The injury to Emmitt Smith has provided a useful pause to evaluate judiciously his career and to assess it in the shadow of Bradman. Bradmetrics barely suppressed a rant or two during the period Smith passed Payton on the total rushing yardage chart. This was out of deference to the family of the great “Sweetness”, with whom Smith has maintained a close relationship, by all accounts. A mere sports blog should not second-guess the Payton family.

It is, however, clear that Smith’s crown is tainted. For the last two seasons with the Cowboys, Smith was not the best Dallas running back yet he was given that spot, so we believe, just so he could take Payton’s record. His fall from grace has been further amplified by his woeful performance with the wretched Cards. This is not the way records should be set, much less the record of a true sports legend.

Yet, it is already clear that rants were not in order. Yes, Smith has the record but everyone knows who was the greatest all-round back - Walter Payton. Barry Sanders’ revelation of his reasons for quitting only amplify the relative insignificance of records when assessments of sporting glory are at stake. Sanders was the best pure runner, Brown the best power runner but Payton remains the gold standard for an all-round RB. In that company, Smith had a great career, in fairness; group him with Dickerson, Harris and Dorsett.

Statistically, we’re comparing performances within a few percentage points. Brown’s career average yardage is about 20% than the others named above. Adjusted for average size of defensive players our guess is that shrinks a fair bit. Which again goes to emphasize the yawning gap between Bradman and his nearest statistical challengers (around 60 Test batting average - a cool 60% difference, approximately.)