BEttis says Barkley will determine the future

Transcript

00:00 I'm with my dog Jerome Bettis, aka The Bus.

00:03 You play running back in a time, in an era where the running back was like the main focal

00:08 point of the offense or of a team.

00:11 Nowadays, I'm a receiver, so I believe that the rushing game still opens up everything

00:17 for everybody, but when it comes to the way that the owners are paying these running backs,

00:22 it doesn't look that way.

00:23 How does that make you feel?

00:24 Well, it's disappointing, but you understand what it is, and when you look at what it actually

00:31 is, it's a devaluation of the running back position, but it's because if you go back

00:37 and look at the college game, the college game has really changed what the high school

00:42 players look like.

00:43 So now, because the college game was really four wide receivers and it wasn't a lot of

00:47 running, then it was only five or six schools that really still focused on running the football

00:54 pro style, right?

00:55 So as a result, you had those guys that were 6'2", 225 going to play linebacker as opposed

01:01 to playing running back.

01:03 So now, if you don't get a kid from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, maybe USC,

01:11 then Wisconsin, you're not going to get a quality running back.

01:15 That's just about the schools that still run that type of offense.

01:18 So because of that, you have a very limited group that you can choose from.

01:24 As a result, then it goes and transitions to the NFL.

01:27 You don't have that many to pick from.

01:28 So now, you've got to have running back by committee.

01:32 Because of that, they're not paying the guys because they're saying, "You're not going

01:36 to get 25 carries," like the guys were in my era.

01:41 But every now and then, you get those special running backs that still exist, right?

01:46 You see guys that deserve the money.

01:48 We've got a situation right now in New York that's really showing that he's worth the

01:56 money.

01:57 But now, because the devaluation has happened, the team is less likely to want to give him

02:03 the money that he deserves.

02:04 Right.

02:05 And so that's where we have to figure out what happens.

02:08 I think what Saquon does, this will determine the future of that running back position.

02:14 Thanks.

02:15 Thank you so much, man.

02:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:19 (upbeat music)