Top 100 NFL Running Backs - #65: Billy Sims

Billy Sims

Teams

Detroit Lions (1980-1984)

Playoffs

Appearances - 2 (1983,1983)

Conf Champ Games - 0

Super Bowl - 0

Championships - 0

Awards and Honors

Offensive Rookie of the Year - 1980

All-Pro Second Team - 2 (1980,1981)

Pro Bowl - 3 (1980,1981,1982)

All-Time Ranks

Rushing Yards per Game - #8

Yards per Rush - #49

League Leads

Rushing Yards (#3-1981, #5-1980,1982)

Rushing Touchdowns (#1-1980, #2-1981)

Yards per Rush (#2-1981, #3-1984, #8-1983)

Rushing Yards per Game (#3-1981, #5-1980, #7-1984, #8-1982, #10-1983)

Total Touchdowns (#1-1980, #4-1981)

Scrimmage Yards (#2-1980, #4-1981,1982)

Yards per Touch (#4-1981, #7-1983, #9-1984)

After winning the Heisman Trophy as a junior at Oklahoma, with 1762 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on the season, Billy Sims returned for his senior season, in which he gained 1506 yards and scored 22 touchdowns, finishing as the runner-up for that year's Heisman. He was then drafted #1 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 1980 NFL Draft.

Sims was immediately great in the NFL. He rushed for 1303 yards as a rookie, and led the league with 13 rushing touchdowns, and he also had an amazing 1924 scrimmage yards, all of which earned him the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

In his second season, he was the best running back in the league. He picked up 1437 yards on the ground, another 13 touchdowns, and had 1888 scrimmage yards, while gaining 4.9 yards per carry, second-best in the league. He made the All-Pro Second Team for the second year in a row, as well as the Pro Bowl.

He didn't perform as well in the strike-shortened 1982 season, but was pretty much back to normal in 1983, when he gained another 1040 yards even though he missed a few games due to injury. He was on pace to have his best season yet in 1984 when he suffered a major knee injury that knocked him out for the season. He attempted to rehab the knee for 2 years, but finally announced his retirement in 1986.

Billy Sims was an extremely talented back who was forced from the game far too soon. Because of a strike and his career-ending injury, he played the equivalent of just 4 seasons, but he gained over 5000 rushing yards and 7000 scrimmage yards during that short time, and had 42 rushing touchdowns. It's truly a case of what might have been, but he definitely belongs on the list of the greatest runners of all time.