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Extremeskins

Running Back favorites since 1932


Bobby S

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I became a huge SKINS fan back in the early eighties... Of course Riggio was the man. I also saw unsung hero Timmy Smith, learned about Charlie Taylor and a host of others from the past. I then followed countless others who filled our backfield till our newest hero Morris. My question is WHO was YOUR favorite and WHY? I know there are many old timers on here and aside from looking online I love to hear first time accounts of these great players...Esp from around the early 30's era...    

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Your first is always special.  Larry Brown and Harraway.  Problem is what do you mean by RB?  A rb was a FB or a HB until the 80s and now it seems that only football geeks know what a halfback is.  Go back before the 1960s and one of the halfbacks is what we call a slot WR today.  Go back about another couple of decades and do you include the TB?  Of course, many TBs in the NFL before 1945 did not run that often.

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I mean at my age Riggo has to be the favorite of everyone.  The list could include guys like Portis, Stephen Davis, Byner etc.

 

But to take a left turn on the question, my favorite running back that I had high hopes for being drafted in the 2nd round was Reggie Brooks out of Notre Dame.  I've been a sucker buying Rookie jerseys over the years, and he was my first "rookie" jersey.  High hopes and a favorite, but after somewhat a great rookie year, it was all down hill from there!

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My first real Redskins memory is Timmy Smith in the Super Bowl (I was only three at the time, but I still remember it...weird). The first Running Back I remember actively cheering for was Byner, then Ervins, Allen, and Davis. Trung was a low point, but then it was Portis, Helu, and Morris.

 

Out of all of them, I would have to say my favorite was Portis. He always balled out on the field, he changed his running style to what Gibbs wanted, and he was a likable guy (for me anyway). Morris is quickly making a run at that though.

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Always loved Byner. I was young but remember Kelvin Bryant fondly. Mike Nelms.

Nelms was a DB if I remember correctly, but he never got on the field except for special teams.

My favorite of course was Riggins since I'm at that age. But I did like to watch Joe Washington, Kelvin Bryant and Byner. I caught the very end of Larry Brown's career. I had higher hopes for George Rogers and he had a couple of good seasons, but he had been wore down by the Saints by the time we got him. Glad he, Gerald Riggs and Byner could get SB rings with us.

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"Ladell Betts... My first, my last, my everythang" - McD5 (I really miss that guy)

 

For me, it was Portis, Stephen Davis, and Terry Allen. All joking aside, Betts deserves some mention because of his performance in '06 when he nabbed the starting job at RB after Portis went down with the hand/shoulder injuries, and got 1,000 yards in like 8-9 games IIRC. Unfortunately, that season was one big cluster****, so no one will remember just how incredible that performance was. That was also the last hurrah for the old guard along the o-line, because pretty much all of them fell off a cliff the next season.

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First was Brown and Harraway. I doubt anyone is still around who remembers Cliff Battles, probably not even OldFan, and I don't think there was anyone worth mentioning in between (Bobby Mitchell and Charley Taylor were both converted to WR when they came here, though I think Mitchell may have gotten some carries at halfback).

Benny Malone was the original Mike Sellers, knocking defenders on their tuckuses.

A great one many have forgotten was Clarence Harmon, who was an absolutely clutch 3rd down back.

Riggins, as you might guess, was my favorite. My fellow USC alumnus George Rogers often gets overlooked since he was injured for the 87 SB.

Terry Allen probably came back from more knee surgeries than any RB in history....too bad he never played on a good Skins team.

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Always loved Byner. I was young but remember Kelvin Bryant fondly. Mike Nelms.

Nelms was a DB if I remember correctly, but he never got on the field except for special teams.

My favorite of course was Riggins since I'm at that age. But I did like to watch Joe Washington, Kelvin Bryant and Byner. I caught the very end of Larry Brown's career. I had higher hopes for George Rogers and he had a couple of good seasons, but he had been wore down by the Saints by the time we got him. Glad he, Gerald Riggs and Byner could get SB rings with us.

DB?  Hmmmm. Who am I thinking of then? I remember Nelms running back punts, kickoffs. I'm confusing him with someone then because I have vivid and apparently incorrect memories of him being a pretty good running back for us. I'll wake up about 3 am and figure out who I'm thinking of.

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Always loved Byner. I was young but remember Kelvin Bryant fondly. Mike Nelms.

Nelms was a DB if I remember correctly, but he never got on the field except for special teams.

My favorite of course was Riggins since I'm at that age. But I did like to watch Joe Washington, Kelvin Bryant and Byner. I caught the very end of Larry Brown's career. I had higher hopes for George Rogers and he had a couple of good seasons, but he had been wore down by the Saints by the time we got him. Glad he, Gerald Riggs and Byner could get SB rings with us.

DB?  Hmmmm. Who am I thinking of then? I remember Nelms running back punts, kickoffs. I'm confusing him with someone then because I have vivid and apparently incorrect memories of him being a pretty good running back for us. I'll wake up about 3 am and figure out who I'm thinking of.

Brian Mitchell? 

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Nope, not Mitchell. Now I'm questioning if Nelms was even a good punt returner since its clear he wasn't a good RB for us. I've been on call too much. Making up great players out of thin air.

I think you have the right guy. He wore 21. He was a good punt and kick returner, but I think they had him listed as a DB.

 

Here's a roster from 1981 that lists him as  DB.

 

http://www.footballdb.com/teams/nfl/washington-redskins/roster/1981

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The first for me was Riggins obviously, and I liked Byner, Terry Allen (how many ACL injuries did he have) Davis etc... but a few years back when I read about Cliff Battles?  Makes me wonder if we would of won more World Championships, first player to exceed 200 yards in a game, should of got paid after that World Championship with Baugh.

 

And look who we have now in the Butler and then Helu who rushed for a Redskins Rookie Rushing record hurdling over a defender against seattle the year before and then rushed over 100 yards more in 2 more straight games making it the most in Redskins history.  Heck, I thought he was going to be the starter if he wasnt injured and wanted to see more action from him before TH went down, got no idea what to expect this year in adding Thompson and Jamison except excitement.  

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Nope, not Mitchell. Now I'm questioning if Nelms was even a good punt returner since its clear he wasn't a good RB for us. I've been on call too much. Making up great players out of thin air.

Well, during my time as a 'Skins fan (back to 1972), Mitchell and Cartwright were the only RBs who both returned kicks on a regular basis for us for more than a couple of years and put up decent stats at RB.  Nelms was a good punt returner, didn't have as good an average as he could have because he simply refused the FC.  Nelms even had a pick.  You may be confusing him with Terry Allen or Byner.

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Nope, not Mitchell. Now I'm questioning if Nelms was even a good punt returner since its clear he wasn't a good RB for us. I've been on call too much. Making up great players out of thin air.

Nelms was an all pro kick returner, but that's all he did. He was a DB, but was too valuable a return man to risk getting injured as a nickel or dime safety.

We should have a thread like this on best Skins return guys:

Herb Mulkey, Speedy Duncan, Nelms, Mitchell, Darrell Green...

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I liked versatile backs, the Bobby Mitchells and Charley Taylors of the world went from either a WR/RB to a RB/WR. Add Joe Washington to that list as well.

 

Riggo of course

T.Allen -- Two knee surgeries prior to joining us, played his best ball with us.

Portis

Davis

Byner

Larry Freaking Centers-- Love his game. No explanation needed if you know of his skills. SEVERELY UNDERRATED PLAYER. Wish we had kept him.

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