Top 100 NFL Running Backs - #89: Spec Sanders

Spec Sanders

Teams

New York Yankees (1946-1948)

New York Yanks (1950)

Playoffs

Appearances - 2 (1946,1947)

Conf Champ Games - 2 (1946,1947)

Champ Games - 2 (1946,1947)

Championships - 0

Awards and Honors

Pro Bowl - 1 (1950)

All-Pro First Team - 2 (1946,1947)

All-Time Ranks

League Leads

Rushing Yards (#1-1946,1947, #4-1948)

Rushing Touchdowns (#1-1946,1947, #3-1948)

Yards per Rush (#2-1946,1947, #9-1948)

Rushing Yards per Game (#1-1946,1947, #5-1948)

Total Touchdowns (#1-1946,1947, #8-1948)

Receiving Touchdowns (#10-1946)

Scrimmage Yards (#1-1946,1947, #10-1948)

Yards per Touch (#3-1946, #8-1947)

Spec Sanders only rushed for 365 yards in his junior year at Texas, but it was enough for the Washington Redskins to draft him 6th overall in the 1942 NFL Draft. He instead decided to join the Navy to fight in World War II, then returned to Texas to finish his degree. In 1946, at the age of 28, he signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees of the AAFC.

Sanders played nearly every position with the Yankees. He was primarily a tailback, but he also played defensive back, punter, and quarterback. In his first season, he led the league in nearly every rushing category, with 709 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns, and 968 scrimmage yards, while leading the Yankees to the championship game, where they fell to the Cleveland Browns 14-9, with Sanders scoring the only touchdown for the losing team.

The next year was one of the greatest seasons ever for a running back. Sanders set league records for rushing yards and touchdowns, with 1432 and 18, neither of which would be surpassed for over a decade. He also set a single-game record with 250 yards in a game, even though he was pulled midway through the third quarter of a blowout. They returned to the championship game, but lost to the Browns again, despite Sanders rushing for 40 yards, passing for 89 and gaining 32 yards on a kick return.

Sanders suffered a knee injury the next season which made him less effective, and he decided to retire after the season. After one season away from the game, he came out of retirement to play for the newly formed New York Yanks of the NFL, but played only safety and punter that year to protect his knees. He set an NFL record that year with 13 interceptions, a number that has only been reached 2 times since. He retired for good after that season.

Sanders had the shortest career of anyone on this list, playing only 4 total seasons, with only 3 as a running back, but he was so great, especially in the 1947 season, that he still made the list of the greatest players of all time anyway.