There were other players in the league who compared physically with Brown but none came close to his accomplishments. Jim Brown is the toughest player to play the game in the last 60 years. He played 9 years, leading the league in rushing 8 years. The one year he didn’t he came in 2nd to Jim Taylor of Green Bay when Jim only rushed for 996 yards averaging due to a badly sprained wrist which hampered him most of the 1958 season.

He rushed for 1544 yards in a 12 game season in 1961. He was the first man to rush for over a mile in 1963 when he rushed for 1863 yards in a 14 game season averaging 133.1 yards per game and 6.4 yards per carry.

He ran the 100 yard dash in 10.1 seconds in 1958. He was a physical beast of a man.

He was 6’3” and 232 lbs. If anyone was a load it was Jim Brown. He averaged 104.3 yards a game, scored 106 rushing touchdowns and 20 more receiving for 126 in his 9 year career. He is the only player to average more than 5 yards per carry for his career – 5.3. There have been many great running backs over the years. Jim Brown will always be head of the class. He retired at the age of 29. Imagine if he had played 3-4 more years?

What most people don’t know is that Jim Brown was considered by many to be a greater lacrosse player at Syracuse than a football player. He is still considered 55 years later to be the greatest college lacrosse player in history. He held all rushing records in the NFL when he retired. Every one. Lacrosse is one of the things that made him so tough. He never missed a pro start or a game in his 9 years in the league.

I haven’t always agreed with his politics but he has consistently been true to himself his whole life and I respect him for that. Jim Brown is hands down the greatest running back of all time. Who else can better rate the talent that came after, like it or leave it.

It broke my heart when Ernie Davis (who had broken all Jim Brown’s records at Syracuse) was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1962 and also to be the first number 1 pick as an African American in 1962. Unfortunately he died of leukemia in 1963 before he got to play a down. He and Jim Brown would have demolished the NFL as a tandem. What a sight that would have been. It wasn’t to be though.

Here’s the story I read from a Sports Illustrated article ….

Right after Dr. James Andrews, the world-renowned orthopedic surgeon, performed the surgery on Peterson’s knee, he pulled Peterson’s father aside, said in amazement “his knee looks like a baby!”

Dr. Andrews went on to explain that human being, as we get older, put on lots of wear and tear on our knee. This is especially true for any athletes. And he was astound to found that Peterson’s knee is almost like brand new! Like a baby’s!

Some people are just genetically gifted, and AD is one of them.

And that’s also the reason why I think AD will have a long career in NFL. He’s just genetically much more gifted than anyone else!

I remember a preseason interview with Pete Bercich (former Viking player/current Viking radio analyst) on recovering from an ACL injury and him stating that the knee could very well be STRONGER after being surgically repaired.

I also have noticed a change in Peterson’s running style – he’s much more patient and is now openly receptive to running behind a fullback. Jerome Felton (Vikings FB) should be the NFC’s Pro Bowl pick for that position!

Since he came to the NFL in 2007, he has averaged nearly 100 yards per game. So his current average of 129 yards per game this season is not that much different.

Some players performances go down after obtaining the big contract. Some players performances go down after coming back from injury (but I haven’t heard anyone saying anything about PED usage by Peyton Manning…)

AP is not your average guy. He has more determination and work ethic than most NFL players.

He truly is one of the “Good Guys”!

If you actually watch his games…you’ll see he runs with the same speed and cut with the same speed. The only difference this year is his O-line and his fullback opening up big holes.

If you put AP behind the 1990s cowboys o-line instead of emmit…AP would gain 2000 yards per season.

He’s a beast, not hgh.

Brown gets slammed by many when he expresses a cynical view here or there — I’ve been disappointed with him myself. So it’s nice to see Brown in this light. It was easy for anyone to see that Brown’s thoughts are the epitome of pure candor and come straight from the heart. Props to Jim in this instance.

But the real, and bigger story, is Adrian Peterson. Un-reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal. It couldn’t happen to a nicer or more deserving guy either — man, I hope All Day just kills it the rest of the way, and my team isn’t even the Vikes.

If HGH is the reason, why is it the only place we see that is from rubes on a comment board? The guy has always had an amazing body and worked his rear end off all offseason. Blaming the comeback on HGH is just lazy.

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Nobody is saying he didn’t work hard. I think everybody knows that he is extremely talented and worked his butt off. We’re just being realistic and acknowledging the fact that many athletes use PEDs and most ‘miracle’ performances of the past 20 years have later been proven to involve PEDs.

But some credit for AP’s success this year should also go to Jerome Felton, the Vikings FB, and the Vikings offensive line, and the offensive coaching staff.

Teams were putting 8 or 9 in the box all the time last year too, and AP did not have nearly as a good a year (before his injury).

It will be interesting to see if AP can continue this dominance next year too. With all the changes in defensive personnel to better defend the pass, a lot of teams may not have the right personnel to stop a dominant running team and RB anymore.

AP is an absolute beast and a role model.

a miracle of HGH, I’m sure…

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I think that also… It’s hard not to think that way when most times a miracle like this happens it is later proven to be supported by PEDs. The number 1 thing people look for when trying to discover if PEDs were used is consistency over time. For AP to be way better after an ACL is cause for concern. It’s not necessarily impossible, but it hasn’t been done before by anyone. It could also be explainable by advancements in surgical technique or good genentics, but it raises flags for sure.

I would guess that most NFL players have at least done steroids or HGH at some point in their career. It would be hard to imagine that much muscle mass being gained across the board all naturally. The culture seems to be that it is acceptable. Facing a possible 4 game suspension vs. potentially being too small or too slow to be in the NFL is a no brainer.

Many guys who have been caught just come back and play and everyone just forgets about it. It’s not seen as a very big deal in comparison to Baseball, Athletics or other sports.