Back in the day
Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt is all the rage as an NFL rookie tailback, reminiscent of Billy Sims’ 1980 debut season.
Billy Sims was 11 days shy of his 25th birthday when he made his NFL debut. The Detroit Lions had tabbed the Oklahoma tailback No. 1 overall in the 1980 draft; Sims was the 1978 Heisman Trophy winner and would have repeated in 1979 if voters had bothered to watch the games.
Sims went to the Lions and didn’t impress anyone in training camp.
“He showed nothing in preseason,” said Gary Danielson, the Lions’ quarterback in 1980 and now CBS’ analyst for SEC games. “We were like, he doesn’t even look that good. What’s the deal? What’s so special about him? He never showed anything in any preseason game. Who is this guy?”
Then the Lions laid down with the Rams. Detroit opened in Anaheim, Danielson started handing the ball to Sims and suddenly it looked like Oklahoma vs. Missouri, all over again.
“Our jaws dropped on the ground,” Danielson said. “He definitely needed the lights to go on in the theater.”
Sims carried 22 times for 153 yards, scored three touchdowns and caught two passes for 64 yards. A star was born. Sims became a rookie sensation, and that season lives on.
The last few Sundays, the scroll across the bottom of the television screen during the NFL games has extolled the fabulous start of Kansas City Chiefs rookie tailback Kareem Hunt. Usually ending with something along the lines of, “greatest debut since Billy Sims in 1980 … best two-game start by a rookie since Billy Sims in 1980...”
And now comes word
that Hunt’s six touchdowns in his first three games matches the best three-game start ever, equaling the rookie record held by Dutch Sternaman of the 1920 Decatur Staleys and Sims of those 1980 Lions. Hunt’s 538 yards from scrimmage (rushing and receiving combined) is the second-best total ever for a rookie’s first three games. Surpassed only by Sims.
It’s been almost 40 years, so maybe we’ve forgotten just how good of a pro was Billy Sims. Another Heisman Trophy winner from our state, Barry Sanders, soon enough was a Detroit Lion himself and had one of the greatest careers in football history. Sims suffered an injury or two, then a
catastrophic knee injury, and his career was over by 1984.
But in 1980, Sims hit the NFL like it’s seldom been hit. His first four games were incredible: 534 rushing yards on 94 carries and five touchdowns; nine catches for 206 yards and a TD.
“He was just electric,” Danielson said. “And he was not like Joe Washington. He was a different back. He was powerful. He was like a little Earl Campbell is what he was. A fast Earl Campbell. He punished people. People hated to tackle him.
“I had friends with the Bears. He was all shoulder pads and elbows and knees, and it was not fun to tackle Billy Sims.”
The Lions routed the Vikings 27-7 to go 4-0,
with Sims rushing for 157 yards on 27 carries.
Finally, NFL defenses started corralling Sims. He gained just 21 yards on 14 carries in a 43-28 loss at Atlanta.
Sims had just two more monster games – 155 yards on 28 carries against the Chiefs, and 126 yards on 30 carries against the Colts – but his rookie season still was a smash: 1,303 rushing yards; 1,924 scrimmage yards; 16 touchdowns.
Sims was the offensive rookie of the year, second-team all-pro, and Detroit went 9-7.
Sims’ future seemed bright and was. For awhile. In 1981, Sims had 1,437 rushing yards, 1,888 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns. Detroit went 8-8.
But in 1982 came the NFL strike, and each team played a forgettable, nine-game season. Sims had 981 scrimmage yards and Detroit was 4-5.
In 1983, Sims was nicked up and missed three games but still rushed for 1,040 yards.
In 1984, in his eighth game, Sims suffered the massive knee injury that ended his career.
Five seasons, 60 games was the totality of Sims’ career. He rushed for 5,106 yards and produced 2,072 scrimmage yards.
That’s 85.1 yards per game rushing. Eighthbest in NFL history. Only Jim Brown, Sanders, Terrell Davis, Adrian Peterson, Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton and Clinton Portis trump Sims.
Sims rushed for more yards per game than O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell, Emmitt Smith or Tony Dorsett.
And it all started with that four-game explosion, the likes of which the NFL has never seen.
“I’ve never seen anybody better,” Danielson said. “Seen people just as good. Billy was just as good as Walter Payton, but he didn’t stay as healthy.”
The Chiefs host the Redskins on Monday night. Your move, Kareem Hunt.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok. com/berrytramel.