Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Who were the first four RBs to gain 5000+ yards in their first five seasons?

Not cheating... Jim Brown has to be one. Jim Taylor? I'll take a stab at two more... Leroy Kelly and Franco Harris.

Brown, Payton, Dickerson, Sanders

Edit: I believe I have four of the first five but I missed one of the first four.

JohnH19 wrote:Brown, Payton, Dickerson, Sanders

Edit: I believe I have four of the first five but I missed one of the first four.

Possibly Dorsett.

John Brockington?

Jim Brown and Franco Harris are two of the first four. The first four preceded guys like Payton/Dickerson/Sanders/Dorsett. Brockington is a good guess, but he didn't get to 5000 in his first 5 years. Leroy Kelly had two years where he backed up Jim Brown, so he didn't get to 5000 either. So there are two more remaining RBs to guess...

Billy Sims did it but not sure if he was one of the first four.

I looked at some of the early 1,000 yard rushers...

It's not Steve Van Buren, Joe Perry or John Henry Johnson...

Do AFL days count?
If so O.J. might be one...

JuggernautJ wrote:I looked at some of the early 1,000 yard rushers...

It's not Steve Van Buren, Joe Perry or John Henry Johnson...

Do AFL days count?
If so O.J. might be one...

AFL days do count, and even though OJ took awhile to get going, his big 4th and 5th seasons made him one of the first four RBs with 5/5000.

So there is one RB remaining...and its not Billy Sims.

O.J. Anderson