Brown and sanders are tied for number one, Never has the NFL seen the dominant power of brown or Jaw dropping moves of sanders. Payton may have been the hardest working player ever to put on a uniform. These three are in a world by themselves.
emmitt smith isn't in the top 5.
I HATE the lions, and will forever for the tragety that was the early retirement of Barry Sanders. Barry is a class act, did so much for the lions organization and detriot community, won NFL man of the year, was an image all players should strive to be like, and for Everyting he did for the lions, who were not making a solid effort to improve, refused to trade him. Even after his contract had expired after his "retirement" They still withheld his rights and refused to relinquish them to another team, preventing his return to the NFL.
(NFL rules are: if a person retires under contract, the team retains his rights even after the contracts expiration)
I understand how playing for a team not dedicated to winning, and respect his decision to sit out his last 3 years of his contract rather than play half-heartedly.
If not for the lion's "if we can't have him now one can" attitude, Barry would not only have broken nearly every rushing record in the books but put them far out of reach for generations to come.