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TORONTO - Tony Dorsett, who knows more than a little about running the football, isn't a fan of the NFL's current trend of platooning.
With the NFL regular season poised to kick off Thursday night, most teams have adopted the practice of using multiple running backs, figuring it ensures there's always a fresh, healthy body in the backfield while adding longevity to the players' career. But the former Dallas Cowboys star isn't buying it, saying running backs readily welcome a heavy workload because it allows them to get into the flow of the game.
And injuries, he notes, can happen any time a player steps on to the field.
"I believe the longer you're in a game the more you get a feel for how defences are reacting to certain formations and schemes and so you get a better feel for how you can do things as a runner," said Dorsett, in town Wednesday to promote the kickoff of the 2010 NFL season. "They platoon now and I don't know why? I don't believe platooning guarantees anything as far as longevity is concerned.
"Obviously the game is physical but it's no more physical than it was when I played. I just don't quite get it. As a player I'm sure all those runners would tell you they'd rather be on the field all the time instead of coming in and out of the game. It's one thing seeing it from the sidelines and another thing being down there in the mix."
It's also an approach that flies in the face of traditional football logic that suggests running back get stronger the more carries they get.
"That's what I believe in and still believe it," Dorsett said. "You see it happen in college and it hasn't changed.
"It's just the NFL has changed it."
Dorsett, still looking fit and trim at age 56, should know. The native of Rochester, Pa., was one of the best running backs ever to play in both the U.S. college ranks and NFL.
A member of both the U.S. college and Pro Football Halls of Fame, Dorsett was a three-time all-American at the University of Pittsburgh, capturing the Heisman Trophy and leading the Panthers to the '76 NCAA title.
The Dallas Cowboys dealt the 24th pick in the '77 NFL draft and three-second selections to Seattle to move up and select Dorsett second overall. The five-foot-11, 192-pound Dorsett spent 11 seasons with the Cowboys before finishing his career with Denver in 1988.
Dorsett rushed for 12,733 yards and 77 touchdowns in his NFL career. On Jan. 3, 1983, Dorsett had an NFL-record 99-yard TD run against the Minnesota Vikings despite Dallas only having 10 men on the field.
A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Dorsett ran for more than 1,000 yards in eight of his first nine seasons, the exception being the strike-shortened, nine-game 1982 season. But Dorsett still had an NFC-high 745 rushing yards that year.
Dorsett still calls Dallas home and nowhere is the running back platoon more evident that with the Cowboys, who employ Marion Barker, Felix Jones and speedy Tashar Choice in the backfield. While Dorsett believes all three are capable of starting in the NFL, one definitely stands out in his mind.
"If I was the coach, I'd say, 'Felix, this is your job to lose,' '' he said. "The way Marion Barber runs, it's not healthy for himself . . . and conducive for a long career and I think over the years it has taken its toll already.
"Tashar Choice, I like his style."
Dorsett said the current crop of top-flight running backs in the NFL — including Tennessee's Chris Johnson and Minnesota's Adrian Peterson — is an impressive one. But he adds the player worth watching is Buffalo Bills rookie C.J Spiller.
"Keep your eyes on this young fellow because he is the truth," Dorsett said. "Man, he's got that breakaway speed.
"He can do it all."
Not long ago, Dorsett figured former USC star Reggie Bush would be an impact player after being drafted by the New Orleans Saints. While Bush has shown glimpses of greatness in the NFL, Dorsett said Bush's game hasn't evolved in the pros.
"It seems Reggie has taken the same approach he had in college into the pro game and it doesn't work," Dorsett said. "You can't dance and when you dance in the backfield (in the NFL), they're coming fast.
"When you get to the second level, then maybe try to shake and go but trying to shake as soon as you get the ball, it's not going to happen . . . because when they (defensive players) arrive, they arrive with authority."
There's some question now whether Bush will be allowed to keep his Heisman. In June the NCAA declared Bush was ineligible to play during the 2005 season for receiving cash and other benefits from a would-be marketing agent.
That has prompted suggestions Bush will be asked to return his trophy. But Dorsett believes the former USC star should be allowed to keep it just as former NFL stars Lawrence Taylor and Bob Hayes both should remain in the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite their legal woes.
"Who is at fault most is the people who initiated the conversation of saying, 'I'm going to give you this,' " Dorsett said. "It's hard to say no to that, even though you know it's wrong . . . and for them to strip him of all of his accolades, I think is a tragedy."
As for the upcoming NFL season, Dorsett is picking the Super Bowl-champion New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers to meet for the title. There's a lot of sentiment the Cowboys could become the first team in league history to play a championship game in their home city, but Dorsett has too many concerns about the club's offensive line to give it the nod in the tough NFC East.
"The vibe in Dallas is concern because up front the offensive line is battered and bruised," he said. "It's been well documented if (Cowboys quarterback Tony) Romo is rolling out being stressed instead of as part of the play a lot of different things happen.
"When I came into the league as a rookie I remember distinctly some of the veterans pulling me aside. Everyone knew about the rivalry with Dallas and Washington but going into Philadelphia and New York they said we'd probably have a good chance of beating them but they recommended I put my helmet on a little tighter because it was going to be a battle and an all-out war.
"That hasn't changed and I expect the same thing to happen this year."
