NFL Any Era: Tebow over Steven Jackson?

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By Mike Sando
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/ ... en-jackson


Seth from Newport News, Va., says the ESPN.com/ESPN The Magazine's NFL Any Era team "is a joke" if the St. Louis Rams' Steven Jackson does not appear on the list.

Mike Sando: Jackson did not appear on the list. Tim Tebow did. That seems wrong. We do not even know for sure whether Tebow will be good in this era, do we?

The overall list is strong. Ray Lewis, Troy Polamalu, Charles Woodson, Brian Urlacher, Patrick Willis, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Ed Reed, Darrelle Revis, Jared Allen and Dwight Freeney are among those listed.

I thought the San Francisco 49ers' Justin Smith was an obvious omission among those watching him play regularly. But how many people, Hall of Famers or otherwise, have watched the 49ers' defensive line in recent seasons?

People should know plenty about Steven Jackson, because he carries the ball and, quite frequently, defenders trying to tackle him. Seth is surely right about the Rams' poor record hurting Jackson in these types of polls.

In retrospect, I should have broken out an item about Jackson's omission without any prompting. He has demonstrated all the necessary qualities -- toughness, grit, consistency, leadership, versatility, production -- to make him a timeless player. Very few running backs have run with more ferocity than Jackson.

The way Jackson has played through injuries becomes more impressive when we consider the stakes for his team were relatively low. I'll never forget watching him slam himself into the 49ers' defense while trailing 35-0 a few years ago. He made a statement to his teammates and anyone watching. Circumstances would not diminish what he represented. I'll also never forget how he fought through a 2009 back injury that would require surgery. He started 15 games even though his team was 1-15 that season.

A lesser man -- even a normal one -- would have shut it down late in that season. What was the point? Jackson refused to do that. He kept coming back for more and finished with 324 carries, the second-highest total of his career.

Jackson was clearly qualified for the Any Era team. So were Larry Fitzgerald and others. But as with voting for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there are usually more worthy candidates than spots available for enshrinement. That means very good candidates do not always get their due, at least right away. That should not diminish them in any way.

 

[Memento]

The omission of Steven Jackson in the Any Era list (especially when you consider his style of play) - as well as Buccigross neglecting to include Alex Pietrangelo in the top one hundred players in the NHL - is probably one of the biggest insults I've seen in a long time. Are Rams fans (and Sando) the only people who actually know how fucking good Jackson is?

 

[Angry Ram]

This Seth fella needs to remember, it's ESPN. Don't set your expectations too high for fair and equal coverage of 32 teams.

 

[Warner4Prez]

Jackson doesn't score enough. Sure it's not his fault, but it's the same sort of reasoning people knocked Chris Long for. Long didn't have enough sacks, never mind the pressures, his play in the run game and occasionally dropping into coverage. People only care about the glitzy stats, and a guy who hasn't topped double digit rushing touchdowns since '06 just won't get love. Probably won't get a sniff at the HoF either.

 

[Memento]

Jackson doesn't score enough. Sure it's not his fault, but it's the same sort of reasoning people knocked Chris Long for. Long didn't have enough sacks, never mind the pressures, his play in the run game and occasionally dropping into coverage. People only care about the glitzy stats, and a guy who hasn't topped double digit rushing touchdowns since '06 just won't get love. Probably won't get a sniff at the HoF either.

Which would be a bullshit move by the voters. He ran behind offensive lines that were worse than what Barry Sanders had (I mean, Alex Barron? Brandon Gorin? Brett Romberg? Nick Leckey? Really?), has had no number one receiver to help take the pressure off of him (unless you count Holt in his twilight years and Lloyd for three-fourths of a year) and he has still put up one-thousand yards in every single season he's started. He even broke records held by Dickerson and Faulk, and both of them are Hall-of-Famers. How the hell could voters not see that he's deserving?

 

[Anonymous]

Flyover Country Disease

 

[Angry Ram]

Jackson doesn't score enough. Sure it's not his fault, but it's the same sort of reasoning people knocked Chris Long for. Long didn't have enough sacks, never mind the pressures, his play in the run game and occasionally dropping into coverage. People only care about the glitzy stats, and a guy who hasn't topped double digit rushing touchdowns since '06 just won't get love. Probably won't get a sniff at the HoF either.

Yeah, I wish the recent OCs would just give it to him when they're at the goalline. I'm hoping Schotty is gonna change all that...

 

[Anonymous]

Jackson doesn't score enough. Sure it's not his fault, but it's the same sort of reasoning people knocked Chris Long for. Long didn't have enough sacks, never mind the pressures, his play in the run game and occasionally dropping into coverage. People only care about the glitzy stats, and a guy who hasn't topped double digit rushing touchdowns since '06 just won't get love. Probably won't get a sniff at the HoF either.

Yeah, I wish the recent OCs would just give it to him when they're at the goalline. I'm hoping Schotty is gonna change all that...

SJ has never been elusive at the LOS. He needs the blocking which he's rarely had of late. He's a power runner that when he gets past the LOS he's very difficult to tackle. He has so much yardage tied up in long runs that people tend to forget how often he is tackled at or behind the LOS. I'd rather see a good O line give him the opportunity to participate down field as a pass receiver more to take advantage of his success in space.