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Ricky vs. Earl


max89

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I will take Earl on this one. It is tough, but Earl could run you over and go 80 yards for the score. He was a bruising runner who got better as the game progressed. And during an era where everyone ran 75% of the time, he still was the most dominating player in CFB. Ricky did things a little differently, but just as effectively. Ricky was more of a threat in the passing game, but they also threw it more in his offense than Earl's did. I would like to think that if they had switched eras, that both would still have been just as dominant. I have always thought that great players would be great players regardless of when they played.

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Originally posted by Lhornfan

Ricky was more of a threat in the open field.

I beg to differ. In his college and early NFL days, Earl had more speed than Ricky Williams. Earl could run with power and speed! :w00t:
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I've only heard stories about Earl. I was able to watch Ricky.

 

Collegiately, I think Ricky was pretty darn good. He basically set the all-time rushing mark in 2 years as he was the FB or 2nd RB the first 2 years he was on campus. Just imagine how many yards he would have finished his career with had he been the featured back his entire career.

 

That said, I can't choose either one because I was never able to watch Earl play. I'll have to rely on the older and wiser posters on this one as they were able to see both of them in action.

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Originally posted by footballfanatic06

How do you compare a pot smoking idiot who abandons his teammates and has a pretty average career to an all time legend?

 

This is a comparison of their on-field comparisons in college, not what they did off of the field, or even after college. Post college, Earl is obviously the better player and role model. But the post was about their college careers. Nobody can argue what these two great UT players accomplished on the field, and that is what we are talking about.

 

Again, Earl over Ricky.

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Originally posted by EB75
Originally posted by footballfanatic06

How do you compare a pot smoking idiot who abandons his teammates and has a pretty average career to an all time legend?

 

This is a comparison of their on-field comparisons in college, not what they did off of the field, or even after college. Post college, Earl is obviously the better player and role model. But the post was about their college careers. Nobody can argue what these two great UT players accomplished on the field, and that is what we are talking about.

 

Again, Earl over Ricky.

 

My bad, It didn't state that this was collegiate careers. In that case it's hard to argue with william's numbers.

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Originally posted by footballfanatic06

How do you compare a pot smoking idiot who abandons his teammates and has a pretty average career to an all time legend?

 

Think what RW could have done if he had been clean! I think EC was more dominant in his era than RW was in his, but i think the game was alot different. He is an idiot, but i'd take RW if we are talking straight up talent. If we are talking hot links..........

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I have seen them both, and although Ricky was very good...Earl was so special.

 

He also shared some carries throughout his career, and basically missed his sophomore season with an injury.

 

It's difficult to compare different era's, but it would be awfully tough for anyone to beat Earl at running back.

 

The good news for UT is they've had a bunch of good one's, dating back to even Chris Gilbert, Steve Worster, Roosevelt Leaks through Williams, Benson, and now Jamal Charles.

 

Earl Campbell is perhaps the greatest player in UT history, along with Vince Young and to include a defensive player, Tommy Nobis.

 

Smoaky

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Ricky Williams is arguably the best college RB in history. He had a mediocre team and was still able to put up those yards, and he even played mostly FB his freshman year. I didn't see Early play, but statistically, Ricky is the better RB. You can't rank a player based on what they do after college...

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Well there's a difference between a guy rushing 6,000+ for his career and having 15 NCAA records for single season and career held by the likes of Hershal Walker, Barry Sanders, Archie Griffin, Marcus Allan...

 

Earl was a great RB, no doubt, but Ricky proved he was the better college RB.... stats don't lie

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I'd take Earl Campbell over Ricky Williams as a college back any day of the week! Campbell was bigger, stronger, and yes, FASTER! :w00t:

 

You can't compare statistics equally from two different decades almost 30 years apart.

 

Earl Campbell was a War Horse! :w00t:

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First off as said before it is hard to compare players from different generations. Cambell spent his first three years sharing the load in the whishbone...BUT Ricky Williams in my opinion faced better Athletes on defense. faster LBs stronger DL and bigger Safetys IMO. Williams also spent time at FB before being moved to TB.

 

Yes Williams had more carries, but he also had a better average (6.2 to 5.8) and better yards per game (138 to 111.1)

 

Williams also did this in an era when QB's threw the ball more. Some say that will help becauase it takes the pressure off of him, while others say it hurts because it takes carries away from him. To me it is a wash.

 

About who was faster..no real way to tell unless some reliable forty times were provided.

 

Size wise, they are not that diff. Cambell came in to college bigger but lost weight down to 220 his SR year..about where Williams was his SR year.

 

I think to many people are looking at what Williams has done after college and making a decision. Also does not help that your asking on a board that is in East Tx, where Cambell is from, while Williams is not even from Texas.

 

IMO these two are hard to seperate. They ran the same way, same body size and comparable speed. Neither one was better than the other by a mile or anything.

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I remember someone telling me Earl Campbell ran 9.6 in the 100 yard dash in high school. Not being from Tyler, I don't know if that's true, but I don't think Ricky Williams was anywhere near that fast! Campbell played a lot bigger than Williams in my opinion and was much stronger.

 

I also think Ricky had much better offensive linemen to run behind than Earl.

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