Dexter Bussey

[Halas Hall]

I was listening to a podcast discussing the amount of backfield talent at the University of Oklahoma when Chuck Fairbanks was the Sooner coach. It said there were six players who gained over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in one season in the NFL. I think they are Steve Owens, Joe Washington, Dexter Bussey, Greg Pruitt and I am looking for the remaining two.

Anyhow it seems like Dexter Bussey played over ten seasons for the Detroit Lions and may be underrated as a running back. Does this seem correct?

Thank you.

[Sonny9]

Mike Thomas
Eddie Hinton if you count the playoffs in 1970

[ChrisBabcock]

I always found it fascinating that Dexter Bussey and Billy Sims both retired after the 1984 season with Sims being the Lions all time leading rusher and Bussey at #2 only one yard behind. (5106-5105). I always wondered if Sims grabbed the record at some point during 1984, not to relinquish it, or if Sims/Bussey traded the record back and forth a bit for a little while until Sims set it on the final carry of his career.

[Jay Z]

I always found it fascinating that Dexter Bussey and Billy Sims both retired after the 1984 season with Sims being the Lions all time leading rusher and Bussey at #2 only one yard behind. (5106-5105). I always wondered if Sims grabbed the record at some point during 1984, not to relinquish it, or if Sims/Bussey traded the record back and forth a bit for a little while until Sims set it on the final carry of his career.

Sims had the knee injury that would end his career in Week 8. Bussey took over for Sims and ironically those were his first carries of the season. He carried 14 times for 44 yards in a 16-14 victory over the Vikings. But James Jones got the bulk of the work, and Bussey only got 18 carries for 47 yards over the last 8 weeks.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Historically, IMHO, Billy Sims is one of the most underrated running backs I've seen. The Lions went from 2-14 to 9-7 almost solely on his back. He was Barry Sanders before Barry Sanders. Plus he was an excellent receiver out of the backfield.

But, again, it's important to keep in context that Sims was the halfback and Bussey played fullback. Fullback had different responsibilities, and often those were related to blocking. It's impressive that Bussey put up those numbers as a fullback until Sims' injury.

Another thing to note is that Bussey only went to OU for a short time. He played most of his college career for UT Arlington.

[Gary Najman]

I never knew that Bussey played at Oklahoma. I always read that he went to Texas-Arlington.

He was a solid, if unspectacular player for the Lions. seemed too have faded when Billy Sims came, but he still hanged on until 1984.