College football: Ranking the NFL careers of Heisman Trophy winners 1975-2005

Ranking NFL careers of Heisman winners: 1. Barry Sanders, RB, Oklahoma State

I mean, duh. Barry Sanders is by far the best running back in the history of college and he is probably the best running back in the history of the NFL. We’ll start with his time at Oklahoma State. Sanders ran for 2,628 yards in one season. Again, he rushed for 2,628 yards IN ONE SEASON. He averaged a ridiculous 7.6 yards per carry. He scored 37 touchdowns. There are college Hall of Famers who don’t have 37 rushing touchdowns in their career. He did it in one season.

Barry Sanders spent his entire NFL career with the Detroit Lions. Not only did Sanders rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of his 10 seasons, not only did he rush for more than 1,500 yards five times, but he led the entire league in rushing four different times. This includes one season when he had 2,053 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Everyone knows about Sanders leaving the game while he was still at his peak. He would have been great for as long as he wanted to be, but he retired because he no longer wanted to play for the Detroit Lions. He averaged 99.8 yards per game for his career. He averaged five yards per attempt. Think about that. Over the course of his career, every carry averaged half of the yards it took for a first down. Every single one.

This was a no brainer. Sanders is the best of all time. He might be the best player in the history of the sport.