I'm just sayin'....
He is simply the best running back that I have ever seen. There have been a number of great running backs over the decades, but Craig was the best that I saw every week. The best from my generation. Not to take anything away from Marshall Faulk, the Great Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown or the other greats. But Craig was the greatest all-around running back who ever played the game. He had the perfect size and power to be able to maximize all 3 skill sets of the running back (running, blocking, & catching). No other could do all 3 the way he could.
He was one of those pro-athletes who literally revolutionized the position he played. He became the new model for running backs in the NFL. In fact, I mentioned catching above, but catching wasn't a really important part of a running backs job before Craig. It was just something that was done once in a while....and primarily on short screen passes. Bill Walsh (one of his legacies) changed all that around...and gave birth to defenses like that of the Patriots, which many teams have some form of today. Defenses had to adjust to Bill Walsh's style of football (they had no choice...change..or get beaten badly when playing the Niners).
A Running back gaining 1000 yards rushing and 1000 yards receiving in the same season? That was off the charts stuff back then. Unheard of. A running back leading the NFL in receptions for a season??? Bonkers stuff... (still crazy). His total yardage is up there with other greats... and if he had not been slowed by injuries later on in his career.... he would have amassed 10,000 career yards on the ground...easily. But his total yardage is still impressive. Not to mention his Super Bowl rings...and what he did in post-season games.
And Roger Craig the man is even more impressive. They don't make athletes like this anymore (or its very rare) and you rarely find men like this anymore in pro sports. The clowns that are in the NFL and NBA today..... well, I could go on for quite a while about that. If you have read this blog long enough, you know what I am thinking on that one.
Craig was also the most graceful and powerful running back that i've ever seen. Loved seeing him literally run through and run over defenders.
A few sportswriters are also beginning to raise a fuss about Roger Craig's omission from the HOF. Here is a sportswriters top 10 list of players that he thinks should have been inducted by now.
It is a crime that he hasn't been chosen.
Highlight Reel (Just mute the Rap... my apologies...not my video).
Nice profile, with highlights
