Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I remember that kick as well ... Sims could run and catch with authority, like William Andrews. Both were exciting to watch.

Not Hall of Fame material imo. Exciting player to watch but fumbled a ton, 40 in 1131 carries or 1 every 28 carries. Too short a career.

Sims has been forgotten, but he was a great player for a time. Definitely not on the Campbell/Davis level. Those two were 1st Team All Pro 3x each, whereas Sims only made 1 All Pro team. He didn't have a stretch where it could be argued he was the best in the league.

RichardBak wrote:Sims had two great seasons, his first 2 in the NFL, and then he was just a gritty and pretty ordinary runner who hung on for 3 injury-shortened seasons.

Sims' 3rd year in the NFL he played in every game and finished 4th in the league in yards from scrimmage. 4th year had Sims rush for 1000+ yards in 13 games, with an additional 42 catches with a 10.0 YPC, and in the postseason he had 114 rushing yards and 2 TDs as the Lions should have upset the Niners. Sims' last year had him IIRC leading the NFL in rushing when he got injured halfway through the year. He had 687 yards through 8 games with a 5.3 YPC, as well as another 239 receiving yards. Sims was on pace for 1374 rushing yards, 1852 yards from scrimmage...I don't know how that can be classified as a "pretty ordinary runner who hung on".

I don't think Sims had a HOF career, but I think film study shows that Sims was definitely a HOF talent. He had a terrible supporting cast. He got a lot of yards on his own. What stands out to me about Sims is that he could do it all. He could run inside, he could run outside, catch, break tackles, outrun defenders. He had tremendous acceleration and was tough to bring down.

Chris Berman called him "Kung Fu" Billy Sims for the kick.

Coincidentally doing a Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast episode with him right now, so I have been studying him quite a bit the past few weeks. I also remember him fairly well as that was about the time I was really getting into football as a kid.

He broke the Lions team rushing record in his fifth season and he's still second behind the guy who wore #20 right after him. What makes that even more remarkable is that one of Sims' seasons was the strike-shortened 1982 season.

Someone said he was a HOF talent, maybe not a HOF career. He certainly was HOF talent and still one of the most exciting running backs that I can remember. I saw quite a bit of him because I grew up in Wisconsin, so the Lions were on TV more there than probably other places.

When people kept asking if I thought Terrell Davis belonged in the HOF I kept asking, "Is Billy Sims in the HOF?" Billy wasn't able to come back and play a few more years after his injury like Davis was. I absolutely love Billy Sims and would be super happy if he made the HOF. Although I would vote for him based on the fact that Davis is in, I don't think enough people remember him that well to vote him in.

Fun fact: He rushed for 7,700+ yards in high school, the second-highest ever in history behind Ken Hall at the time. Hall held the national record for close to 50-60 years until Derrick Henry broke it.

My marathon-training buddy, Alex Giffords (who was the placekicker for Iowa State from 1979-1982) told me that Billy Sims was the best player he saw while playing college football, when Sims played his last year for Oklahoma. He still is amazed of Sims´talent.

Teo wrote:My marathon-training buddy, Alex Giffords (who was the placekicker for Iowa State from 1979-1982) told me that Billy Sims was the best player he saw while playing college football, when Sims played his last year for Oklahoma. He still is amazed of Sims´talent.

When players say things like that, it gives a lot of weight, IMO. They know what's happening on the field better than anyone. Thanks for sharing that.

GameBeforeTheMoney wrote:Chris Berman called him "Kung Fu" Billy Sims for the kick.

Coincidentally doing a Texas Sports Hall of Fame Podcast episode with him right now, so I have been studying him quite a bit the past few weeks. I also remember him fairly well as that was about the time I was really getting into football as a kid.

He broke the Lions team rushing record in his fifth season and he's still second behind the guy who wore #20 right after him. What makes that even more remarkable is that one of Sims' seasons was the strike-shortened 1982 season.

Someone said he was a HOF talent, maybe not a HOF career. He certainly was HOF talent and still one of the most exciting running backs that I can remember. I saw quite a bit of him because I grew up in Wisconsin, so the Lions were on TV more there than probably other places.

When people kept asking if I thought Terrell Davis belonged in the HOF I kept asking, "Is Billy Sims in the HOF?" Billy wasn't able to come back and play a few more years after his injury like Davis was. I absolutely love Billy Sims and would be super happy if he made the HOF. Although I would vote for him based on the fact that Davis is in, I don't think enough people remember him that well to vote him in.

Fun fact: He rushed for 7,700+ yards in high school, the second-highest ever in history behind Ken Hall at the time. Hall held the national record for close to 50-60 years until Derrick Henry broke it.

Teammate at OU, David Overstreet was 3rd at that time with 7,582. Kenny King was in that same Sooner backfield

fwiw Sims was already 29 when he got injured. Generally from that era (and this one) running backs really hit a wall around that age and begin to decline, with a lot of them in reduced roles or out of the league pretty quickly. Sims was having a great season when he got hurt...curious how much longer he could've kept it up.

Bryan wrote: I don't think Sims had a HOF career, but I think film study shows that Sims was definitely a HOF talent. He had a terrible supporting cast. He got a lot of yards on his own. What stands out to me about Sims is that he could do it all. He could run inside, he could run outside, catch, break tackles, outrun defenders. He had tremendous acceleration and was tough to bring down.

Sims was a good pass receiver which is notable because he almost never caught passes in college. He had good hands, though, because he took a lot of pitches at Oklahoma.