My colleague, Joel Thorman, is down at the Super Bowl doing some coverage for SB Nation. Joel also helps run the Chiefs blog, Arrowhead Pride. He told me he was sitting down with Tony Dorsett today, so I asked him to ask Tony D. some stuff about Marion Barber, Felix Jones, etc. Joel was already going to ask about a two-back system because of the Chiefs situation. They need a Marion Barber to complement their Felix Jones - Jamaal Charles.
Well, Tony D. is old-school, and was having no part of the two-back system.
"I'm not a big believer in [the two-back system]. You pick a guy and go with it. You get somebody to back him up just in case he gets hurt. That's not bad to have - trust me. When a guy goes down you gotta have somebody that's comparable to him waiting in the wings ready to go."
"But when you're in there all the time, you just get a better feel for the game. You see how defenses are reacting to certain formations, how they react to a certain play you've run before and you get a better feel of how you want to make your adjustments and how you want to attack the defense yourself as a runner."
"Just doing that sparingly, in and out," he said, "you may get lucky and hit some big plays but that's not going to happen all the time."
I believe in the two-back system, but I can understand how if you're a running back, and you feel your the best one on the team, you want the ball - as much as you can get it. But with the economics today, the more attention paid to injuries that were shrugged off in the past - like concussions - the two-back system makes sense in this era.
I'll have some more from the interview tomorrow, including Tony's detailed account of the famous 99-yard run. For more of Tony's interview today, including his take on the media at the Super Bowl from his era to today, go here.