The greatest SMU athlete ever?

by **NavyCrimson** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 11:30 pm

http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/48013846

Scroll down to the OCR TEXT. There's mrydel!

by **mrydel** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 5:22 am

YAY me!!

by **Arkpony** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 7:53 am

I vote for Gary Hammond. I remember a poll of the Arkansas Razorback football team (a pretty salty group of players back then) named Gary as the best player they saw in the Southwest conference. He could do anything.

by **ponyte** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 7:58 am

Saw Gary last night and he looks like he could still play.

Still, he doesn't hold a candle to mrydel. He gets my vote.

THe only thing mrydel didn't accomplish while at SMU was executing a block during 'The Pitch".

by **knuckleup** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:09 am

Stallion wrote:yeah he would never have played a single down as a Tailback in the Pony Express offense either unless SMU was up 4 TDs. In fact, he would have been moved to FB which is what he is.

Calling BS. Fell just short of ED yards (as second leading rusher ever) WITHOUT the luxury of the best lineman money could buy..."Pony Excess".

by **mrydel** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:15 am

ponyte wrote:Saw Gary last night and he looks like he could still play.

Still, he doesn't hold a candle to mrydel. He gets my vote.

THe only thing mrydel didn't accomplish while at SMU was executing a block during 'The Pitch".

But I did do well as the practice dummy on executing the pitch block.

by **lwjr** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 11:47 am

ponyte wrote:Saw Gary last night and he looks like he could still play.

Still, he doesn't hold a candle to mrydel. He gets my vote.

THe only thing mrydel didn't accomplish while at SMU was executing a block during 'The Pitch".

Homer call. lol

by **lwjr** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 12:05 pm

Stallion wrote:Eric Dickerson had 4 NFL Seasons where he rushed for more yards than Doak Walker did in his entire NFL career. He ended up with 9 times the amount of rushing yards in his NFL Career. Dickerson still holds about a dozen NFL Records 3 decades after his career ended. Nobody in the NFL recordbook has that many records that last 3 decades in the NFL

Most rushing yards as a rookie- 1808 in 1983
Most rushing yards in a season- 2105 in 1984
Fastest player to reach 2,000 rushing yards- 18 GP
Fastest player to reach 3,000 rushing yards- 27 GP
Fastest player to reach 4,000 rushing yards- 33 GP
Fastest player to reach 5,000 rushing yards- 45 GP
Fastest player to reach 6,000 rushing yards- 53 GP
Fastest player to reach 7,000 rushing yards- 63 GP
Fastest player to reach 8,000 rushing yards- 73 GP
Fastest player to reach 9,000 rushing yards- 82 GP
Fastest player to reach 10,000 rushing yards- 91 GP
Fastest player to reach 11,000 rushing yards- 103 GP
Fastest player to gain 1,000 yards from scrimmage- 7 GP
Fastest player to gain 2,000 yards from scrimmage- 14 GP
Fastest player to gain 4,000 yards from scrimmage- 30 GP- tied with Edgerrin James
Fastest player to gain 7,000 yards from scrimmage- 55 GP
Fastest player to gain 8,000 yards from scrimmage- 64 GP

You guys can play in your pretend fantasy world all you want-they aren't on the same planet if you are talking about the BEST ATHLETE. In fact, Doak Walker would have rarely seen the field if he played in the Pony Express era. Craig James stats at SMU against stacked defenses in an integrated NCAA are more impressive than Doak Walker running circles around a team full of slow white stiffs if the standard is greatest SMU athletes. You doubt me? Well name all the white guys who have been named ALL-Pro and have run for more than 1,200 in the last 30 years since Craig James retired? I do believe that Craig James was the last and only white RB to rush for even over a 1,000 yards in the NFL in the last 3 decades. Craig James never gets the respect he deserves-he was a generational great who was only took about 45% of the snaps during the years he played.

ED ran for more yards than Doak, no question. But you can't compare how the game was played in the forties against how the game was played in the eighties. Just as you can't compare how the game was played in the eighties to how the game is played today.
That goes for all sports. Different times, different eras. But when compared to others in their time, Doak was the best and ED was one of the best if not the best in his days. Plus ED should have won the Heisman.

by **RGV Pony** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 5:25 pm