- Jun 19, 2014
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Founding Member
Looks like we've got a nice stable of running backs this year. Makes me think of some of the greats from our past.
I put Emmitt at the top of the list but there is lots of room for argument after him. Fred Taylor, Neal Anderson, Nat Moore, Errict Rhett, John L. Williams, Larry Smith, Jimmy Dubose, James Jones, Tony Green, Rick Casares, Larry Dupree. You can legitimately throw in Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow as well purely on their rushing stats. Maybe for some of you it was the guys who played when you were a student, Ciatrick Faison or Earnest Graham or somebody else not at the top of most "greatest" lists.
Share some of your memories.
As a student, my best Gator running back memories are indelibly tied to one Errict Undra Rhett. Dude was phenomenally well conditioned and solid muscle from head to toe. He hit like concrete. Spurrier used the Fun and Gun to get ahead, lots of draws early in the game (and ERhett ran those beautifully). Then in the second half, Spurrier gave ERhett the ball to put the game away. You'd see ERhett in the second half, jawing, talking trash to the defenders, telling them he was coming for them and they couldn't stop him. Nothing complicated. Lots of stuff inside the tackle box. His head would start bobbing, that's how you knew he was in his zone. The plays would end with his helmet in front of the defenders' helmets. He dished out plenty of punishment and defenders weren't all that motivated to get in his way, especially if we had a 4 touchdown lead. He was a crazy dude but the OL loved blocking for him. His gains would get longer and longer as the game wore on, 8 yards, 10 yards, 16 yards, 23 yards, then he'd pop it for a touchdown and throw up the Q dog sign. There was a stat about Spurrier being like 28-1 when he had a back go for a 100 yards and that was mostly ERhett. Loved watching that guy run.
Gotta give Fred Taylor a shout too. Spurrier loved Danny so much, I'm not sure he really appreciated how good Fred Taylor really was until the second half of the 1997 season. You guys remember undefeated FSU coming into the Swamp that year with the best rushing defense in the land. We remember rotating quarterbacks but it was Fred Taylor that utterly destroyed them that night. He had power like ERhett, but coupled it with incredible speed and acceleration.
Alex.
I put Emmitt at the top of the list but there is lots of room for argument after him. Fred Taylor, Neal Anderson, Nat Moore, Errict Rhett, John L. Williams, Larry Smith, Jimmy Dubose, James Jones, Tony Green, Rick Casares, Larry Dupree. You can legitimately throw in Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow as well purely on their rushing stats. Maybe for some of you it was the guys who played when you were a student, Ciatrick Faison or Earnest Graham or somebody else not at the top of most "greatest" lists.
Share some of your memories.
As a student, my best Gator running back memories are indelibly tied to one Errict Undra Rhett. Dude was phenomenally well conditioned and solid muscle from head to toe. He hit like concrete. Spurrier used the Fun and Gun to get ahead, lots of draws early in the game (and ERhett ran those beautifully). Then in the second half, Spurrier gave ERhett the ball to put the game away. You'd see ERhett in the second half, jawing, talking trash to the defenders, telling them he was coming for them and they couldn't stop him. Nothing complicated. Lots of stuff inside the tackle box. His head would start bobbing, that's how you knew he was in his zone. The plays would end with his helmet in front of the defenders' helmets. He dished out plenty of punishment and defenders weren't all that motivated to get in his way, especially if we had a 4 touchdown lead. He was a crazy dude but the OL loved blocking for him. His gains would get longer and longer as the game wore on, 8 yards, 10 yards, 16 yards, 23 yards, then he'd pop it for a touchdown and throw up the Q dog sign. There was a stat about Spurrier being like 28-1 when he had a back go for a 100 yards and that was mostly ERhett. Loved watching that guy run.
Gotta give Fred Taylor a shout too. Spurrier loved Danny so much, I'm not sure he really appreciated how good Fred Taylor really was until the second half of the 1997 season. You guys remember undefeated FSU coming into the Swamp that year with the best rushing defense in the land. We remember rotating quarterbacks but it was Fred Taylor that utterly destroyed them that night. He had power like ERhett, but coupled it with incredible speed and acceleration.
Alex.
