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Respectfully, Jim Brown is no authority on modern running backs

While this may be treated as blasphemy by some, and taking nothing away from the man's greatness on the football field where he unquestionably was one of the 3 or 4 greatest players in NFL history, Jim Brown has very little to offer in terms of insight into what it takes to be a great running back in the NFL in 2012. First of all, Jim hasn't played since 1965. That's over 46 years ago. The NFL then bears almost no resemblance to the NFL of today. In the era in which he played, Jim was perhaps the greatest physical specimen of his time. At 6'2" and 232lbs, he was bigger than most defensive linemen and linebackers (HOF LB Sam Huff was 6'1" and 230lbs, for example), and was regarded as among the fastest players in the entire league. For any RB to come along today and match Jim's physical gifts, they'd litterally have to be 6'5" 260 and run a 4.3 in the 40. Those players don't exist today, and they didn't exist, except for Jim, back then. It was also before the development of pads and facemasks that allow defensive players to hit and tackle with the ferocity and technique (facemask in the chest) with which they do today - we've all seen all of the same highlight films on Jim and he not only looked like a man amoung boys, but a man amoung boys running through arm tackles and players who did not hit and wrap when they tackled. Respectfully, Jim Brown talking about running backs today is as obsolete as it would have been had Wilt Chamberlin lived and talked about being a center today in a world where Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki exist.

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