys to come back and beat him Hughes moves make him football royalty you McIlhenny remained atop his throne as the king of football's broken fieldrunners number three Marshall Faulk plays like a super hero number two Gale Sayers score six touchdowns well everybody was playing on a muddy field except Jim runner of all time Barry Sanders probably the only running back I would pay to see play sometimes he just gotta look to the heavens and say Wow you almost had to stop what you were doing just to see what bears gonna do because you know he was gonna do something amazing oh that is one of the great ones you'll ever see Plus that one is a highlight real special there's my new Idol now I love the way they run I had to probably turn off the brain in certain ways and just you know react that's not always where the play is is on that was never the type of runner that could run straight through someone I had always had to find another way to get around them that Mikhail Baryshnikov couldn't make [Music] no we gotta top of this guy one guy we can't depend on one gotta tap into Joe well there's a lot of its hotter that they're working on I used to tell guys defensive players don't let this guy make you do the Lord's Prayer the Lord's Prayer was better get in front of you you try to make a tackle and you clap your hands and you fall down your knees not even trash-talk did not bury off his game our number one most elusive runner average five yards per carry for his career during his 2,000 yards season in 1997 he posted a record 14 consecutive 100-yard games [Applause] [Music] he could freeze you and beat you make me stop and while you were stopping to break down he was going nobody could stop and start like that we felt the only way we could even simulate his movement at practice would to get a couple of chickens and have our 300-pound linemen try to corral them on chasin and box him in and corner him and cut him off for all his greatness Sanders was always criticized for two things never winning a championship and running for the most negative yards in NFL history there might have been a couple of - 3 - 5 - 2 runs but it's the Detroit Lions and Sidney Crawford had too many birthmarks I guess still right I don't really hold that against him they did not have an offensive line these guys would like the worst offensive line in the world he really never had a real office I mean he was the guy and he had to you know basically run for his life just to make a four yard game for ten years Sanders carry the Lions by 1998 number 20 was closing in on Walter Payton's all-time rushing record but then without warning Sanders retired it takes everything in you really to be good at it I think you have to play it for the love of once dead leaves that I think it's unbeliev I was within striking distance of the right it's a great record to have that to play only because of the record is something that I didn't have it in me to do whether you agree or disagree with his decision there is one fact that you can't dispute Barry Sanders is undoubtedly the number one elusive runner of all time if you put the history of the great backs in a phone booth and said who could get out of this phone booth without getting tackled Barry would be the guy when we watch NFL Films and we see the great runs of all time most of them are Barry Sanders he was just a one of those once-in-a-generation kinds of players Barry Sanders may be one of a kind but all the players on our list impacted the game in their own unique way together they made NFL history as the most elusive brothers of all time [Music]

Channel: Isaac Green

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Length: 44min 26sec (2666 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020