The Top Running Backs: Who is the Greatest of All Time?

The quarterbacks are often the centre of attention in the NFL team, but running backs play a vital role. Whether it's rushing the ball, blocking or receiving, the player chosen for running back is integral to the team's success. 

If you're a fan of NFL betting, the running back chosen for the team is essential information as it could influence the result. Over the years, there have been some great running backs in the NFL - here's a closer look at three of the best.

Football fans will have to be of a particular generation to have seen Jim Brown play in real life as his career spanned 1957 to 1965. He played in 118 games and built a reputation as a fearsome runner at a time when defences were primed to take them down. 

During his playing days, Brown notched up 12,312 rushing yards. With an average of 104.3 per game, he is the only running back in NFL history to average over 100 yards. Not content with this, he also holds the record for the number of career yards per carry (5.2).

He was first in the league for rushing yards eight times and for rushing touchdowns in five seasons. He was also voted nine times to the Pro Bowl and made the First Team All-Pro eight times. He was an MVP three times and throughout his career scored with 20 receiving touchdowns and 106 rushing touchdowns, earning a well-deserved place in the Hall of Fame.

Playing for San Diego from 2001-2009 and the New York Jets from 2010-2011, LaDainian Tomlinson was a threat every time he touched the ball. He participated in 170 games, with 162 touchdowns and 13,684 rushing yards.

Tomlinson was nominated as the MVP in 2006 and holds an armful of outstanding playing achievements. These include holding the record for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season (28) and for scoring a touchdown in the most consecutive games (18). He was first for rushing in two seasons and first for rushing touchdowns in three seasons. He's the seventh-best rusher in NFL history and has the third most touchdowns, with only Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice beating his record. 

LaDainian Tomlinson was on the First Team All-Pro three times and voted to the Pro Bowl on five occasions. He’s often overlooked in the list of best running backs as the teams he played for never competed for top honours.

Born in 1954 and a running back for the Chicago Bears from 1975 to 1987. Walter Payton is widely regarded as one of the greatest stars of the NFL of all time. His natural talent lay in his skill at rushing, once holding the records for touchdowns, carries, career rushing yards, scrimmage yards and all-purpose yards, to name just a few. 

He won MVP on three occasions - 1975, 1976 and 1985 - and was in the Pro Bowl nine times and the First Team All-Pro seven times. He enjoyed success with the Bears, winning the Super Bowl with them in 1985. He had 16,726 career rushing yards and 125 touchdowns, earning him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Sadly Payton died aged just 45 from cholangiocarcinoma. His legacy lives on in the form of the Walter Payton Award and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.