Who is the best? Im tired of seeing the obvious choices like barry sanders, emmit smith, jim brown, or walter payton. I think the best is EARL CAMPBELL. He revolutionized football by bringing a power running dimension to the game. JUST LOOK AT THIS GUY ON YOUTUBE. he looks like a 350 pound defensive lineman with 4.6 speed and hes just unstoppable. it takes 4 men and 15 tackles later to bring that beast down. The reason why he doesn't have great stats is because his workload was high and his running style took its tole on his body. He was able to wear down an entire defense eon his own. He was probably the best pure runner who brought a new dimension and controlled the game.