Emmitt Smith ended his career with 18,355 rushing yards. AP
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When Emmitt Smith broke Walter Payton's rushing record in 2002, SI.com's Dr. Z ranked the top 12 running backs of all time.

(Originally published October 27, 2002)

1. Jim Brown -- He came out of Syracuse as a power running fullback, and at 228 pounds, he was one of the NFL's big backs, but what stunned the football world was his elusiveness and balance and panther quickness when he smelled the kill. And, of course, the power was always there. He never missed a game. He set a career yardage record that lasted for almost 20 years. He was the best.

2. Walter Payton -- Small and compact, he ran with a furious energy and exploded into tacklers and punished them. His legendary workouts, running up the sides of the levees in his native Mississippi, gave him the superb conditioning to get him through 13 NFL seasons, culminating in the career rushing record that Smith broke Sunday.

3. Emmitt Smith -- Forget what he looks like now. Remember, instead, what he used to be, a dynamic little cutback runner with an explosive power-burst. He lasted almost a whole career without a significant backup to share the load. The Cowboys would use him to close out a game and protect a lead, and he became energized as the defense sagged. His courage is legendary -- who can forget the overtime victory over the Giants in 1993, which got the Cowboys into the playoffs? Smith played most of the contest with a separated right shoulder, dazed with pain ("We had to get him up off the ground and lead him back to the huddle," guard Nate Newton said), but he ran 32 times for 168 yards and caught 10 passes for another 61 and set a club record for scrimmage plays (42) that day.

4. Barry Sanders -- A freak runner who probably would have broken all the records if he hadn't decided to retire at age 30 in 1998. No one ever has matched his crazy-legged, pinball style. No one ever had the balance he did. He is a one-man highlight reel of the most amazing runs in NFL history.

5. O.J. Simpson -- He'd cruise, looking for a hole, and when he spotted even the smallest crease, he'd make the lightning cut and he was in the secondary and no one would catch him because he had world-class speed. Tacklers never could figure the correct angle to take against him because his change-of-pace was so dynamic.

6. Hugh McElhenny -- The King. The Barry Sanders of his day, only he did it as a pass-catcher, too. My favorite play in football was the throwback screen to McElhenny. No middle ground with that play; it was minus-2 or plus-40. He was another crazy legs who played in the most famous backfield in history, which included two other Hall of Famers, Joe Perry and John Henry Johnson.