I'm not buying the 370 thing. Clinton Portis, Ronnie Brown, LaMont Jordan, Kevin Jones, Brian Westbrook, and Carnell Williams all missed some time in 2006. None had more than 370 carries in 2005. Running backs get injured often. Jamal Anderson got injured in Dallas in 1999 because he twisted his knee. He didn't get injured because he had too many carries the previous season. Kenny Irons is out for the season. He didn't have a huge workload at Auburn last year. It is vehemently incorrect to say Dickerson was the only guy to pass the 370 threshold and not break down. James Wilder had 407 carries in 1984. He played 16 games in 1985 and had 365 carries. His average only dropped from 3.8 to 3.6. He played at the same level. Gerald Riggs had 397 carries in 1985. He had 343 carries in 1986. There was not a significant drop-off in his performance and he played in all 16 games. Walter Payton had a 369 carry season in 1979. He led the NFC in rushing the following year. I guess that does not count for it was only 369 carries and not the magical 370! (Let's not go bonkers over a carry.) Payton ran 381 times in 1984. The next season he had 324 carries and started every game. His average in 1984 was 4.4. It was 4.8 in 1985. Also, he had 339 carries in 1977. Adjust that for a 16-game schedule and he would have had 387 carries. He started 16 games in 1978 and led the NFC in rushing. George Rogers was an All-Pro in 1982. The prior season he ran the ball 378 times. Of course, he was an All-Pro in 1982 after only playing in 6 games. He did miss 3 games. John Riggins did not have a big drop-off from 1983 to 1984. Let's look at Emmitt Smith now. 365 carries in 1991. Maybe it doesn't count because it is only 365. The next year he carried the ball 373 times and led the league in rushing. The following year he missed two games due to a holdout and still led the league in rushing. He had 368 carries in 1994. In 1995 he had 377 carries and led the league in rushing. In 1996 he missed one game and did suffer a drop-off in play, as did the entire team. Earl Campbell had 368 carries in 1979. The next year he led the league in rushing attempts (373), rushing yards (1934), and rushing average(5.2). He was second in touchdowns (13). The next year he saw his average plummet to 3.8. However, he still started 16 games, had 361 carries and led the AFC in rushing. Campbell did not start to break down till 1984. LaDainian Tomlinson had 372 carries in 2002. I'm still waiting for the breakdown. (He started 16 games in 2003, ran for 1645 yards and also led the league in receptions.)
That's a bit of a distortion. My argument was not just that there were guys near the number. My argument also included the fact there are players who went over the number and did not decline. As pointed out in post #21, there are players who did not see their performance fall off after seasons in which they were just under the magic number or over the number.
What did last year's carries have to do w/ a large man falling on top of LJ's leg? It was a freak injury, not one of wear and tear. Cakes answered it very well in his last post.
you could say that with almost any injury. broken foot, sprained ankle, torn ACL, sprained ligament, chest injury, groin injury, etc. fact is, players getting abused are more likely to get basically any kind of injury the next season.
not really, because there aren't many examples of that. Most of your post was "oh, this guy got 365 carries and his performance didn't fall off"
You are distorting once again. Nice job. Apparently you can't read worth a damn, either. Did you see the Payton, Smith, and Tomlinson examples, among others, in post 21? Then you are still going to say I am only talking about guys with 360 something carries? By the way, there aren't many examples period because there have only been 27 times in league history where a guy went over 370 carries.
His injury had nothing to do w/ his workload last year. Cakes already showed you numerous examples. The bottom line is that this is a violent game, EVERY player is at risk for injury in every game they play.
