Buccaneers: Five best running backs of all time
2. Mike Alstott
Mike “You’re in good hands with” Alstott. Chris Berman may never have had a more appropriate nickname. Am I right, Bucs fans? He was also known as “A-Train”. We can just call him great.
You all love him, let’s just look at some film to get things started:
Alstott had a unique combination of sheer strength, which he used to run people over, and speed to run past people. He was faster than defenders thought he was simply based on his size. Fullbacks aren’t supposed to be that fast. How great is it to watch him run people over? Tacklers? What tacklers?
Another major quality that defined Alstott was the ability to adapt to any role. Whether he was the lead back or not, Alstott played well. As a rookie, he only carried the ball 96 times, but also caught 65 passes, a mark that ended up as his career-high. The following year started a stretch of six straight Pro Bowl appearances for Alstott. He also was selected first team All-Pro in three straight seasons (1997-1999).
In four out of those six seasons, Alstott posted at least seven touchdowns, and in 2001, he hit ten touchdowns. From 1998-1999, Alstott was the lead back, rushing the ball 215 times and 242 times respectively. In 1998 he posted 846 yards and he posted 949 yards in 1999. This doesn’t even take into account the impact Alstott made as a blocker. He really was a unique player.
His 5,088 rushing yards rank him second in team history, and make him well-deserving of the second spot on our countdown.