Do NFL Records Matter Anymore?

[AllEyezOnZach27]

I was just randomly thinking about how much the sport of football has changed over the last 20 years and couldnt help but think that some of the greatest records in NFL history dont really mean much now.

Every passing record is going to be broken due to the rule changes and advancement of the passing offense. I mean Drew Brees and Donovan McNabb are already in the top 25 all-time in career TD passes. Not to take away anything from those guys but I dont see them as top 25 all time passers yet in their career's.

Even the NFL rushing top 20 has a bunch of "good" players on it but I would never consider most of them great. Guys like Curtis Martin (4th), Jerome Bettis (5th), Edgerrin James (11th), Fred Taylor (15th), etc.

Thoughts on breaking NFL records??

[JaysusCutler]

Things are definitely skewed. Especially sacks, since they only recently started getting recorded. If you break an NFL record however, there is no way I can take anything away from you.

[AllEyezOnZach27]

Things are definitely skewed. Especially sacks, since they only recently started getting recorded. If you break an NFL record however, there is no way I can take anything away from you.

I agree with you but what happens when a "good" player breaks a very impressive record? Does that make the "good" player better than they really are or does it devalue the record?

Its just crazy to me to see such "average" players on any top 10-20 record list.

[JaysusCutler]

I doubt any "good" players will be breaking the big ones. They may get close, but most of the records out there will only be broken by someone consistently playing at an extremely high level.

You see guys like The Bus and Curtis Martin up there because they were always playing and always producing at a high level. For someone to break the record you will have to be always playing and always producing at an exceptional level.

This is a very interesting topic, BTW.

[LordTrychon]

You have to keep perspective when it comes to these things.

Not sure that Curtis Martin is the best example. He had a great career. Top 5 all time career? Of course not... you have to look at the era. He was more than 'good' though.

[red19]

I think the new rules involving protecting QBs and restrictions on contact with receivers has weakened the passing statistics. We see more and more guys throwing for 4k+ yards each and every year. Records on the other hand are always something to be excited about, because it ammounts to history being made in the sport.

Rushing statistics have become more impressive to me. Nearly every team uses some sort of RB by commitee so for guys to put up big numbers rushing means they are really playing well.

So for me passing stats dont really do much but rushing does.

But as mentioned, any record being broken is pretty cool.

[JaysusCutler]

You have to keep perspective when it comes to these things.

Not sure that Curtis Martin is the best example. He had a great career. Top 5 all time career? Of course not... you have to look at the era. He was more than 'good' though.

Like I was saying, Martin is the best example of what consistency gets you. He was a very good player who always showed up and did his thing. There are plenty of better players than him who for whatever reason could not produce with the same effectiveness week after week, and so they ended up with less impressive statistics.

On a related note, I believe that Adrian Peterson will one day break the all-time rushing mark. Would that accomplishment be changed at all by the era he plays in?

[AllEyezOnZach27]

Like I was saying, Martin is the best example of what consistency gets you. He was a very good player who always showed up and did his thing. There are plenty of better players than him who for whatever reason could not produce with the same effectiveness week after week, and so they ended up with less impressive statistics.

On a related note, I believe that Adrian Peterson will one day break the all-time rushing mark. Would that accomplishment be changed at all by the era he plays in?

Actually I think that would be even more impressive than any other record ever broken in NFL history. Emmitt Smith played a long time and had some very good seasons. But for AP to break the rushing record he is going to have to stay healthy for 13+ seasons and also has to be the "main" RB in the offense. You very rarly see a RB play for longer than 10 years due to the beating they take.

It is just crazy to see people like Vinny Tetstaverde and Drew Bledsoe on the list of top 10-20 records for passing when they were nothing but "good" NFL ]players. I know having a long career says something but where do you draw the line between good and great when it comes to all-time records?

[JaysusCutler]

Actually I think that would be even more impressive than any other record ever broken in NFL history. Emmitt Smith played a long time and had some very good seasons. But for AP to break the rushing record he is going to have to stay healthy for 13+ seasons and also has to be the "main" RB in the offense. You very rarly see a RB play for longer than 10 years due to the beating they take.

It is just crazy to see people like Vinny Tetstaverde and Drew Bledsoe on the list of top 10-20 records for passing when they were nothing but "good" NFL ]players. I know having a long career says something but where do you draw the line between good and great when it comes to all-time records?

I mean, people realize who these players are and understand their actual production. Longevity and production are two seperate things and while it's a cool thing for them to show their grandchildren, the appearances of "Testaverdes" near the top of records serves as a good argument against HOF inclusion based on statistics.

[beastlyskronk]

Like I was saying, Martin is the best example of what consistency gets you. He was a very good player who always showed up and did his thing. There are plenty of better players than him who for whatever reason could not produce with the same effectiveness week after week, and so they ended up with less impressive statistics.

On a related note, I believe that Adrian Peterson will one day break the all-time rushing mark. Would that accomplishment be changed at all by the era he plays in?

If you say Curtis Martin was only a very good player, then you have to say the same thing for Emmitt Smith. The only difference between the two was the teams they were on and that Smith played longer. Martin probably could have played just as long and probably even broke the record had he not messed up his knee. Both of them were elite imo, not as elite as some of the other top RBs but elite none the less

[#24 Next Champ]

Simply no...You have to respect breaking a record ...period

[EddieMac]

I think it was Walter Payton that said when told that he broke Jim Browns record: No I didn't he did it faster, or something to the effect.

That has to be a factor when seeing a major record being broken. How many games did it take?

[JaysusCutler]

If you say Curtis Martin was only a very good player, then you have to say the same thing for Emmitt Smith. The only difference between the two was the teams they were on and that Smith played longer. Martin probably could have played just as long and probably even broke the record had he not messed up his knee. Both of them were elite imo, not as elite as some of the other top RBs but elite none the less

Emmitt Smith is nowhere close to the best RB ever. He has that record from, once again, consistency, and having the best O-line ever. If Barry Sanders had run behind that line, we would have seen numbers that would never be sniffed again.

[Charlie Brown]

With the NFL pushing for longer and longer seasons records will be broken all the time.

For instance, once the NFL gets their 18 game season, 2000 yard rushers will become more commonplace as well as 5000 yard passers.

So, records will be downgraded significantly.

[BroncosFanInPA]

I think it was Walter Payton that said when told that he broke Jim Browns record: No I didn't he did it faster, or something to the effect.

That has to be a factor when seeing a major record being broken. How many games did it take?

That is a very good point there because any record can be broken if somebody plays forever, oh maybe somebody like Brett Favre, but not everbody wants to play until there like 78.